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Post by Piper on Nov 1, 2020 19:50:54 GMT -6
Or do you think this kind of information should be common knowledge for people who make their living flying spaceships? Am I creating problems that might hamstring the campaign from the start? I feel it should be commonly available to players. I use the real world analogy of a good atlas or earth globe. Most US citizens have only the vaguest of ideas where, for example, Viet Nam is located (“Hmmm ... gee, I don’t know. Somewhere in SE Asia, I think”) but could probably access a map or globe and find it fairly quickly. So, I play with PC groups having pretty good knowledge of their home sub sectors, a general knowledge of adjacent sub-sectors, basic knowledge of the sector (or number of sub-sectors equivalent to same in the case of border areas), and a vague knowledge of the region.
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Post by Piper on Nov 1, 2020 9:03:42 GMT -6
I use brawlers (a custom NPC class) in my campaign as tavern bouncers, town bullies, and guardsman in my campaign.
They are trained in non-weapon fighting (e.g. brawling, fisticuffs, wrestling) and non-lethal weapon fighting (whip, bola, slapjack, etc.). They good enough in a brawl to keep unarmed player-characters at bay, since player-characters are unarmed and typically unarmored (and quite often a bit drunk) in town. Against a fully armed and armored fighter, however, brawlers are at a marked disadvantage.
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Post by Piper on Oct 31, 2020 4:23:10 GMT -6
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Post by Piper on Oct 28, 2020 0:00:43 GMT -6
To be frank? This is the first I've heard of it when I read your post. I'll check it out if I can find it.
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Post by Piper on Oct 26, 2020 6:32:42 GMT -6
If you're looking to eliminate one or more classes from your D&D game, may I make a recommendation? The Fantasy Gamer's Compendium by Gamesceience. That link takes you right to their site where it is still available and at a reasonable price of 11 USD. The work has much to recommend it. In particular, however, I'd like to draw your attention to the excellent skill system. One eliminate a class and use the skill system to fill in needed skills. Make healing a skill, and allow other PC classes to acquire it. It can be magical, practical, or an innate ability like The Force. It's just a suggestion and, as always, your campaign needs may vary.
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Post by Piper on Oct 20, 2020 23:05:30 GMT -6
That guy should never be allowed around a camera. Period. LOL! Well in all fairness he was a new producer. I thought he had some good ideas. The long shot of tavern going through the common room and up a few levels to where our heroes were sitting was very nice, for example. D&D:TM was his first project. I looked him up on IMDb and I must admit I'm not familiar with most of his catalog of work. The only one I did know was D&D: Wrath of the Dragon God but he was exec producer on that one and IIRC that's Hollywood talk for "we had to include him because of contractual stuff but he can't really do anything." He is attached to D&D IV and the Red Sonja remake. So maybe he'll prove himself ... or perhaps D&D:TM was typical and not a fluke.
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Post by Piper on Oct 20, 2020 17:03:06 GMT -6
[...] have another movie that's animated, I think it's Dragonlance? Wasn't sure if you meant that one or not. If we're talking animated films then I think it likely you're speaking of the Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (2008) animated feature. The three live-action D&D films are: D&D: The Movie (2000) ... EGG described the first as a "dog log" and worse. D&D: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005) ... released on Sci-Fi D&D: The Book of Vile Darkness (2012) ... thank goodness I speak German, I had to go to Amazon's German site to order a copy of this one (dialog is in English but CC is only in German). IMO Wrath of the Dragon God was the best of the lot but that's faint praise. None of the films were that great, though all had a good story that could have made for a great experience with the good budget and a more (shall we say) A-List cast. Fun fact about the first one? Dave Arneson film a cameo as a wizard. Though he didn't appear in the released film, you could see him against a green screen set in the extras on the DVD. The first film suffered most because of the freshman efforts of Courtney Solomon. It seems his reach exceeded his grasp, I attribute this to him being raised in a film-making household (both his parents are professional filmmakers). He managed to throw together a pretty talented cast, but he couldn't decide a tone for the story. Is it a slapstick comedy, love story, drama, action adventure? The film never settled into a directorial direction, it meandered. It's biggest sin from my POV is a D&D movie with barely any dungeons and CGI dragons that looked awful. Keep in mind, I saw this one on the big screen when it came out. Before the film started the nerdy audience (the theatre was about a third full) was excited and chattering. Afterward? We all left in silence, barely looking at each other. The next I think are best summed up by "made-for-TV." The third was IMO the least entertaining of the lot. It featured an evil party. Though the "fallen paladin" main lead was rather interesting, I like my fantasy heroic.* But that isn't the worst thing about the movie. D&D III's biggest sins are it's community little theatre level of acting and the VCR video tape appearance of the filming.
