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| Thread: Dungeons and Dragons | |
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supersonic
Famous Hero
being digested. E=mc^2, s=vt
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posted August 29, 2006 12:30 PM |
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Dungeons and Dragons
Hiya all, SS is back.
To any of the brave DnD players:
I've made this thread to discuss various things about my favourite (and probably the most famous) Table Role Playing Game.
DnD is based on simple rules. As an RPG, there are players and a game master (called 'dungeon master'). Every player is a medieval-magic hero. There are powerful sorcerers that invoke balls of fire, mighty warriors that use steel blades to solve problems, stealthy rogues that backstab and open locks and clerics that heal and summon the power of gods to help in critical situations. In DnD you use d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20. Also d100 is helpful.
The are multiple races, such as standard humans, elves, gnomes, halfings etc., little exotic races, like half-elves or half orcs, evil races like goblins and orcs, and completely bizzare races, such as psionic xephs, or thri-kreen.
Well, who am I to tell you what DnD is? This is a quote from the "Wizards of the Coast" page:
Quote:
This is the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game, the game that defines the genre and has set the standard for fantasy roleplaying for more than 30 years.
D&D is an imaginative, social experience that engages players in a rich fantasy world filled with larger-than-life heroes, deadly monsters, and diverse settings. As a hobby game, D&D is an ongoing activity to which players might devote hours of their time—much like a weekly poker game—getting together with friends on a regular basis for weeks, months, or even years.
Players create heroic fantasy characters -- mighty warriors, stealthy rogues, or powerful wizards -- which they guide through an ongoing series of adventures, working together to defeat monsters and other challenges and growing in power, glory, and achievement. The game offers endless possibilities and a multitude of choices . . . more choices than even the most sophisticated computer game, because you can do whatever you can imagine!
What is a roleplaying game?
The D&D game (as a roleplaying game) is a fantasy game of your imagination. It's part acting, part storytelling, part social interaction, part war game, and part dice rolling. You and your friends create characters that develop and grow with each adventure they complete. One player is the Dungeon Master (DM). The DM controls the monsters and enemies, narrates the action, referees the game, and sets up the adventure. Together, the Dungeon Master and the players make the game come alive.
The Players
Each player chooses the character that he or she plays. Each character has unique strengths, weakness, and abilities. For example, some characters have the power to cast spells, some have combat expertise, and others have special skills. You can even create your own character from scratch.
The Players' Characters
Your characters star in the adventures you play, just like the heroes of a book or movie. Your character might be a savage barbarian from the frozen wastes, or a clever rogue with a quick wit and a quicker blade. You might be an archer trained in survival techniques, or a wizard who has mastered the arcane arts. As your character participates in adventures, he or she gains experience and becomes more powerful.
What can characters do in the game?
A character can try to do anything you can imagine, just as long as it fits the scene the DM describes. Depending on the situation, your character might want to listen at a door, search an area, bargain with a shopkeeper, talk to an ally, jump across a pit, move, use an item, or attack an opponent.
To do these things and more, you use the core mechanic of the game.
What does the Dungeon Master do?
The Dungeon Master (DM) is the one who plays the "bad guys." He knows the secrets of the dungeon, either because he has read the dungeon that the players explore or because he created that dungeon himself.
What should I know about D&D adventures?
A Dungeons & Dragons adventure features plenty of action, exciting combat, terrifying monsters, epic challenges, and all kinds of mysteries to uncover. What lies at the heart of the dungeon? What waits around the next corner or behind the next door? Playing the roles of your characters, you and your friends face the dangers and explore a world of medieval fantasy.
What do you need to play?
Your group needs these items to play D&D: The D&D Basic Game (if you've never played before); otherwise: The Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual revised core rulebooks. (All players might want to have their own copies of the books.)
A copy of the character sheet at the back of the Player's Handbook for each player.
A battle grid. The Dungeon Master's Guide contains one.
Miniatures to represent each character and the monsters that challenge them.
A set of dice for each player. A set of dice includes at least one four-sided die (d4), four six-sided dice (d6), one eight-sided die (d8), two ten-sided dice (d10), one twelve-sided die (d12), and one twenty-sided die (d20).
Pencils, scrap paper, and graph paper to keep notes and to map the locations your characters will explore.
The D&D Basic Game
If you've never played before, the D&D Basic Game introduces you and your friends to a limitless world of imagination. It shows you how the game works and how to make the game work for you.
