7 posts tagged “d&d”
Anthony and I hit our first ever Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day yesterday at Empyre Games and we surprisingly had more fun than we would have expected. We were a little worried at first when we found out that we were the most experienced D&D 3.5 players in the group (except for possibly one other player), as the DM had only run 1st Edition D&D games. However, the one-shot adventure designed for the event (The Fall of Frostsilver) really turned out great for what it was. The DM in particular did an awesome job at keeping everything moving along and staying fun.
One of the best things about the event was the diversity of players there. There was a four person family (a dad, mom and two teen/preteen boys) who all came to learn D&D 3.5 together that were completely hilarious. The two boys were completely bloodthirsty and in it for their own characters (as they tend to be at that age), which made for some pretty hilarious exchanges. The younger one that was playing a half-elf rogue/sorcerer kept wanting to search all the bodies of everything we killed (even while a combat still raged) and the older one who was playing a dwarf paladin (ostensibly the brother of my dwarf cleric of Moradin) threw away his paladin class abilities when he kicked his mother's halfling away from a corpse he wanted to loot instead (and he only got 30 gold pieces in exchange for all his paladin class).
Because Wizards of the Coast sent more free stuff than there were players at this event, we managed to walk away with some pretty good loot as well. I managed to add an assortment of new miniatures to my collection and got another set of dice for the wife. One of the most interesting things was the 4th Edition preview stat card of the Spined Devil promotional miniature. The stats look much more streamlined than 3.5, but I'm more wary than ever. Will Dungeons & Dragons turn into a tabletop MMORPG experience? If so, I think I'll be sticking with 3.5.
Wizards of the Coast has done the inevitable by dropping the first press release announcement for 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
What do all you D&D players out there think? Will you upgrade to the latest and greatest(?) when it hits store shelves next year? As for myself, I think that D&D 4th would have to offer substantial improvements over D&D 3.5 to make me even consider moving up. I've already sunk a fair bit of cash into purchasing books and supplements for 3.5 and I'd be really loathe to do it all over again (unless the improvements are really, really good).
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August 16, 2007 (Renton, WA) – Whether you storm a mad wizard’s tower every week or haven’t delved into a dungeon since you had a mullet and a mean pair of parachute pants, one thing is certain - millions of D&D players worldwide have anticipated the coming of 4th Edition for many years. Today, Wizards of the Coast confirms that the new edition will launch in May 2008 with the release of the D&D Player’s Handbook. A pop culture icon, Dungeons & Dragons is the #1 tabletop roleplaying game in the world, and is revered by legions of gamers of all ages.
The 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons game includes elements familiar to current D&D players, including illustrated rulebooks and pre-painted plastic miniatures. Also releasing next year will be new web-based tools and online community forums through the brand-new Dungeons & Dragons Insider (D&D Insider) digital offering. D&D Insider lowers the barriers of entry for new players while simultaneously offering the depth of play that appeals to veteran players.
The 4th Edition rules emphasize faster game play, offer exciting new character options, and reduce the amount of “prep time” needed to run the game. D&D Insider includes a character creator that lets players design and equip their D&D characters, dungeon- and adventure-building tools for Dungeon Masters, online magazine content, and a digital game table that lets you play 24/7 on the internet — the perfect option for anyone who can’t find time to get together.
“We’ve been gathering player feedback for eight years,” said Bill Slavicsek, R&D Director of Roleplaying and Miniatures Games at Wizards of the Coast. “Fourth Edition streamlines parts of the D&D game that are too complex, while enhancing the overall play experience. At its heart, it’s still a tabletop game experience. However, D&D Insider makes it easier for players to create characters, run their games, and interact with the rest of the D&D community.”
Wizards of the Coast will release two 4th Edition preview books in December and January — Wizards Presents: Classes and Races and Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters. The first live demos of 4th Edition will happen at the D&D Experience gaming convention in Washington D.C. in February 2008. The full scope of 4th Edition books, miniatures, and adventures will be available in the spring and summer of 2008.
Since its first release in 1974, the fantasy roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons has taken millions of players on imaginary adventures of epic scale. Today, D&D is universally regarded as the original game that created the roleplaying game category, and the inspiration for generations of game designers. D&D is enjoyed by millions of players worldwide, while countless more remember it with fond nostalgia.
Had a great day off from from work yesterday, lighting up Independence Day with Anthony, Matt, Anica and some pandas. (I'm still pretty clueless why they refer to themselves as pandas, since Anthony or Matt haven't enlightened me yet. Unless it's one of those secret society things?)
We kicked the good times off with Anthony and Matt inviting L and I to see Transformers with them. (I was originally planning on holding off and seeing it with my brother when he got back from Wisconsin, but I figured I might as well as go while the going was good.) I wasn't expecting a whole lot from a movie based on a two-decade-old toy franchise, but it was surprisingly well-done. (Quite a bit better than TMNT, for sure.) Even with all the blatant product placement (I choose you, Mountain Dew bot!) and frickin' awesome special effects, that managed to squeeze in a workable plot.