There you go. That's a quick rundown of the three. ---- *let me head off any criticism "but evil games are mature" crowd right here. I've received a lot of flak about this and I'm not changing my stance. As with art, "fun" is in the eye of the beholder and I enjoy playing and running heroic fantasy campaigns. This isn't an implied criticism of evil D&D games, I'm simply simply isn't my cup of tea. Get over it.
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Post by Piper on Oct 18, 2020 18:47:42 GMT -6
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Post by Piper on Oct 17, 2020 0:52:55 GMT -6
An interesting bit of trivia from the IMDb page for same: The fourth Dungeons and Dragons film and also a reboot.
Supposedly filming has been delayed by the plague so I guess the project is a bit more real than merely rumors. I'm not a big fan of reboots but the original was seen by so few I doubt anyone will realize it is one.
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Post by Piper on Oct 17, 2020 0:20:29 GMT -6
Out of curiosity what did they go for?
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Post by Piper on Oct 16, 2020 9:19:16 GMT -6
Merely curious -- how's this project coming along?
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Post by Piper on Oct 16, 2020 8:32:17 GMT -6
Also, I made this random cartoon years ago:
Was that well-known (in the OSR, at least) illo page from the UK Holmes edition the inspiration for the one-eyed goblin on the right? I always liked those guys.
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Post by Piper on Oct 15, 2020 7:39:01 GMT -6
Pic is the Elf from D&D '74. Screen name is from the afterword of the same. Sig quote is from Stephen King's "The Gunslinger". Wait ... what? Elves have beards?!? Elves have bears? Elves have bards? (j/k)
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Post by Piper on Oct 15, 2020 4:04:36 GMT -6
Screen name: my RL nickname
User icon: Coconut the Monkey (from the former ThinkGeek.com) in Star Wars livery.
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Post by Piper on Oct 14, 2020 7:50:12 GMT -6
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Post by Piper on Oct 6, 2020 3:54:40 GMT -6
I own a copy. It's a prized possession.
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Post by Piper on Oct 5, 2020 22:08:37 GMT -6
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Post by Piper on Oct 5, 2020 3:28:13 GMT -6
I was 8 years old when Star Wars debuted in 1977. Hey, I was at university when it came out and I feel the same way. SW is a timeless mythology, I hope I never lose my sense of wonder with it.
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Post by Piper on Sept 29, 2020 22:33:47 GMT -6
There is something to be said about never learning too much about your heroes. When Star Trek (1966) premiered back in the '60s I was instantly hooked. I admired the heck out of Captain Kirk, he inspired me ... he was my hero. Then, about a decade after ST went off the air I saw William Shatner on television. It was one of those shows where B- and C-list celebs competed on an obstacle course, I no longer recall the title. Shatner was, quite frankly, a jerk to both his teammates and the other guys. I was rather disappointed but realized, in the end, this didn't detract from the character he portrayed on my favorite show. So,yes, I'd fully agree with your statement, quoted above. I finally met Shatner face-to-face. We had a conversation about LA traffic and the hazards of air travel both here and abroad. It was a positive experience so I can only assume he, like many of us, managed to learn from his mistakes and become a better person than he was. [/ramble over]
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Post by Piper on Sept 29, 2020 22:00:55 GMT -6
Can someone give me a recommendation for a new, quick and dirty image host? I was using imgbb.com to embed, because it's web-based and it's free. I don't know why it doesn't work, anymore. I'm using Imgur and have embedded imgur hosted photos here. Example below ...
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Post by Piper on Sept 29, 2020 19:20:25 GMT -6
There are some great ideas to mine for one's campaign from the series. The nature of magic, using alternate planes as a means of travel, artifacts, etc. It's a long read, yes; but I thought it made a pretty entertaining tale. I'd encourage you to reconsider.
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Post by Piper on Sept 29, 2020 18:31:15 GMT -6
I still like them and want to figure out an ideal version. Have you ever read Jordan's Wheel of Time series? There was a bard-type character in that series I thought was pretty spiffy. I'd consider giving bards acrobatic and thieving skills, music-based magic effects (charm, inspire, dismay, perhaps even heal and restore). I would also include second or third tier fighting skills. I'd prefer a "thief" who was actually a bard as a means of picking locks and defeating traps.
