Losing My Virginity...

[Callum]

Heh. My personal rule when gaming is "The DM is out to get me!"

Although my intense paranoia sometimes leads me into ridiculously complicated situations... like when I spent an entire two pages (I only play online) preparing to kill a sleeping enemy.

DM: He is asleep! Out cold! Dead to the world! He is not hiding in the cupboard, preparing to blow you away with a magic spell, he. is. a. sleep! His sheet isn't even covering his head!

Me: Keeping him covered with my throwing dagger, I check the window to see if he is hiding outside.

... I haven't died yet! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Dalamar Stormcrow]

Where do you play Callum?

[mad=dog]

Don't live near your location. Unfortunately as I'd like to do some serious gaming again and I don't have a group atm. Nevertheless a few pointers from an oldie who's played since the red D&D boxed set was a brand new thing.

My old group defined four fundamentally different ways to play; Cinematic, Epic, Campaign and Hack'n'Slash.

Cinematic is by far the hardest type to play. Everything is played out in scenes and cutscenes. The players will get information the characters don't have and it is a difficult exercise to avoid abusing this knowlegde.
Epic is the second hardest. Dice rolling is kept to an absolute minimum and almost everything is played out in full. A matured group tend to evolve into this type of playing as the characters become epical heroes. A random encouter of orcs just don't carry the same thrill.
Campaign (aka Questing) is the typical way of playing. You play more or less straight by the rules and are in a storyline progressing towards a set goal (e.g. freeing the lands of High Sithalion from the radiations of the Pale Crystal Orb). I suggest you start out playing this way.
Hack'n'Slash is either a single weekend of fun or the result of uninspired DM'ing. Everything is just one big battle. Usually in a multi-layered dungeon with increasing difficulty of monsters as the party descent. Every type of game where dice-rolling and combat is more important than roleplaying your character is Hack'n'Slash. Try to stay clear of it. It's easier, but it get's old real quick.

A few notes if you DM
- Be in control of the situation. Think fast and be inspirational. If you play out a hunchback with a different voice and body posture the players will quickly develop traits for their PCs and increase the player-character bond.
- Never kill a character at random. While this can occur simply rule that the PC is mortally wounded or something and create a roleplaying situation instead. You need experience to know how to keep this at a minimum.
- On the other hand you should not be lenient either. There must be a consequence for the players actions.
- Keep notes and be consistent. You should have the ability to make things up quickly, but always make note of it. "Heinrich - Jailer in Adlonbury. Has iron keys to cell doors". Then you know his name is Heinrich if/when the players return to that location.
- Never make up new rules unless you give yourself at least 10 minutes to half an hour to think things through. Consider the impact on existing rules and establish patterns. Is the change isolated or does it affect other rules as well? Will it affect game balance? Always keep strict notes on these and make sure they are handy (inserts in the rulebooks is a good idea). This is also known as "house rules" - it's a splendid idea to include the players in the process.

A few notes if you PC
- Don't be powerhungry. Don't focus on numbers. Accept the dice or otherwise consult the DM. If you are generally of good spirits and play out 99% of the dice calls the DM may be swayed by a compelling explanation on why that last 1% should be changed.
- There are no reloads. I just mention this because one of my players once said "ohh lord, I wish I could reload right now."
- Get in touch with your character. Make sure that +1 dagger isn't just a +1 dagger, but "Bloodletter - the favoured weapon of Hanarl the Assasin". Develop traits for your character. Alignment is a nice guideline for your disposition, but lacks resolution. Jot down small ideas and keep them with your sheet.

And enough babble from me. Take it as advice and ignore the things that you find useless or redundant. Have fun gaming.

[Callum]

Originally posted by Dalamar Stormcrow: Where do you play Callum?

Currently, three forums I'm a member of...

UFR, TOF, and Thundaril.

[Beaumanoir]

Just to punish you for the red herring of a topic title. I'm going to PURPOSEFULLY post something irrelevant to what you want..