The Core Rulebooks
Together, these three volumes comprise the core rules for the Dungeons & Dragons game:
Player's Handbook: The rules in the D&D Basic Game come from the Player's Handbook; the hardcover D&DPlayer's Handbook gives you many more options. The Player's Handbook gives you complete rules to create characters, select equipment, and engage in combat with a variety of supernatural and mythical foes.
Dungeon Master's Guide: This book contains information that every Dungeon Master (DM) needs to set up adventures, narrate the action, run the monsters, and referee the Dungeons & Dragons game.
Monster Manual: The Monster Manual contains material that players and DMs alike will find useful. With hundreds of monsters to populate all levels of dungeons, this tome also includes monster creation rules, information on playing monsters as characters, details on monster tactics, and powered-up versions of standard creatures.
Everything here is welcome: from "how to make an orc killing machine" to "how to kill that **** orc killing machine (  )".
For any new players that don't really care about roleplaying (well, there's nothing wrong in that: everyone wants to throw that dice and see if the fire blade toasted the ogre, but more experienced players prefer to solve mysteries rather than fight) I have created a small guide to all classes.
How to create a character that can really do good
I won't be talking here about the dice rolls. Straight 18s are cheaty, that's all. You shouldn't care about rolls, if you are worse than other players, play with it, you all should have fun, don't argue, because your constitution is 12 instead of 15.
First of all, you need to focus on a class and choose a class that you feel best with. Once you choose a class, choose a race that corresponds to the chosen class. Don't try to choose an orc sorcerer, or a halfing fighter. In DnD, you often need to be stereotypical. A human fighter is optimal for a new player. Magic classes might be too hard, characters will often get killed, while divine (clerics) classes might not fight well enough. My experience is that new players don't care about special abilities, they just go and hit. That's why a human fighter is optimal.
Skills and feats are important. You should choose them according to your abilities.
Skills
The general rule is: "do what you do best". If you have a high charisma, choose Perform, even if you don't need it. If you have high wisdom, choose Heal, even if you don't need it. Those two examples seem ridiculous for mighty human fighter, but imagine a situation, where players have to perform in front of a king, or where one of the members is hit badly.
You also shouldn't forget about the purpose of your class. As a rogue, skills such as Open Lock, Disable Device, Jump, Move Silently, Hide, Listen, Escape Artist, Spot, Climb, Forgery or Search, Bluff, Sleight of Hand are EXTREMELY important. Magic class should choose Concentration, Knowledge, etc.
Feats
Well, I understand when some players say: "there are so many feats and so less opportunitites to gain them". If you are, say, a barbarian, bard or a sorcerer, you only gain about 6 feats in your whole 1-level to 20-level career!
Feats are precious. You need to carefully choose every single one of them. First, think about the purpose of your class. Mighty classes should choose feats that boost their combat potential. Cleave, Power attack, Improved Sunder, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, etc. Magic classes need to choose feats that boost their magic potential and the familiar. Improved familiar, Maximise Spell, Eschew Materials, Spell Focus, etc. Fast classes should choose feats that enable them to fight fast and run even faster. Acrobatic, Combat Reflexes, Dodge and Run are very important.
Equipment is what you fight with, what is your armor and shield, what you are curretly riding and what you use.
Weapons:
Every character can wield different weapons. Fighter can wield most of them and so I am going to start explaining fighter weapons first. As a fighter, choose weapons that deal maximum damage. Your weapon should correspond to your armour. A great armor doesn't need a shield and so if you wear something like a breast plate (at least), feel free to use a two-handed weapon, because they deal most damage. Now, there always have been a debate between a greatsword and a greataxe. Greataxe is much heavier than Greatsword and some people say that Greatsword is better, because the minimum damage on GS is 2 (2d6 won't give 1 ), while minimum damage on GA is 1. I support Greataxe. Why? Let's do some maths:
Probability to score 6 on a D6 - 1/6
Probability to score two 6s on 2D6 - 1/6 x 1/6 = 1/36
Probability to score 12 on D12 - 1/12
1/12 is 3 times higher than 1/36, so I choose Greataxe and I smash 12 on every 12th shot.
