The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons • Hacker News Board

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#211

Post by dagw » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 3:32 PM UTC

norlys wrote: post #160

sago wrote: post #75

I'm not sure if it's resurrecting, or just improving it's image, either way it's welcome. Still, it is sad that it is so focused on one game: D&D. It's a decent game, particularly fifth edition, but I can't help finding it a bit... um, artless. Which isn't a problem, sometimes that's fun. But when there are so many amazing and sophisticated RPGs, with game mechanics that expand the form and support interesting play,…

Actually, D&D is a very American thing. In Germany we have a pretty active Pen & Paper scene as well, but D&D is not so common. Instead, the "major" system is DSA (The Black Eye). But I have a feeling that we have a higher variety of systems played on this side of the sea. I played D&D once and didn't like it that much. Too much focus on being the hero, too much encouragement of powergaming for my taste. But that mig…

I disagree that (A)D&D was a very American thing. Certainly in Norway and Sweden it was huge (or at least as huge as pen & paper rpgs can be) when I was growing up. Sweden did have its own RPG home grown scene going on with both the other D&D (Drakar & Demoner) and Mutant being quite popular, but on the whole I'd say AD&D was by far the most popular game.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#212

Post by pkroll » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 3:48 PM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #154

I actually shudder at the thought of playing D&D. The idea that I have to make up a story as I go along and am dependant on what the DM thinks about my decisions, just does not appeal to me. Considering I have never played D&D, I could very well be completely off the mark, however there is nothing that was said in the article that changed my mind, but (and this is important) this is a purely personal view of what I l…

These days you can actually go look at examples of various D&D (and other RP) games being played, to see if it really matches up with your expectations. Check a couple out on Twitch and YouTube. (I'm a fan of Critical Role, if you need a search term to start, but there are a LOT of different RPGs.)

If RPGs turn out to not be your cup of tea, search for Wil Wheaton Tabletop on YouTube, where he plays various tabletop games with guests. There are a lot of pick-up tabletop games at comic book stores and the like if you find a game or games to your fancy.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#213

Post by philsnow » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:02 PM UTC

nickthegreek wrote: post #17

tunesmith wrote: post #5

Are there any AR apps that let you set up dungeons/maps on your table (through the view of your phone or tablet)?

I just searched for something like this about a month ago and found nothing. I think both an ipad app to design 2d dungeons for print or use on sites like roll20 as well as an AR app could corner the market. The only good d&d mobile apps are on iOS only and have no real competition either (Fight Club 5 and Game Master 5).

http://berserk-games.com/tabletop-simulator/ ?

> Now with VR Support! > Take your tabletop gaming to a whole new level in virtual reality with the HTC Vive!

Tabletop Simulator is kind of like VASSAL [0], people do all kinds of things in it, even playing regular card games like poker with it (so that you can flip your cards dramatically onto the table).

[0] http://www.vassalengine.org/

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#214

Post by StavrosK » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:11 PM UTC

groovy2shoes wrote: post #207

StavrosK wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine is a very good DM in D&D, wrote his own stories, world, etc, and we got a group of 5 people together and played two games before he had to leave, so we disbanded. We very much liked the vibe, though, so I want to get the group together again. Is Fate a good game for inexperienced players (especially with an inexperienced DM)? If not, what would be a simple system to start with and play, but still enj…

In my experience, the contents of the Accelerated Edition are nigh incomprehensible without a prior understanding of Core. I'd recommend that if you choose to play Accelerated, the GM be familiar with Core. It'll also be a lot easier to understand if you watch some "actual play" on YouTube beforehand. Note that the text of both editions (as well the Fate Toolkit and some other goodies) is dual-licensed under CC-BY or…

> In my experience, the contents of the Accelerated Edition are nigh incomprehensible without a prior understanding of Core.

Oh, really? That's too bad, accelerated seems to be a way to get up to speed with Fate in a very short time without knowing anything about the game, shame that that's not so much the case.

> The Fate SRD site is a third-party creation that presents the texts in a more convenient/organized way: https://fate-srd.com/

I browsed through that a bit and it seems to have the exact same text as the guide, so I'm a bit confused. Is it just the guide in HTML format?

> For stories/settings, there are loads of freely-available "Worlds of Adventure" on DriveThruRPG

That's a fantastic suggestion, thank you! I'll definitely check that out.

> IMO it's considerably easier to grok than Fate, especially for people new to RPGs

I've been playing D&D for a while, I just haven't DMed, so I'm not completely new to RPGs. I'll have a look at Dungeon World too, though, as it may fit our group better, thank you.