*Ahem*

When the time came, I wished there was a mattress...

[Sir Krustin]

I concur with the advice on gaming shops - it's probably your best bet on meeting like-minded individuals. Universities (when school is in session) are also great places for finding gamers, just look for the on-campus gaming club(s).

Aside from posting your own bills looking for players, keep an eye out for other bills in supermarkets, libraries, and gaming shops.

[Lucern]

Nice post (almost exclusively ) mad=dog!

A lot of that rings true for my games. I've played for 9 years, which isn't bad since I'm 23. Strangely, as I get older I find more and more Hack n' Slash games and gamers, which is all too often synonymous with Powergamers (aka Munchkins). To give you an idea, one group was actually playing a Diablo campaign, where treasure would spring up from enemies. It was one big battle. I wonder if all sorceresses had to be female lol.

Those are fair categories, but I'd be more inclined to put them on a spectrum (except cinematic - never seen that one) of Pure Roleplaying on one end and Power-Leveling on the other. My games usually feature a plucky bunch of heroes overcoming not only the challenges of a campaign, but the challenges of their own limitations. Caustic personalities, forgetfulness, stupidity, and having too many bards seem to be popular lol. However, when you get a powergamer, armed with his Player's Guide to Barbarians with special builds, 20 strength, 18 constitution, and "low" scores in the 12's, they're not really going to be impressed with my slow progression and infrequent magical treasure.

The last game I DM'ed with had about 9 players, which is fast approaching the limit, but we had at least 3 ardent powergamers, 3 who would do anything they could to avoid a dungeon crawl, and 3 who liked a good mixture. As expected, I couldn't keep them happy for long, and I sure as hell didn't solicit that many players lol.

There was also the idea that D&D was for beginners, a bit too mainstream, and that more advanced gamers preferred the complexity of Vampire (in any of its incarnations). I'm not a fan of pnp Vampire, so I dunno. Has anyone else encountered this attitude?

[mad=dog]

I played mostly Ars Magica due to the excellent magical system (the best I have seen ever) and good setting (Mythic Europe 1200AD - Historical Europe with one slight alteration; the world is as people believed it to be at that time).
As for Cinematic I might give an example to illustrate.
DM:
"You arrive weary at the small hamlet of Harpers Barrow. Wooden huts cluster around a small town market with a well and an inn. A plume of smoke is rising from the inns chimney and there are still lights in the window.
Meanwhile the owner of the inn is busy counting the days proceeds eagerly turning every penny with greedy eyes. A man approaches him and whispers something in his ears before he walks into the backrooms. The innkeeper puts the bag of money down and looks at the door in anticipation."

See the entire thing gets a "movie feeling" hence the name. However the players will get information the characters don't have and it is really only expert players that can handle that. However if they can (and the DM is able to pull the storytelling off) it is extremely entertaining.

I have had to evict powergamers from my game. They simply disrupted the others and I am myself a roleplayer. I have also left myself if I found the campaign uninspired and combat heavy.

I have played on/off for nearly 2 decades and considering I am only 30 it is no small feature either. Naturally I was not really up to it at that early age, but I matured my skills as I matured myself. I haven't played for nearly a year though. My last group were temporary students at Uni so we knew we had to break up. Still we were very compatible and all experienced players so setting up the thing and getting started was quick.

D&D may be for beginners, but that certainly depends on a lot of factors. It is not uncommon for aged DMs/groups to have compendium sized house rules.

[Lavindathar]

Originally posted by Beaumanoir: Just to punish you for the red herring of a topic title. I'm going to PURPOSEFULLY post something irrelevant to what you want.. *Ahem* When the time came, I wished there was a mattress...

And would you believe I'm the funnier of the two brothers....

[img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

[DrowArchmage]

Originally posted by Q'alooaith: Yes, remember what happened to The Gamers. ... ...

No not really,tell me,I must know!