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Post by Piper on Sept 20, 2020 23:14:40 GMT -6
Maybe he's just hinting at the fact that the OD&D cover says "Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames", where T&T might have been advertised as a role-playing game from the beginning. Not sure about that, though. The cover of T&T 1st edition doesn't say so. That's pretty likely. I'm thinking he was merely having a bit of fun with fans of D&D and not seriously making a claim. I thought it a worthy topic for discussion and I've really enjoyed the comments here.
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Post by Piper on Sept 20, 2020 7:53:30 GMT -6
In a recent streaming interview* Tunnels & Trolls (T&T) author Ken St. Andre (KSA) made an interesting statement. Ken claimed T&T was the first RPG as opposed to OD&D. I won't profess to know KSA well, but I do know from the few times we've spoken he has a lively and at times irreverent sense of humor. So, at first blush I considered this a minor gigging, all in good fun, at the elephant in the room that is D&D.
He did, however, go on to say that because D&D was basically a wargame with RPG trappings it really wasn't an RPG. This is a claim some of have made about other TSR games, e.g. Boot Hill, so it seems this observation is not entirely out of left field. From my POV what seems to draw many old-school players to D&D as opposed to T&T is its more wargame-y elements (e.g. movement rates in inches, movement based upon armor type, etc.).
I don't, however, agree with KSA's assessment, though I did get a bit of a chuckle from it. I see the Blackmoor campaign and its offspring OD&D as FRPGs by any reasonable definition of the term. I feel Boot Hill, as long as we're on the subject, is an RPG as well.
At any rate? What do you guys think? Do its strong wargame elements make OD&D more of a proto-RPG? I'm especially interested in what those of you who believe Chainmail was indeed intended to be used to play OD&D (in spite of both co-authors statements to the contrary).
----- *click [ here] to see it on YouTube
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Post by Piper on Sept 8, 2020 19:50:33 GMT -6
I know there is a lot of software out there to play online games but I was wondering if anyone has used zoom or know of a tutorial about using it for gaming? I participate in a two weekly games, both use Zoom. It works fine, but since I only participate I can’t tell you much about running them with same. If the host had the paid version, the game can run as long as you want. The free version has a 40 minute session limit. We got around that by taking a10-15 minute break, then starting a new session.
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Post by Piper on Aug 8, 2020 9:00:29 GMT -6
From 1st Ed. AD&D's DMG, p. 96 and p. 99. An example of sea change.
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Post by Piper on Aug 4, 2020 18:55:18 GMT -6
As mentioned here already, the main problem with plots (as I see it) is keeping players on the script.
I suppose it comes down to what you mean by "plot," doesn't it? Here's how I define it ...
Module plot: an overarching story occurring outside of player agency and perhaps not even directly involving them. Players may alter or even completely derail the plot, but the actor or actors behind the plot will likely adapt their plans according to player actions. Plot may also include certain scripted action points (on day 8 of the adventure a small force will attack the player's home city while a similar force moves directly against the players in the field). The referee could then modify the action point, for example if the players were in the target city on day 8 the ref could delay the attack or combine both enemy squads into one small army and attack any way, etc.
So, if we're talking a story behind the dungeon and calling it "plot" as I do? I'm in favor of it. The evil behind this dungeon is a group of doppelgangers. Unknown to the players until after they've defeated the doppelgangers? They're being manipulated by a triad of mind-flayers with a great deal of resources, who themselves answer to a council of demons committed to promoting Chaos in the realm, etc.
But a scripted story in which A must occur or B won't ... or a story in which players action will always lead from A to B no matter their actions ... or a "pet" NPC to keep the players on story no matter how they wish to proceed? I avoid those, though I suppose if cleverly handled it would still be a fun evening of gaming.
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Post by Piper on Jul 27, 2020 8:55:56 GMT -6
THAC0 predates 2e by quite a bit. Yes, see Appendix E in 1st edition AD&D's DMG ... it lists To Hit A. C. 0So, it was there in raw form, the only difference is the abbreviation was shortened a bit.
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Post by Piper on Jul 18, 2020 7:16:40 GMT -6
El faro del fin del mundo by Jules Verne. I've never read the English version (The Lighthouse at the End of the World) but I'm really enjoying it. It's just a YA novella but I've always enjoyed Verne.
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Post by Piper on Jul 6, 2020 9:51:51 GMT -6
Never heard of it, looks interesting though. I always enjoy seeing these obscure early permutations of the game. I don't have an account ... might someone perhaps post an overview? Either here or under other dark places?
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