Dungeons & Dragons/Pathfinder/*

ttaskmaster · 4 Mar 2015 at 12:37

Played some D&D (3.5), along with Warhammer and a string of spacey ones (Red Dwarf got pretty boring).

Most aspects of the system is just supporting material though as our DM has been DMing for decades, so only uses the bits he needs and usually amends them to suit (weapon damage value are usually complete crap in fantasy, if you've ever used them for real).

I would like to try a few others, such as Cthulu maybe. Kinda died a death ever since I played Dragon Age and Baldurs Gate, though!

Pookie Bear · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:20

I'll actually probably avoid the starter set, having seen what it contains, as we have heaps of dice, enjoy creating characters from scratch, have the free PDFs (which seem to have more content) and I enjoy writing my own adventures.

That's a fair point. I was in the same place. I've not used the dice and only used the PCs for a few background ideas. I felt the module was a great intro to 5e but, as I said, it has its issues.

That said, two of the separate starter campaigns (Hoard and Tiamat?) look interesting too.

After we finished the Lost Mine of Phandelver, we moved on Hoard of the Dragon Queen (and started over). Much like LMoP, HotDQ is interesting and fairly well put together, but does have a few bugs.

My shopping list currently looks like:-
Player's Handbook
DM's Guide
Monster Manual
The DM screen (looks ace - and massive!)
Those two campaign books
Some "couch vinyl" and gaming paper to make a new battle mat as per the YouTube tutorial I've just watched

PHB is the only essential book
DMG is packed full of info if you're writing your own adventures
MM speaks for itself and is a lovely book
The DM screen didn't seem to be of much use for me (and I've started playing without a screen :eek:

).
The campaign books...I can only speak for the first - and it's good to use as a base for your game - reduced need for the DMG or Monster Manual if you intend using them, though.

Anyone know if the commercially available campaigns can be adjusted for just one Play Char? Mrs. M. has enjoyed playing two or three at once, but it's not easy as she doesn't have a background in the game like I do (been playing since about 1983, with huge gaps )
Cheers gamers.
Edit - tried to do the Trust thingy but no idea if it worked or not!

I think it would be tough to go through the pre-written adventures with one PC, but to be perfectly honest the only restriction on how you play the game is your own. Tone down all the combat, perhaps accelerate the exp gain a little, start at 3rd or 4th level (perhaps do a mini adventure or two first to get familiar with skills and the system) and you can do whatever you want with the modules.

Trust didn't work, sadly, but a little GoogleFu with my username should help those worthy find my blog

lordhughes · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:28

Searched pookie bears blog, found some interesting results. tried to post one here as a joke but the url contained the name of another well down hardware supplier.

EMarkM · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:29

Thanks again Pookie - tried an "email" this time via the Trust thingy, rather than just sending a message, so hopefully you can now see my email.

I'll hunt down your blog a little later.

EMarkM · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:30

lordhughes said:
For anyone interested, I think I foundPookie Bears blog

Thanks but link no-worky?

Edit: oh, but of course I could just type it in.

Doh!

Edit II: maybe s/he didn't want it publishing here though?

lordhughes · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:35

It wasn't their blog (I have however found it that or someone else using the same name and writing about DnD) just a joke link from searching pookie bear blog.

Pookie Bear · 4 Mar 2015 at 13:37

It's a he

And yes, the blog has inappropriate language and was originally intended just for me and my group (what we found funny will probably just seem stupid/offensive to an outsider!), which is why I didn't just put the link up

lordhughes · 4 Mar 2015 at 14:57

I keep attempting to write up my DH sessions but I suck at writing so it just comes out as crap. Shame because some of the stuff the group manages to do/not do is quite entertaining.

Pookie Bear · 4 Mar 2015 at 15:48

It's not easy. My style has changed noticeably from when I started and so has the amount of effort. When you're spending a few hours preparing and then writing up the blog, it can be hard work - but it is nice to read a reminder of previous events. I have to leave out some of the dafter things they do and I have to be very aware of spoilers and particularly gloating if they miss something - although I do use the blog to wind them up

Kiyoshi · 4 Mar 2015 at 20:39

Player's Handbook £20.39 at the moment, just ordered one for myself.

lordhughes · 4 Mar 2015 at 23:10

so tempted to get it! I don't even have any 5e games planned.

EMarkM · 5 Mar 2015 at 10:34

Pookie - I'm going to pop over and take a look at your blog in a moment.

In the meantime I might have accidentally ordered some 5e stuff:-

Player's Handbook
DM's Guide
MM
DM's Screen
Some extra tiles

:eek:

Also, couldn't resist just dragging the old stuff out of the den and taking a picture.

My background is in original "Basic" and "Advanced" D & D, along with Runequest (cannot find my copy of the book...grrr...), James Bond, Traveller and a few others.

My heart lies in D & D, though.

Turns out we were partway through campaigns for 2e, 3.5e AND 4e!

Here's a not-very-good pic of what I found:-

EMarkM · 5 Mar 2015 at 10:53

Heh, Pookie - favourite quote from your blog so far:-

"They questioned the goblin, who was as thick as a whale steak..."

Pudney · 5 Mar 2015 at 13:05

lordhughes said:
so tempted to get it! I don't even have any 5e games planned.

Haha, I've been interested in it too!

lordhughes · 5 Mar 2015 at 13:30

once we finish the current DH campaign we should get some 5e on the go.

Pookie Bear · 5 Mar 2015 at 17:08

EMarkM said:
Heh, Pookie - favourite quote from your blog so far:-

"They questioned the goblin, who was as thick as a whale steak..."

It never ceases to amaze me how, when players are questioning NPCs, they either always believe them or completely mistrust them. No grey areas. Even when they're questioning a complete moron

gradyhawks · 6 Mar 2015 at 14:29

Will post in this thread instead of mine.

Have my first game in 2 weeks time! have all the books now and just got the intro start set, will run that through first to introduce my mates to the game.

Have started to make my own spell cards as well. My mates have barely even played boardgames never mind DnD, so thought it would be a good way to ease them into it. Plan to print them out and stick them into a sleave protector infront of a MTG card. Will give each player a "deck" of spell/ability cards to use.

Also considering doing this for items as well!

EMarkM · 6 Mar 2015 at 17:56

Looks good, Grady.

I think it was our 4th Edition set that had something similar suggested or even built in...or was that the Miniatures game...?

Hnnngghh, not sure now, but I've definitely seen it before and it works well.

EMarkM · 6 Mar 2015 at 18:11

In other news, printed off a load of blank 5e character sheets this morning

gradyhawks · 6 Mar 2015 at 19:48

EMarkM said:
Looks good, Grady.

I think it was our 4th Edition set that had something similar suggested or even built in...or was that the Miniatures game...?

Hnnngghh, not sure now, but I've definitely seen it before and it works well.

You used to be able to (for 4e anyway) print off spell cards and such from the official website. Now you have to do it all with magic set editor and excel, you can get the basic looking spell cards HERE.