henrebotha
proud Fender owner
This thread is for the forming of Dungeons & Dragons games, whether they be forum- or chatroom-based. I will keep this first post as up-to-date as possible, so that people can quickly see whether it is possible to start up a new game.
Current Games
3.5e DMd by henrebotha
4e DMd by flyingchicken
A Brief Introduction to D&D
For those who are less than familiar with D&D, here is a post from our old thread on the xkcd fora.
Other Useful Stuff
Current Games
3.5e DMd by henrebotha
Spoiler Players - final roster :
Seon (two-sword half-elf fighter)
Stuck in Pi (human fighter, heavily armed mounted knight)
kill fire (halfling rogue)
Tasslehoff (warlock)
Captain2 (elf cleric)
Stuck in Pi (human fighter, heavily armed mounted knight)
kill fire (halfling rogue)
Tasslehoff (warlock)
Captain2 (elf cleric)
4e DMd by flyingchicken
Spoiler Players - to be finalised :
oyzar
Methos
Tasslehoff
Abaddon
Methos
Tasslehoff
Abaddon
A Brief Introduction to D&D
For those who are less than familiar with D&D, here is a post from our old thread on the xkcd fora.
Sir_Elderberry said:Spoiler :D&D is easy. There's only one rule. To do something, roll a d20 (Die notation is in the form dN, where N is the number of sides on the die. d4, d8, d12, d20, etc. You can also say something like 3d6 to mean "roll three six sided dice" and 3d6 + X if you also need to add X to that result.), add your modifiers, and compare to your goal.
Ok, so it gets a little more complex than that, but that's the base of most of it, and that's why that's called the "core mechanic". Now, let's talk about characters. All characters have six stats that define not just how they do in combat, and using their abilities, but how they roleplay out of combat.
Strength (STR) - A measure of how strong your character is. This affects damage done by melee weapons, how well he can grapple (I will not cover grapple rules in this post. Grapple rules are tiny pieces of hell sent to torment mortals.), and affect Strength-based skill checks, like Climb and Swim.
Dexterity (DEX) - A measure of how agile your character is. This affects damage done by ranged weapons, his AC (how hard he is to hit), Reflex save (more on that in a moment), and Dexterity-based skill checks, of which there are a lot, ranging from Hide to Balance to Sleight of Hand
Constitution (CON) - A measure of how tough your character is. This affects your Fortitude save, your hit points, and Concentration checks.
Intelligence (INT) - A measure of how intelligent your character is. This affects your skill points, bonus languages, and spellcasting for several classes, as well as skill checks like Knowledge and Search
Wisdom (WIS) - A measure of how perceptive, intuitive, etc, your character is. The difference between this and INT can be kind of fuzzy at times, but WIS affects your Will save, spellcasting for Clerics and others, and skill checks like Sense Motive.
Charisma (CHA) - You can interpret this as "attractiveness" or "force of personality", but either way it's basically the social skills stat. Some classes, like Sorcerers, use this to cast. (Paladins use CHA a lot too, but I don't remember whether it's used for their casting or just a lot of their abilities.) It affects skill checks like Diplomacy and Intimidate.
Typical human scores for these stats is a 10, but adventurers will have more than this is most of their stats. How you get these stats is a different matter entirely, and something I'll go over later.
All characters pick a race and a class. The races are: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Human. All of these races except Humans and Half-Elves get +2 to one stat and -2 to another. For example, Dwarves get +2 Con and -2 Cha, because they're gruff but hardy. Humans and Half-Elves do not get stat-bonuses, but don't get minuses either. All races also get some extra abilities and stuff, but I won't go into detail.
The core eleven classes are:
Barbarian: Barbarian is what you'd think. You're a big tough guy who smashes stuff. They even get a special ability called "rage" that temporarily makes them stronger. Basically, if you want to be the Hulk, play a Barbarian. (Note that I'm going to be comparing the classes to common archetypes like this, but that's not at all the only way to play them. You can make a Barbarian with a 16 INT who loves poetry, if you'd like.)
Bard: The power of rock! Well, music, at least. Bards are a bit like Final Fantasy's red mage, a little bit of everything. Their main feature is their Bardic songs that they can use to buff the party. If you want to a be a charismatic jack-of-all-trades, play a bard.
Cleric: I'm sure you've played a few video game RPGs, right? Remember your white mage, or your priest, the squishy guy with the little staff and healing magic? That's not a cleric. A cleric is the guy in plate armor with a giant mace and healing magic. Clerics cast a variety of divine spells, not just cures, and fight for their god. If you want to mix melee with medic, play a Cleric. WoW players might call it a Paladin, if D&D didn't have a paladin already.
Druid: Druids cast divine spells, like a cleric, but instead of fighting for a god, they represent nature itself. Whereas a cleric can lose any prepared spell to case a cure spell of that level, a druid can lose any prepared spell to cast Summon Nature's Ally, a spell that, um, summons...allies...from nature. Essentially, free animals to fight for you. If it's a sixth level spell, one of the available animals is a Megaraptor. Yeah. (Fun fact, while playing a cleric I once casted Summon Monster, a similar spell, and summoned five celestial porpoises to attack a hydra. Dolphins are serious business.) If you want to do battlefield control, play a druid. Druids also get an animal companion, which levels up with you.
Fighter: Fighter's a very broad category. You can be the heavily-armored tank with an sword and shield, the agile guy with a spiked chain, or any other combination. Fighters get a lot of feats (special abilities and bonuses) and are very customizable. If you want to make a character who specializes in melee, make a fighter.
