Thinking about playing D&D again has got me thinking about those old campaigns. I have to wonder if the edition war hysterics are somehow about people feeling that an edition that they do not enjoy somehow threatens those memories.
This was the game we played in my mom’s living room. We played on that table with the mirror top that had viciously sharp corners but the cool thing was that as long as we used non-permanent markers, we could write battle-maps right on the thing. This was the only time that table was at all useful.
The setting was a kind of early history of D&D. Vecna was the wizard-king and Khas was his loyal knight, known to be the finest swordsman of his age. Elves and Dwarves were warring and elves still kept humans as slaves, thinking that they were not really sentient. They Drow split hadn’t happened yet but was brewing.
The players started as slaves in a gladiator pit in the elven empire. They escaped on a spelljammer ship during an event in which the gladiators fought on ships in a flooded arena; I had read somewhere that they sometimes flooded the arena in Rome. Some kind of conspiracy had slipped a working spelljammer ship into the arena and away they went.
I don’t remember much; it was a terrible game, hamming our way through 2nd edition. I was in a Robert Jordan phase and was stealing from the first three books that I had read of that series left and right. It was that kind of awful teenage pilfering that I look back on and wince.
Pete was playing a dwarven monk who didn’t have any hair. Jay’s swashbuckler-ish rogue (maybe a swashbuckler kit? I dunno) slept with Khas’ wife. Good times.
If anyone remembers any odd, fun or crazy details from their teenage gaming, feel free to post ’em below.
Githyanki Diaspora 
Halfling ranger beast-rider. I had two swords and a rode a bear!
Names!
Halfling’s name?
Bear’s name?
Re: Names!
I cannot remember… alas!
Re: Names!
I cannot remember… alas!
Names!
Halfling’s name?
Bear’s name?
Halfling ranger beast-rider. I had two swords and a rode a bear!
Halfling ranger beast-rider. I had two swords and a rode a bear!
Halfling ranger beast-rider. I had two swords and a rode a bear!
Can’t remember the name of the adventure, but we played 0 level commoners, and the actions we took during the adventure determined what class we became… It was awesome! I was a thief! I totally am a thief.
Also, we played that in my parent’s /crawlspace/ of all things… picture 4 guys scrunched-over and sitting crosslegged after crawling through a 2-foot door into an barely-lit hole with 3-feet of clearance to the ceiling and black sandpaper-like uneven floors, rolling dice, cursing the uneven slope of the floors and figuring out who got to read the spellbook and become a wizard… Heh.
The Crawlspace of Doom
The crawlspace sounds like a dungeon all on its own.
That idea of going from 0 to 1st was something that came up a bunch; I remember a buddy of mine running an adventure very much like that. It was something in between the lines of those books, I reckon.
The Crawlspace of Doom
The crawlspace sounds like a dungeon all on its own.
That idea of going from 0 to 1st was something that came up a bunch; I remember a buddy of mine running an adventure very much like that. It was something in between the lines of those books, I reckon.
Can’t remember the name of the adventure, but we played 0 level commoners, and the actions we took during the adventure determined what class we became… It was awesome! I was a thief! I totally am a thief.
Also, we played that in my parent’s /crawlspace/ of all things… picture 4 guys scrunched-over and sitting crosslegged after crawling through a 2-foot door into an barely-lit hole with 3-feet of clearance to the ceiling and black sandpaper-like uneven floors, rolling dice, cursing the uneven slope of the floors and figuring out who got to read the spellbook and become a wizard… Heh.
Can’t remember the name of the adventure, but we played 0 level commoners, and the actions we took during the adventure determined what class we became… It was awesome! I was a thief! I totally am a thief.
Also, we played that in my parent’s /crawlspace/ of all things… picture 4 guys scrunched-over and sitting crosslegged after crawling through a 2-foot door into an barely-lit hole with 3-feet of clearance to the ceiling and black sandpaper-like uneven floors, rolling dice, cursing the uneven slope of the floors and figuring out who got to read the spellbook and become a wizard… Heh.