Following the movie, we nabbed dinner out and then adjourned back to our place for various geeky activities. Anthony and I tested out the limitations of Pokemon Battle Revolution on the Wii (and I must admit that it is far better for multiplayer than it's weak single player mode). L also showed off TEH OVERLORD. We wrapped the whole holiday off by watching and roasting the late Dungeons and Dragons animated series. (We all pretty much agreed that Uni is the most annoying cartoon character ever.)
On a different note, my birthday's coming into view next week and I'll tell you all what I'd like to see for it: more blogging from my neighbors. What's up with the lame ghost town that Vox has become? Are you all too busy having fun without me to stop and blog about it once in awhile? I feel awfully self-conscious shouting into the tubes of the Internets all by my lonesome. So please start sharing those fun summer stories and anecdotes that I know you've all been holding back on!
Last Friday, dOrange wrapped up another campaign, delivering Ghostwalk a fitting finale. For posterity, the list of major players and their characters in this campaign were:
Having been the third dOrange campaign I've finished (and the first pure D&D campaign under my belt), I can say I definitely learned a lot by trying new things. I discovered that I could stand to keep much better notes (on everything from the PCs leveling up status to the facts of my ever-evolving storyline). As a group, we learned that trying to run four campaigns simultaneously was just a little too schizophrenic and we needed to pare it down to keep everything straight.
Lessons aside, I feel really good about how Ghostwalk began and ended. Kudos to all the players for all your effort and enthusiasm, because it's absolutely true that the success of any campaign depends on you. Extra kudos to Anthony and Leslie, for developing such rich backstory for their characters (which greatly influenced the campaign) as well as for their admirable dedication from start to finish.
As you all know, I'm taking a GMing "vacation" for awhile, while we enjoy the fruits of Anthony's Paragon and Nate's Genesis. However, when the time is right, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be itching to get back in the saddle to run Next-Gen Moreau (which is only a working title). So it's never too early to start thinking about your character concepts! (That means you, Anna!) Keep rolling, my friends!
Although we celebrated two years of dOrange back in April, the origins of our little gaming group actually go further back. As much as I'm ashamed to admit it, the earliest history of our group can be traced to a New Year's Eve Party back on December 31st, 2004 where Jeremy, Sarah, Leslie and I played our first tabletop RPG adventure. The shameful part of the story is that the adventure was none other than the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game.
Consider the cheesy text on the back of the box:
Enter the world of adventure!
There's something moving behind that door...
Perhaps it's a vicious ogre waiting to tear you limb from limb.
Or a horde of zombies thirsting for blood.
Or maybe a terrifying dragon ready to engulf
you in a maelstrom of fire.Problem?
Nope. Not for you.
You're a hero--a powerful wizard, a strong fighter, or a sneaky rogue.
You can handle whatever comes
at you in this introduction to the greatest fantasy
game of all time.
I'm surprised we weren't turned off by this blatant dumbing down of a rich roleplaying game, but somehow we persevered. (Since when zombies thirst for blood? Isn't that a vampire thing?) Even when the very first adventure had us saving a lame-o unicorn from a bunch of goblins, we still wanted to know if we could kill the unicorn for extra XP. (Instead, all we were told was that, Alabern the unicorn, "can touch wounded characters with its horn.")
We've come a long way since then. It's a Paragon night tonight and I'm itching to get back into it after Squibblequick smote Anthony's computer last week, forcing us to delay the session. And then we're kicking of Matt's newest "evils" campaign, Anathema, on Saturday, granting us a double dose of gaming. Who knows? Maybe we will finally get to kill a unicorn this time!
I'd like to take an Attack of Opportunity to talk about one of the most frickin' awesome dOrange campaigns that I am not GMing, namely Anthony's Paragon. We just got back into the thick of it last Friday after a few months of hiatus and boy, am I stoked.
You see, Paragon has a lot going for it. Not only is it extremely crunchy with high-level monster PCs and super-customizable house rules for action points and magic points, but it also is full of creamy character development and a rich plot that we're only beginning to unravel. Coupled with the fact that this all takes place in a completely home-grown fantasy world that rivals (if not surpasses) most published campaign settings, you can probably start to see why I'm so impressed with this campaign. (Particularly because it's the first Anthony has ever run for our group!)
Of course, all of this planning and campaign design of awesomeness would be wasted if I didn't have a PC I cared about, but in this campaign, I get two rich and complex characters to play with for the price of one. Celeres Altimar, the marshal / legendary leader gryphon crown prince turned bronze dragon, is an incredibly exciting character to play, both in and out of combat. I'm starting to realize I need to make him a little less long-winded and a little more a dragon of action, but I can't think of many other faults. His cohort, Taliana Starke, the human evoker / cleric / mystic theurge, has worked out to be a good foil and it's been a riot to be able to sling spells with magic points. I'm looking forward to her next level (which is unfortunately a while off), so she can make use of the Displacer Form spell (since, aside from gryphon and dragon, displacer beast would have been my next choice for a monster PC).
Thus, I'm definitely looking forward to this Friday and the next as we continue the Paragon goodness. Many, many kudos to Anthony for designing and running such an epic campaign, for not only do I love playing in it, but I also love the break it gives me from GMing my campaigns. (Also, kudos to Diana for the striking commissioned artwork that graces the top of this post.) Thanks to Paragon, the DC for campaigns has definitely been raised for dOrange.
