'Poly D&D?

[Vlad Antlerkov]

Re: 'Poly D&D?

Originally posted by MattH
Say, does anybody want to play a 'Poly Dungeons+Dragons game? We could run a right cool campaign here... or somewhere else, if the mods don't want the spam.

IMHO, it should be done somewhere else on the boards. Maybe the Other Games forum...?

I'll try to participate. Whether it's 2E or 3E doesn't matter, but 3E's rules make more sense, IMHO.

What would the campaign setting be?

[Victor Galis]

While I think the idea is really cool, I had to vote for the banana option. Fear the uber rogue sneak attack with Banana of Doom +2!

I have to admit, I like D&D better than any other PnP game I've tried (Shadowrun). Mostly because my Shadowrun philosophy went something like this: There is no problem for which there is not a solution involving large quantities of high explosives. You'd really think that a character with 7 INT (max starting int for human is 6) would know better than to use his 1point in Demolitions skill (1 in 6 chance of critical failure).

Anyone have a particular setting in mind? Also what version of the rules are we talking here? I personally can't claim I played too much before third edition, and 3.5 rules which are due out a bit later this month seem to improve on them slightly.

[SlowwHand]

Edit: operator error.

[Boris Godunov]

Newbies ruin D&D.

[Velociryx]

I've only ever played first and second edition, but didn't really see much need for improvement beyond 2nd (I think mostly it was a ploy to sell additional books....most good GM's/DM's I knew had already compensated for everything the rules were lacking.

-=Vel=-
2nd Edition Bards RULE

[SlowwHand]

Everyone is a newbie at first, Boris.
Well. Not you, I know. You were born great.

If anyone, besides Boris, is up to teaching...

[Boris Godunov]

Sig!

[Velociryx]

There's really not a lot to teach, Master Sloww. You take on the role of a fantasy oriented charater who is essentially either a warrior, priest, thief or wizard (there are shades of grey and a staggering number of "subsets" of these, but those are the basics). You generate a character using a method that the Game Master approves of, and he's your guy. You work with the GM to come up with a history and background for your character (working with the GM ensures that "you" mesh with the general background fairly well, or that if you don't, there's a built in explanation for why not), your character's stats and abilities are largely used to determine your % chances for doing the various things you'll attempt during the course of the game, and as to your own actions....well, they're entirely up to you.

The GM outlines a story and sets the stage....gets the ball rolling by presenting a scenario which you respond to, "in character," and that is how the game moves along....GM and player interaction driving the story to places neither one ever really considered before the story begins (the GM may have some broad based ideas in mind, but the particulars--at least in all the best, most memorable games--are usually things that get made up on the spot.

One part armchair acting, one part group storytelling....that's the essence of it.

-=Vel=-

[reds4ever]

Top idea!!, count me in!!

I havn't played for 15 years or so (AD&D) but I've got the basics (It can't have changed THAT much, right?)

[Solver]

Armchair acting is good, it's the storytelling that's hard .

[Nubclear]

I've played Baulders Gate. Does that count?

[Solver]

No. Paper RPGs are different.

[Boris Godunov]

3rd edition rules are fairly different than AD&D. Lots of improvements, and they're tweaking them to weed out the game-busting rules.

Neverwinter Nights is the first computer game to put the 3rd edition rules to use. Pick it up, it's very much worth it.

[Velociryx]

An example for Sloww

Let’s say you came to me and said that you wanted to be some type of warrior….so we drew up a warrior character for you…got your stats and background all worked out….now, what to do next?

Well, in this setting (on the forums), the GM would set the tone and the stage, perhaps with something like this:

OoO

The cry of seagulls.

Sounds of waves crashing.

Sunshine on your face.

It all begins to come back to you now, as if in a dream.

You bought passage on the cargo ship Halliman in the port city of Wrenn, largest coastal city of the Duchy of Pendrel, with hopes of traveling to the vast deserts of Zarhesh, where it is rumored, the great Sultan of that land is outfitting an expedition to search for a lost city, buried somewhere beneath the burning sands of that place.

Fighting men always have a place in such expeditions, and you saw it as a way to make a name for yourself. Besides, if the city was discovered, imagine the riches! A powerful lure indeed.

Some three weeks into the voyage, however, the Halliman encountered a savage storm.

The last thing you remember was attempting to go topside to see if you could lend a hand...then….nothing save waking up here.

The beach is far from deserted. As you sit up and try to get your bearings and gather your wits about you, you spy the hulking remains of the once proud ship that got you this far….smashed and ruined on fiercely jutting rocks.

Cargo containers litter the beach, and a good many more are floating idly in the lagoon you washed up into. Nearby, there are four other bodies washed up on the shore, but from this distance, it is impossible to tell if they’re living or dead.

As you contemplate your unexpected situation, drumbeats sound from the land’s interior….

OoO

And from there, you would respond with some notion of what you plan to do….

-=Vel=-

[Japher]

My wife would kill me if I broke out the D&D stuff again...

I have the PHB, DMG, and Psionics Handbook for the 3rd edition, not a big fan of it. I also hated the 2nd edition Player's Option books (Skills and Powers stuff).

Let me know what you guys decide... May be I will, maybe I won't. I will just have to keep the trunk of books closed until she ain't looking...