Can’t remember the name of the adventure, but we played 0 level commoners, and the actions we took during the adventure determined what class we became… It was awesome! I was a thief! I totally am a thief.
Also, we played that in my parent’s /crawlspace/ of all things… picture 4 guys scrunched-over and sitting crosslegged after crawling through a 2-foot door into an barely-lit hole with 3-feet of clearance to the ceiling and black sandpaper-like uneven floors, rolling dice, cursing the uneven slope of the floors and figuring out who got to read the spellbook and become a wizard… Heh.
1986. Dragonlance. I set out with a bunch of players to run the entire module series (but with their own characters because even at that tender age we smelled something not right about Raistlin). Followed the script of the first 2 or so modules then went completely off the rails and the modules became sourcebooks as we free-formed our way across Krynn. It was the moment when my GM training wheels really came off.
The game ended more than a year later with one of our Kender using his Wand of Wonder on Takhisis and doubling her size, and one of the characters jumping through into the Abyss to sacrifice himself by closing the portal from the other side.
Good times.
Off the Dragonrails
I never managed to plow through Dragonlance but my first character was a good ole kender thief.
I dig that you all went off the rails. How’d that occur?
Re: Off the Dragonrails
I’m trying to remember exactly but I think they decided to take the refugees somewhere other than the Dwarven kingdom as outlined in the module and that set into motion a whole different order/pattern from the novels. I want to say they went directly to the Elves at that point.
Oh, and for the purposes of this thread I should also note that I met my wife through D&D, albeit indirectly (a friend of hers was in my game in college and she came by to see him one day and it was love at first sight for both of us).
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Love at first sight over a table full of dice.
That is romantic.
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Geeks 4 Life, yo!
Re: Off the Dragonrails
That’s how my wife first saw me – she was dating another guy in a WEG Star Wars game I was playing in. ^_^
Re: Off the Dragonrails
That’s how my wife first saw me – she was dating another guy in a WEG Star Wars game I was playing in. ^_^
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Geeks 4 Life, yo!
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Love at first sight over a table full of dice.
That is romantic.
Re: Off the Dragonrails
I’m trying to remember exactly but I think they decided to take the refugees somewhere other than the Dwarven kingdom as outlined in the module and that set into motion a whole different order/pattern from the novels. I want to say they went directly to the Elves at that point.
Oh, and for the purposes of this thread I should also note that I met my wife through D&D, albeit indirectly (a friend of hers was in my game in college and she came by to see him one day and it was love at first sight for both of us).
Off the Dragonrails
I never managed to plow through Dragonlance but my first character was a good ole kender thief.
I dig that you all went off the rails. How’d that occur?
We had almost exactly the same experience. Our game ended with the world saved but every PC dead except Sturm (the one who does die in the books).
Dragonlance takes so much shit for being railroady, and it’s not at all undeserved, but everybody I know who actually enjoyed it had the same experience of playing the first couple modules and then riding joyously off the rails.
We had almost exactly the same experience. Our game ended with the world saved but every PC dead except Sturm (the one who does die in the books).
Dragonlance takes so much shit for being railroady, and it’s not at all undeserved, but everybody I know who actually enjoyed it had the same experience of playing the first couple modules and then riding joyously off the rails.
1986. Dragonlance. I set out with a bunch of players to run the entire module series (but with their own characters because even at that tender age we smelled something not right about Raistlin). Followed the script of the first 2 or so modules then went completely off the rails and the modules became sourcebooks as we free-formed our way across Krynn. It was the moment when my GM training wheels really came off.
The game ended more than a year later with one of our Kender using his Wand of Wonder on Takhisis and doubling her size, and one of the characters jumping through into the Abyss to sacrifice himself by closing the portal from the other side.
Good times.
1986. Dragonlance. I set out with a bunch of players to run the entire module series (but with their own characters because even at that tender age we smelled something not right about Raistlin). Followed the script of the first 2 or so modules then went completely off the rails and the modules became sourcebooks as we free-formed our way across Krynn. It was the moment when my GM training wheels really came off.
