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The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

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Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#51

Post by gerdesj »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #40
gerdesj wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What on earth are these edition things? I'll have to dig out my DMG, PH, MM, FF etc. Apparently, they might be cool. Then there is Traveller, Runequest, Tunnels and Trolls, Car Wars (with Truck Stop etc) and rather a lot more.

Every 8 or so years they revamp the rules and release it as a new edition. Aside from few exceptions, they're mostly incompatible with each other and offer different rules for combat, skill usage and training, etc, and quality-of-life improvements. 3e (more specifically 3.5e) was extremely popular. There's now a ruleset called Pathfinder made by another company, Paizo, that continues the style of 3.5e and is mostly c…

Thanks for the run down. My comment was somewhat tongue in cheek.

To be honest as a DM/GM I generally threw out the rules as soon as they got in the way of a good narrative.

I'm quite tempted to give it a dabble again ...

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#52

Post by ctchocula »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #40
gerdesj wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What on earth are these edition things? I'll have to dig out my DMG, PH, MM, FF etc. Apparently, they might be cool. Then there is Traveller, Runequest, Tunnels and Trolls, Car Wars (with Truck Stop etc) and rather a lot more.

Every 8 or so years they revamp the rules and release it as a new edition. Aside from few exceptions, they're mostly incompatible with each other and offer different rules for combat, skill usage and training, etc, and quality-of-life improvements. 3e (more specifically 3.5e) was extremely popular. There's now a ruleset called Pathfinder made by another company, Paizo, that continues the style of 3.5e and is mostly c…

Nice analysis. I play a bit of Pathfinder from time to time. Do you think 5e copied Stealth from Pathfinder?

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#53

Post by dragonwriter »

egypturnash wrote: post #49
forapurpose wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would someone who already knows AD&D 1e switch to the new one? What does that person gain? Imagine this hypothetical person wants to spend as little time as possible learning and on details, and as much as possible on creative experiences.

The biggest gain: A much larger pool of potential players/DMs. If you limit yourself to other old farts who still have their battered old AD&D 1e books then that’s a pretty elite set of fortysomethings - my D&D Blue Book and my set of AD&D 1e is long gone, after three cross-country moves and one hurricane. Also 5e is AMAZING for giving out a TON of story hooks as part of the character creation process. Sure, you and…

> If you limit yourself to other old farts who still have their battered old AD&D 1e books

AD&D/1e (and other pre-5e versions) books are available in hardcopy and PDF, new, today. There's certainly a network effect benefit to 5e today, but 1e isn't limited to people with battered copies from the 1980s.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#54

Post by wavefunction »

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 had a buddy from a gaming group a few years ago that had worked up a Java app that he ran through a projector pointed at the table. Lost touch with him though, or I'd point you to it or him.

I tried to turn him onto some modern development practices since he was looking to try to become a professional developer.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#55

Post by dmoy »

klodolph wrote: post #32
dmoy wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

THAC0 didn't come around until 2e, 1e had hit tables. You can see them on p. 74 of the AD&D DMG, with some more notes on p. 82.

Yea the salient point there was the second part - whether it be hit tables or THAC0, 5e rules would expedite play.

Course some of us will sit there and say y'all should just be playing 3d6 instead, but I digress...

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#56

Post by racer-v »

crypticlizard wrote: post #7

Still waiting for that resurrection. Hard getting friends to devote the time, and playing online is meh.

The only site I know of for gamer matchmaking is NearbyGamers.com - my profile is http://nearbygamers.com/gamers/cugel if anyone is looking for a game between SF and San Mateo.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#57

Post by racer-v »

klodolph wrote: post #32
dmoy wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

THAC0 didn't come around until 2e, 1e had hit tables. You can see them on p. 74 of the AD&D DMG, with some more notes on p. 82.

You can get rid of THAC0 if you just use this simple rule: roll d20, add the opponent's armor class (plus your own to-hit bonus if any), and a result of 20 or better is a hit.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#60

Post by Poiesis »

nevster wrote: post #30

I think the main thing is 5th edition - it's really good. I briefly tried 4th edition and it just didn't feel right - way too combat heavy and video-gamey. Then 5th edition came out and it was immediately obvious that it had that 1st edition feel but with all the bugs worked out. I play it with my kids and it's awesome.

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)
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