> I've found the Rollplay R&D series enjoyable

Good call, I'm going to watch a few to get a feel for how the game is played, thanks again.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#215

Post by thnmnt » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:16 PM UTC

virgil_disgr4ce wrote: post #206

thnmnt wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ll point to an article I wrote on my blog if I may. I started my game audio website after lots of trial and error gaming with my kids. https://tabletopaudio.com/blog/2014/02/06/gaming-with-kids/

This is great, I'd love to post your site to Cooking With Sound (twitter.com/CookingWthSound) :D

sure, be my guest.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#216

Post by Sir_Cmpwn » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:17 PM UTC

thom wrote: post #82

Poiesis wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have any, I’d love tips for running a game for kids. (I’ve never DM’ed or played but am pretty familiar from many podcasts)

Honestly, forget about rules. Just tell a story and let them guide it. You can occasionally throw in some d20 rolls if you want to introduce some risk of failure, and from there perhaps start build in some bonuses which let them customise their characters. But the main thing is just collaborative storytelling (and bad jokes and accents) and the best role-playing sessions I've ever had have involved no dice rolls at a…

I used to play like this with my friends in high school. We'd just start talking about our characters whenever we were together. Occasionally throw in some dice. It was a lot of fun and could be done anywhere and anytime. Create a simple fantasy setting, dream up some characters, and explore your world.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#217

Post by zacclark » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:24 PM UTC

messel wrote: post #147

glogla wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try Nobilis or Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine. It's something completely new again - no dice rolls and more about "what do you do with power?" than "what can you do?". Oh and the author has incredible command of English so it read like poetry, and she has PhD in Computer Science and it shows - the games are modular, the algorithms are precise, etc.

I'll give these a look, I also highly recommend Amber diceless (based on Zelazney's books)

Nobilis was heavily inspired both by the world in Zelazney's Amber books, and also by that system. If you like Amber diceless you'll probably enjoy it.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#218

Post by Dowwie » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:45 PM UTC

gilbetron wrote: post #71

Dowwie wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing.. Portland?

Close? Ann Arbor. Ok, so not close ... but close in spirit :) Seriously, I could have 3+ groups of 6 players, playing weekly, without a problem. I know at least a dozen people at my work that play, and that are people I'd like to play with. Crazy :)

Yeah, that's quite unusual, but evidently not for Ann Arbor. College towns are cool!

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#219

Post by SubiculumCode » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 4:52 PM UTC

SubiculumCode wrote: post #98

I always wanted to give it a go, but could never find a group. Now as a careered adult with kids, it is even harder to find time to try this kind of thing, especially since my spouse has few gaming tendencies. Last year or so though, I saw a Pathfinder Humble Bundle for a bunch of rule books and I decided to buy them for fun. And that got me thinking..I started poking around some forums and ended up joining a play-by…

I write that I'm having a great time doing PbP at paizo, everyone writes that I should try something else.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#220

Post by msabalau » Wed, Oct 25, 2017, 5:06 PM UTC

groovy2shoes wrote: post #207

StavrosK wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine is a very good DM in D&D, wrote his own stories, world, etc, and we got a group of 5 people together and played two games before he had to leave, so we disbanded. We very much liked the vibe, though, so I want to get the group together again. Is Fate a good game for inexperienced players (especially with an inexperienced DM)? If not, what would be a simple system to start with and play, but still enj…

In my experience, the contents of the Accelerated Edition are nigh incomprehensible without a prior understanding of Core. I'd recommend that if you choose to play Accelerated, the GM be familiar with Core. It'll also be a lot easier to understand if you watch some "actual play" on YouTube beforehand. Note that the text of both editions (as well the Fate Toolkit and some other goodies) is dual-licensed under CC-BY or…

Interesting perspective. I'd take the opposite approach, recommending new game masters start with Fate Accelerated as being so affordable ($5 physical, pay what you want digital) and so short and saving Fate Core until you want to dive deeper and create a customized long term campaign. Watching a let's play video is a great recommendation!

The fundamental structure of Fate is very simple and straightforward. I'm working on a space opera variant (in the 27th century genetically engineered cosplayers, makers, scientists and pop culture enthusiasts set out to reconnect the lost civilizations of humanity) and am finding in playtests with strangers who have never played Fate that I can explain the core rules in 10 minutes or less and people can have a good time playing for 3 hours without any additional explanation.

I love Fate Core, but it's very wordy because it functions as a toolkit to adapt the game to any sort of setting imaginable. (and because it recapitulates a ton of stuff, rather than cross referencing)