The game ended more than a year later with one of our Kender using his Wand of Wonder on Takhisis and doubling her size, and one of the characters jumping through into the Abyss to sacrifice himself by closing the portal from the other side.
Good times.
1986. Dragonlance. I set out with a bunch of players to run the entire module series (but with their own characters because even at that tender age we smelled something not right about Raistlin). Followed the script of the first 2 or so modules then went completely off the rails and the modules became sourcebooks as we free-formed our way across Krynn. It was the moment when my GM training wheels really came off.
The game ended more than a year later with one of our Kender using his Wand of Wonder on Takhisis and doubling her size, and one of the characters jumping through into the Abyss to sacrifice himself by closing the portal from the other side.
Good times.
First D&D game I ever played was when I was 16 just before my Junior year in HS. My parents are deeply religious and believed any game that was Fantasy was from the Devil. So Battletech, cyberpunk, and the like took up the first 5 years of my gaming life.
Too the point I, my first D&D character was a short Frost Giant (Ranger?) with a Giant Polar Bear companion. I had enticed him to join me with a glass bottle full of a bubbly brown liquid that had fallen from the sky one evening.
Cyberpunk
I think it is delightfully ironic that your parents wouldn’t allow D&D but Cyberpunk was kosher. Cyberpunk was the far more brutal game.
Bubbly brown liquid that fell from the sky?
Re: Cyberpunk
Well they only ever looked at the covers of the books and never tried to read them. My mom did draw the line at Warhammer 40K – too many skulls on the cover. =P
Sure, a bubbly brown liquid that was in a thin, curvy, and hard glass bottle. The logo on the bottle was in red with white cursive lettering and a white swoosh. 😉 The bottle with the liquid in it fell from the sky one day near a snow pack. Being the simple ranger from the far uncivilized north I didn’t recognize what the great beast that was flying overheard was or the wizards riding on it.
I decided that the bottle would be a problem for my tribe after there was a fight, and so I decided to travel far to the south to return the bottle to the owners. I stumbled across a polar bear and he drank the liquid and seem to decide that he was my friend from then on. I thought it still important to return the bottle to the owners – it seemed very valuable what with the perfect artwork and rare artistry in its design.
I fell in with a group of adventurers who were traveling south to a land of dragons – what that great flying beast I had seen turned out to be. I decided it was safer to travel with them, so I joined them.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, my character’s name was long and complicated, but my companions called me Xixo (zeezoh). The polar bear was called CC after the two large letters on the bottle.
Re: Cyberpunk
Well they only ever looked at the covers of the books and never tried to read them. My mom did draw the line at Warhammer 40K – too many skulls on the cover. =P
Sure, a bubbly brown liquid that was in a thin, curvy, and hard glass bottle. The logo on the bottle was in red with white cursive lettering and a white swoosh. 😉 The bottle with the liquid in it fell from the sky one day near a snow pack. Being the simple ranger from the far uncivilized north I didn’t recognize what the great beast that was flying overheard was or the wizards riding on it.
I decided that the bottle would be a problem for my tribe after there was a fight, and so I decided to travel far to the south to return the bottle to the owners. I stumbled across a polar bear and he drank the liquid and seem to decide that he was my friend from then on. I thought it still important to return the bottle to the owners – it seemed very valuable what with the perfect artwork and rare artistry in its design.
I fell in with a group of adventurers who were traveling south to a land of dragons – what that great flying beast I had seen turned out to be. I decided it was safer to travel with them, so I joined them.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, my character’s name was long and complicated, but my companions called me Xixo (zeezoh). The polar bear was called CC after the two large letters on the bottle.
Cyberpunk
I think it is delightfully ironic that your parents wouldn’t allow D&D but Cyberpunk was kosher. Cyberpunk was the far more brutal game.
Bubbly brown liquid that fell from the sky?