Monk: You might think intentionally going out to fight with no armor and no weapons is a bad idea. That's because you're not a monk. A monk is a martial artist who specializes in unarmed strikes. He gets to add his WIS to his AC to compensate for lack of armor. Monks also become immune to poison, disease, and aging. If you want to hit people so hard, your fists themselves count as magic weapons, be a monk.
Paladin: Think cleric, but with a lot less spellcasting and a lot more melee. Paladins have some pretty serious RP restrictions, in that they must be Lawful Good (alignment is discussed below). They have a code about what they can and cannot do, and straying from this code can result in a loss of paladin powers. You hate evil. As an at-will ability, you can detect evil, so if you suspect someone of being evil, you can know. Eventually, you can smite evil as well, a special attack with bonus damage against evil foes. Paladins also get a special mount with various abilities. If you want to be a crusader for Truth, Justice, and Pelor, be a Paladin.
Rangers: These guys live in the woods and such. They're probably the best for bows, and get some skills that can come in handy, like tracking. At certain levels, they get a bonus feat according to what combat style they've chosen. You can get bonus bow feats or you can get Two-Weapon Fighting feats. They get an animal companion, but it isn't as good as a druid's. They also get some very limited spellcasting. If you want a lot of skills and to master one of the combat styles, play a ranger.
Rogue: Not rouge. The rogue is the archetypal free spirit. Although the common interpretation is "rogue = thief", that's not necessarily true. Rogues are sneaky--so sneaky that they have an attacked called Sneak Attack, which adds d6's to their damage if they meet certain conditions not worth going into here. Rogues are also the single best skill-based characters. If you want to play the agile skillmonkey, play a rogue.
Sorcerer: So charismatic, the universe itself changes for them. A sorcerer's spells are different than a wizard's--while a wizard has to prepare certain spells each day, and carry around a spellbook, a sorcerer simply knows certain spells, and can use spells that (s)he has learned at will. Sorcerers are a good class to play if you want to be a caster who can respond to situations as they arise.
Wizards: Wizards are sometimes described as Batman, because they can beat anything if they have sufficient prep time. What this means is that wizards know a lot of spells, as opposed to a sorcerer who knows only a few in comparison, but they only prepare so many per day. For example, a wizard might know eight 1st-level spells, but he can only prepare four each morning. This makes playing a wizard involve a little guesswork, but it also makes you extremely versatile.
That's the classes. One more thing I'm going to go over--this post is getting a bit long, after all--is alignment. Alignment is basically a statement of your character's morality. D&D 3.5 uses a two-dimensional system. You are (Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic) (Good, Neutral, Evil).
Lawful -- You abide by personal codes and place a lot of value in honor and tradition. Lawful characters avoid lying or cheating, which isn't to say they can't be evil anyway. Both the honor-bound paladin and the sadistic tyrant are lawful. (Lawful does not mean the same thing as "follows current government authority.)
Chaotic -- You distrust authority and control over you. Codes of conduct don't bind you overly much, and you're not against bending/breaking rules to achieve your ends, be they good or evil.
Good - altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.
Evil - implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.
Other Useful Stuff
Spoiler Links :
http://www.d20srd.org/ - All of the core rules, including classes, equipment, magic, and combat.
http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/default35.asp - Comprehensive Microsoft Excel-format character sheet generators. The third link from the top is the one you want.
http://www.myth-weavers.com/ - A cool site with loads of useful tools, including character sheets.
http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/default35.asp - Comprehensive Microsoft Excel-format character sheet generators. The third link from the top is the one you want.
http://www.myth-weavers.com/ - A cool site with loads of useful tools, including character sheets.
Spoiler the original post, for reference :
Hello there, Forum Games! It is very nice to meet you indeed.
I was a player in a play-by-post Dungeons & Dragons game on the xkcd fora, but that game died. However, I enjoyed it immensely while it lasted (partly because no-one in this country plays D&D, so I've never really had much opportunity to play), and since the people on this here board enjoy their games so much (and are just generally nice people), I figger: why not try and start a 3.5 game here?
We would need someone to DM (I could do it, theoretically, but I'd much prefer to play), and around 3-6 players (any more gets crowded, methinks).
Since D&D 3.5, much of the game content has been released under the Open Gaming License, which means it's free to download. So if any of you folks want to rekindle an old spark, http://www.d20srd.org/ is the place to go.
Anyone up for some d20 fun?
Personally, I'm up for about a 70/30 blend of roleplaying vs combat. I'm much more interested in developing a character in a fantasy context than meeting in a tavern to slay the goblins terrorising merchant caravans from the nearby hills. I like settings with high magic, and prefer slightly more modern settings than real, backwards Medieval stuff.
I was a player in a play-by-post Dungeons & Dragons game on the xkcd fora, but that game died. However, I enjoyed it immensely while it lasted (partly because no-one in this country plays D&D, so I've never really had much opportunity to play), and since the people on this here board enjoy their games so much (and are just generally nice people), I figger: why not try and start a 3.5 game here?
We would need someone to DM (I could do it, theoretically, but I'd much prefer to play), and around 3-6 players (any more gets crowded, methinks).
Since D&D 3.5, much of the game content has been released under the Open Gaming License, which means it's free to download. So if any of you folks want to rekindle an old spark, http://www.d20srd.org/ is the place to go.
Anyone up for some d20 fun?
Personally, I'm up for about a 70/30 blend of roleplaying vs combat. I'm much more interested in developing a character in a fantasy context than meeting in a tavern to slay the goblins terrorising merchant caravans from the nearby hills. I like settings with high magic, and prefer slightly more modern settings than real, backwards Medieval stuff.