Rogue classes should choose weapons that are light and a rogue should always have a little dagger inside a cuff. A rapier is a perfect weapon for a rogue. It has a good (d6) damage, which, added to sneak attack potential, can do a lot more damage than one powerful blow from a fighters' sword/axe. You can also use the weapon finesse feat, so that you use the Dexterity modifier instead of the strength modifier on your attack roll (and most rogues have dexterity higher than strength). Low-strength mages should choose a very light weapon, so that they don't get encumbered. Remember that they shouldn't fight, so the weapon is not really important for this class. Staff, because it is free, is a good choice. Clerics of course have weapons favored by the gods.
Armor
Fighting guys need armour, as they are the ones that enemies hit the most (smart enemies hit weak mages, but that's later). A fighter should choose the Armor that gives highest bonus and weights least. If you are rich, you can buy a chainshirt. It gives a good bonus to a young fighter, while it enables fast movement. If you are even richer, buy yourself a chainmail, or even a breastplate.
Rogues should only choose a leather. Anything heavier than that gives a penalty to dexterity skills and rogues need to be...SILENT! Mages shouldn't wear any type of armour. If you are confident in your rolls, pick a padded armor or a leather. The spell failure chance is low, while they do give some protection. Unfortunately, mages need to waste a feat on light armour proficiency. Clerics should choose the best armour possible - they don't care about dexterity.
Shields
Same rules as for armour, though rogues shouldn't have any shields.
More will come later.
____________
I am having a new style 
Big, fat, naughty. Potential girlfriend - pm me. 
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Lord_Pc
Promising
Famous Hero
Groin-Grabingly Clever
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posted August 29, 2006 02:23 PM |
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always liked D&D based games like baldurs gate II and NWN
heard the original D&D was taken off the market as people became a bit too addicted to the game and became a bit phycho, true?
and is there any way to speed up this dice rolling every turn thing and everything else, like a CPU program?
____________
Da-da-dada-HEY-dada-da-da
Two goldfish were in their tank. One turns to the other and says, 'You man the guns, I'll drive.'
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supersonic
Famous Hero
being digested. E=mc^2, s=vt
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posted August 29, 2006 03:33 PM |
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DnD is still being sold, look here http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
It is really a cool game and yeah... very addictive. Me and my friends spend like 5 hours once we get to play.
For all the programs you needed, look on those sites, you can find a lot of info, programs and stuff.
http://dev.jessewarden.com/flex/dndtools/
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/downloads
All the games, like Neverwinter nights, Baldur's Gate and the Old of of the Beholder are based on DnD system.
BTW: If you don't want to spend money, these are the basic rules of DnD.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35
Well, you still need to buy dice... unless you want your computer to be turned on all the time .
Classes tutorials:
Barbarian
Barbarian focuses on huge damage, while being agile and dodging all the blows. There are two types of barbarians: light and heavy. Each type can blow real hard, you just need to discover how to.
Light Barbarian.
Light Barbarian focuses on wearing light armor and being dexterous, while still hitting really bad. First of all, the highest die roll should go to strength, then constitution, then dexterity. Also aim to have proper Wisdom. Skills: with high physical skills, you should choose: move silently (remember: you are not wearing any or only a little armor!), hide (same as the above), spot and listen (it's better to attack first, not to be attacked), heal (with high wisdom you can heal yourself and your teammates!), Climb, Jump, Swim (Some physical skills, not really needed, because you have high strength), Ride (if you are so desperate to have that pony...), Survival (REALLY NEEDED, trust me: as a barbarian player, I have often been in situations, where you need to quickly find a way out of the forest, or so...). Feats? All the rage boosting feats (most of them are in 2 expansion books: Complete Warrior and Complete Adventurer), cleave, power attack and you'll do fine. For a race, I would choose an orc (If dungeon master agrees), half-orc, or a human.
Heavy Barbarian.
This is where the fun starts. Forget about light armour. Running in a breastplate is not THAT hard . You need to have heavy armour. Highest value should go in constitution (heavy barbarian needs to rage in almost every encounter, so put that 15 or 16 in constitution), then strength. Don't focus on Dexterity, a heavy armour will do better. Skills you can choose for yourself, because a huge tank like you won't need much. Feats are really important. First few feats should either boost your fighting potential or your rage ability. Then, when you get enough money to buy at least masterwork plate mail, get heavy armour proficiency to be able to use it (barbarians are only proficient with light and medium armour, which is a pain in the  ). Then, you can carry on boosting your fighting and your rage.
More will come later on
____________
I am having a new style
Big, fat, naughty. Potential girlfriend - pm me.
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