First D&D game I ever played was when I was 16 just before my Junior year in HS. My parents are deeply religious and believed any game that was Fantasy was from the Devil. So Battletech, cyberpunk, and the like took up the first 5 years of my gaming life.
Too the point I, my first D&D character was a short Frost Giant (Ranger?) with a Giant Polar Bear companion. I had enticed him to join me with a glass bottle full of a bubbly brown liquid that had fallen from the sky one evening.
First D&D game I ever played was when I was 16 just before my Junior year in HS. My parents are deeply religious and believed any game that was Fantasy was from the Devil. So Battletech, cyberpunk, and the like took up the first 5 years of my gaming life.
Too the point I, my first D&D character was a short Frost Giant (Ranger?) with a Giant Polar Bear companion. I had enticed him to join me with a glass bottle full of a bubbly brown liquid that had fallen from the sky one evening.
First D&D game I ever played was when I was 16 just before my Junior year in HS. My parents are deeply religious and believed any game that was Fantasy was from the Devil. So Battletech, cyberpunk, and the like took up the first 5 years of my gaming life.
Too the point I, my first D&D character was a short Frost Giant (Ranger?) with a Giant Polar Bear companion. I had enticed him to join me with a glass bottle full of a bubbly brown liquid that had fallen from the sky one evening.
I stopped playing in D&D games for a while after the guys I played with (Chess club; we never played chess, we just hung out and played D&D and surfed the internet and watched The Simpsons) told me I didn’t know how to play a girl right, and the guys I played always got made fun of. So I decided to run a campaign.
We mostly played at the big dining room table in my house– I’d just gotten an espresso machine and drinking coffee while we played made everyone feel very grown up, like we were playing “like college students.”
My campaign was in a home-brewed world that was entirely too Celtic, probably stolen from some fantasy I was reading, and revolved around three brothers vying for the throne of Eire. Two brothers– one was a wizard and one was a tactical genius– really wanted the throne, and the third was like a gentle hippie bard who just wanted his brothers to settle it peacefully, but ended up reluctantly vying for the throne himself.
The PCs were kingmakers, and everyone split up among the three brothers, and it lead to some interparty conflict that everyone actually enjoyed. There was a giant battle over a magic artifact that was supposed to choose the king, but it got destroyed, so there was this huge three-way war.
Somehow, all of the NPC princes got offed by other PCs, and one of the PCs became king and married the paladin princess who was trying to stay out of it all. (Everyone had started at level 8, which was the general consensus for when D&D 3 became “fun.”)
One of the PCs was a centaur. He was irritated when the stable-boys kept asking him to stay in the barn.
King-makers
Too Celtic? No such thing, says I.
The three brothers set-up sounds awesome. It actually kind of sounds like something we’d do to set up a Burning Wheel game, actually.
Re: King-makers
You know, somewhere around here I still have the trapper-keeper that has some of the notes from that campaign. I think I might scan some and post them in my LJ for hilarity. I remember having way more fun writing about the EYE OF TYADDA than working on my AP US History essays.
Re: King-makers
Or you could send them here:
http://plagmada.org/Home.html
Re: King-makers
Or you could send them here:
http://plagmada.org/Home.html
Re: King-makers
You know, somewhere around here I still have the trapper-keeper that has some of the notes from that campaign. I think I might scan some and post them in my LJ for hilarity. I remember having way more fun writing about the EYE OF TYADDA than working on my AP US History essays.
Re: King-makers
That sounds like a fun Burning Wheel game.
Re: King-makers
That sounds like a fun Burning Wheel game.
King-makers
Too Celtic? No such thing, says I.
The three brothers set-up sounds awesome. It actually kind of sounds like something we’d do to set up a Burning Wheel game, actually.
I stopped playing in D&D games for a while after the guys I played with (Chess club; we never played chess, we just hung out and played D&D and surfed the internet and watched The Simpsons) told me I didn’t know how to play a girl right, and the guys I played always got made fun of. So I decided to run a campaign.
We mostly played at the big dining room table in my house– I’d just gotten an espresso machine and drinking coffee while we played made everyone feel very grown up, like we were playing “like college students.”
My campaign was in a home-brewed world that was entirely too Celtic, probably stolen from some fantasy I was reading, and revolved around three brothers vying for the throne of Eire. Two brothers– one was a wizard and one was a tactical genius– really wanted the throne, and the third was like a gentle hippie bard who just wanted his brothers to settle it peacefully, but ended up reluctantly vying for the throne himself.
The PCs were kingmakers, and everyone split up among the three brothers, and it lead to some interparty conflict that everyone actually enjoyed. There was a giant battle over a magic artifact that was supposed to choose the king, but it got destroyed, so there was this huge three-way war.
Somehow, all of the NPC princes got offed by other PCs, and one of the PCs became king and married the paladin princess who was trying to stay out of it all. (Everyone had started at level 8, which was the general consensus for when D&D 3 became “fun.”)
One of the PCs was a centaur. He was irritated when the stable-boys kept asking him to stay in the barn.
I stopped playing in D&D games for a while after the guys I played with (Chess club; we never played chess, we just hung out and played D&D and surfed the internet and watched The Simpsons) told me I didn’t know how to play a girl right, and the guys I played always got made fun of. So I decided to run a campaign.
We mostly played at the big dining room table in my house– I’d just gotten an espresso machine and drinking coffee while we played made everyone feel very grown up, like we were playing “like college students.”
My campaign was in a home-brewed world that was entirely too Celtic, probably stolen from some fantasy I was reading, and revolved around three brothers vying for the throne of Eire. Two brothers– one was a wizard and one was a tactical genius– really wanted the throne, and the third was like a gentle hippie bard who just wanted his brothers to settle it peacefully, but ended up reluctantly vying for the throne himself.
The PCs were kingmakers, and everyone split up among the three brothers, and it lead to some interparty conflict that everyone actually enjoyed. There was a giant battle over a magic artifact that was supposed to choose the king, but it got destroyed, so there was this huge three-way war.
Somehow, all of the NPC princes got offed by other PCs, and one of the PCs became king and married the paladin princess who was trying to stay out of it all. (Everyone had started at level 8, which was the general consensus for when D&D 3 became “fun.”)
One of the PCs was a centaur. He was irritated when the stable-boys kept asking him to stay in the barn.
I stopped playing in D&D games for a while after the guys I played with (Chess club; we never played chess, we just hung out and played D&D and surfed the internet and watched The Simpsons) told me I didn’t know how to play a girl right, and the guys I played always got made fun of. So I decided to run a campaign.
We mostly played at the big dining room table in my house– I’d just gotten an espresso machine and drinking coffee while we played made everyone feel very grown up, like we were playing “like college students.”
My campaign was in a home-brewed world that was entirely too Celtic, probably stolen from some fantasy I was reading, and revolved around three brothers vying for the throne of Eire. Two brothers– one was a wizard and one was a tactical genius– really wanted the throne, and the third was like a gentle hippie bard who just wanted his brothers to settle it peacefully, but ended up reluctantly vying for the throne himself.
The PCs were kingmakers, and everyone split up among the three brothers, and it lead to some interparty conflict that everyone actually enjoyed. There was a giant battle over a magic artifact that was supposed to choose the king, but it got destroyed, so there was this huge three-way war.
Somehow, all of the NPC princes got offed by other PCs, and one of the PCs became king and married the paladin princess who was trying to stay out of it all. (Everyone had started at level 8, which was the general consensus for when D&D 3 became “fun.”)
One of the PCs was a centaur. He was irritated when the stable-boys kept asking him to stay in the barn.
The Crawlspace of Doom
The crawlspace sounds like a dungeon all on its own.
That idea of going from 0 to 1st was something that came up a bunch; I remember a buddy of mine running an adventure very much like that. It was something in between the lines of those books, I reckon.
The Crawlspace of Doom
The crawlspace sounds like a dungeon all on its own.
That idea of going from 0 to 1st was something that came up a bunch; I remember a buddy of mine running an adventure very much like that. It was something in between the lines of those books, I reckon.
Off the Dragonrails
I never managed to plow through Dragonlance but my first character was a good ole kender thief.
I dig that you all went off the rails. How’d that occur?
Off the Dragonrails
I never managed to plow through Dragonlance but my first character was a good ole kender thief.
I dig that you all went off the rails. How’d that occur?
Cyberpunk
I think it is delightfully ironic that your parents wouldn’t allow D&D but Cyberpunk was kosher. Cyberpunk was the far more brutal game.
Bubbly brown liquid that fell from the sky?
Cyberpunk
I think it is delightfully ironic that your parents wouldn’t allow D&D but Cyberpunk was kosher. Cyberpunk was the far more brutal game.
Bubbly brown liquid that fell from the sky?
Re: Off the Dragonrails
I’m trying to remember exactly but I think they decided to take the refugees somewhere other than the Dwarven kingdom as outlined in the module and that set into motion a whole different order/pattern from the novels. I want to say they went directly to the Elves at that point.
Oh, and for the purposes of this thread I should also note that I met my wife through D&D, albeit indirectly (a friend of hers was in my game in college and she came by to see him one day and it was love at first sight for both of us).
Re: Off the Dragonrails
I’m trying to remember exactly but I think they decided to take the refugees somewhere other than the Dwarven kingdom as outlined in the module and that set into motion a whole different order/pattern from the novels. I want to say they went directly to the Elves at that point.
Oh, and for the purposes of this thread I should also note that I met my wife through D&D, albeit indirectly (a friend of hers was in my game in college and she came by to see him one day and it was love at first sight for both of us).
Names!
Halfling’s name?
Bear’s name?
Names!
Halfling’s name?
Bear’s name?
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Love at first sight over a table full of dice.
That is romantic.
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Love at first sight over a table full of dice.
That is romantic.
King-makers
Too Celtic? No such thing, says I.
The three brothers set-up sounds awesome. It actually kind of sounds like something we’d do to set up a Burning Wheel game, actually.
King-makers
Too Celtic? No such thing, says I.
The three brothers set-up sounds awesome. It actually kind of sounds like something we’d do to set up a Burning Wheel game, actually.
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Geeks 4 Life, yo!
Re: Off the Dragonrails
Geeks 4 Life, yo!
Re: Names!
I cannot remember… alas!
Re: Names!
I cannot remember… alas!
Re: Cyberpunk
Well they only ever looked at the covers of the books and never tried to read them. My mom did draw the line at Warhammer 40K – too many skulls on the cover. =P
Sure, a bubbly brown liquid that was in a thin, curvy, and hard glass bottle. The logo on the bottle was in red with white cursive lettering and a white swoosh. 😉 The bottle with the liquid in it fell from the sky one day near a snow pack. Being the simple ranger from the far uncivilized north I didn’t recognize what the great beast that was flying overheard was or the wizards riding on it.
I decided that the bottle would be a problem for my tribe after there was a fight, and so I decided to travel far to the south to return the bottle to the owners. I stumbled across a polar bear and he drank the liquid and seem to decide that he was my friend from then on. I thought it still important to return the bottle to the owners – it seemed very valuable what with the perfect artwork and rare artistry in its design.
I fell in with a group of adventurers who were traveling south to a land of dragons – what that great flying beast I had seen turned out to be. I decided it was safer to travel with them, so I joined them.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, my character’s name was long and complicated, but my companions called me Xixo (zeezoh). The polar bear was called CC after the two large letters on the bottle.
Re: Cyberpunk
Well they only ever looked at the covers of the books and never tried to read them. My mom did draw the line at Warhammer 40K – too many skulls on the cover. =P
Sure, a bubbly brown liquid that was in a thin, curvy, and hard glass bottle. The logo on the bottle was in red with white cursive lettering and a white swoosh. 😉 The bottle with the liquid in it fell from the sky one day near a snow pack. Being the simple ranger from the far uncivilized north I didn’t recognize what the great beast that was flying overheard was or the wizards riding on it.
I decided that the bottle would be a problem for my tribe after there was a fight, and so I decided to travel far to the south to return the bottle to the owners. I stumbled across a polar bear and he drank the liquid and seem to decide that he was my friend from then on. I thought it still important to return the bottle to the owners – it seemed very valuable what with the perfect artwork and rare artistry in its design.
I fell in with a group of adventurers who were traveling south to a land of dragons – what that great flying beast I had seen turned out to be. I decided it was safer to travel with them, so I joined them.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, my character’s name was long and complicated, but my companions called me Xixo (zeezoh). The polar bear was called CC after the two large letters on the bottle.
Re: Off the Dragonrails
That’s how my wife first saw me – she was dating another guy in a WEG Star Wars game I was playing in. ^_^
Re: Off the Dragonrails
That’s how my wife first saw me – she was dating another guy in a WEG Star Wars game I was playing in. ^_^
1979, I played Flub, a lawful evil magic-user in a party of mostly good characters — I was the Stewie to their Griffins, the Brain to their Pinky, as in they knew I was evil but wrote my schemes for world domination off as mere madness (which was aided by the fact that said schemes never seemed to actually work).
We played on a giant wooden chessboard, using dice as minis until someone finally bought some. I still have the red 6-sided that I used as me, a defender die taken from a dilapidated copy of Risk.
That campaign lasted for three years, as I recall — through most of my high school years. It concluded in a massive PvP incident over a town the other players wanted to protect, and that me and another player wanted to enslave. They won, but the party dynamic was never the same after brother shed the blood of brother (plus the usual vows of “when I get resurrected, I’m gonna come back and kill you!” kinda ruined the vibe as well).
Good times right up to that, though.
PvP
Ah, party v. party conflict, the good ole days.
PvP
Ah, party v. party conflict, the good ole days.
1979, I played Flub, a lawful evil magic-user in a party of mostly good characters — I was the Stewie to their Griffins, the Brain to their Pinky, as in they knew I was evil but wrote my schemes for world domination off as mere madness (which was aided by the fact that said schemes never seemed to actually work).
We played on a giant wooden chessboard, using dice as minis until someone finally bought some. I still have the red 6-sided that I used as me, a defender die taken from a dilapidated copy of Risk.
That campaign lasted for three years, as I recall — through most of my high school years. It concluded in a massive PvP incident over a town the other players wanted to protect, and that me and another player wanted to enslave. They won, but the party dynamic was never the same after brother shed the blood of brother (plus the usual vows of “when I get resurrected, I’m gonna come back and kill you!” kinda ruined the vibe as well).
Good times right up to that, though.
1979, I played Flub, a lawful evil magic-user in a party of mostly good characters — I was the Stewie to their Griffins, the Brain to their Pinky, as in they knew I was evil but wrote my schemes for world domination off as mere madness (which was aided by the fact that said schemes never seemed to actually work).
We played on a giant wooden chessboard, using dice as minis until someone finally bought some. I still have the red 6-sided that I used as me, a defender die taken from a dilapidated copy of Risk.
That campaign lasted for three years, as I recall — through most of my high school years. It concluded in a massive PvP incident over a town the other players wanted to protect, and that me and another player wanted to enslave. They won, but the party dynamic was never the same after brother shed the blood of brother (plus the usual vows of “when I get resurrected, I’m gonna come back and kill you!” kinda ruined the vibe as well).
Good times right up to that, though.
1979, I played Flub, a lawful evil magic-user in a party of mostly good characters — I was the Stewie to their Griffins, the Brain to their Pinky, as in they knew I was evil but wrote my schemes for world domination off as mere madness (which was aided by the fact that said schemes never seemed to actually work).
We played on a giant wooden chessboard, using dice as minis until someone finally bought some. I still have the red 6-sided that I used as me, a defender die taken from a dilapidated copy of Risk.
That campaign lasted for three years, as I recall — through most of my high school years. It concluded in a massive PvP incident over a town the other players wanted to protect, and that me and another player wanted to enslave. They won, but the party dynamic was never the same after brother shed the blood of brother (plus the usual vows of “when I get resurrected, I’m gonna come back and kill you!” kinda ruined the vibe as well).
Good times right up to that, though.
My friend’s brother started a Planescape campaign with my friend and I. I was playing Ruhig, a Tiefling, that didn’t want to be bothered with “adventure”. When my friend’s annoying character (all of his characters annoyed me come to think of it) crashed onto Ruhig’s roof, Ruhig locked her in a closet. Ah… the passive aggressive days of youth.
He did eventually go on the adventure, because I wanted him to be reluctant not completely unwilling. If I recall correctly, we explored the “Temple of Bozo”.
Bozo
Planescape and an old school Tiefling, sweet.
Temple of Bozo? As in…the clown? Because that is kind of terrifying.
Re: Bozo
Yeah as in the clown. The next adventure I had a big bag of clown noses that I had looted from the temple.
Re: Bozo
Yeah as in the clown. The next adventure I had a big bag of clown noses that I had looted from the temple.
Bozo
Planescape and an old school Tiefling, sweet.
Temple of Bozo? As in…the clown? Because that is kind of terrifying.
My friend’s brother started a Planescape campaign with my friend and I. I was playing Ruhig, a Tiefling, that didn’t want to be bothered with “adventure”. When my friend’s annoying character (all of his characters annoyed me come to think of it) crashed onto Ruhig’s roof, Ruhig locked her in a closet. Ah… the passive aggressive days of youth.
He did eventually go on the adventure, because I wanted him to be reluctant not completely unwilling. If I recall correctly, we explored the “Temple of Bozo”.
My friend’s brother started a Planescape campaign with my friend and I. I was playing Ruhig, a Tiefling, that didn’t want to be bothered with “adventure”. When my friend’s annoying character (all of his characters annoyed me come to think of it) crashed onto Ruhig’s roof, Ruhig locked her in a closet. Ah… the passive aggressive days of youth.
He did eventually go on the adventure, because I wanted him to be reluctant not completely unwilling. If I recall correctly, we explored the “Temple of Bozo”.
My friend’s brother started a Planescape campaign with my friend and I. I was playing Ruhig, a Tiefling, that didn’t want to be bothered with “adventure”. When my friend’s annoying character (all of his characters annoyed me come to think of it) crashed onto Ruhig’s roof, Ruhig locked her in a closet. Ah… the passive aggressive days of youth.
He did eventually go on the adventure, because I wanted him to be reluctant not completely unwilling. If I recall correctly, we explored the “Temple of Bozo”.
PvP
Ah, party v. party conflict, the good ole days.
PvP
Ah, party v. party conflict, the good ole days.
Somebody’s homebrew world with weird floating islands that projected individual gravity wells: We spent at least an hour discussing what would happen if you jumped down into a hole that passed through the center of an island. You know, because us players found such a hole and, well, tried what the DM didn’t want us to.
—
The biggest “break-out” moment was one-on-one DMing for my brother, I think it was D&D Red Box (but I can’t remember). The entire thing was improvised as we went; absolutely zero prep. We had a blast as his fighter from a faraway land worked towards prominence as a pit fighter in the bad neighborhood.
That was the first time I realized you could have honest fun gaming without a prepared adventure. Nearly all of my play and design since then reflects this.
RBPF
Red Box pit fighting. Sweet.
RBPF
Red Box pit fighting. Sweet.
Somebody’s homebrew world with weird floating islands that projected individual gravity wells: We spent at least an hour discussing what would happen if you jumped down into a hole that passed through the center of an island. You know, because us players found such a hole and, well, tried what the DM didn’t want us to.
—
The biggest “break-out” moment was one-on-one DMing for my brother, I think it was D&D Red Box (but I can’t remember). The entire thing was improvised as we went; absolutely zero prep. We had a blast as his fighter from a faraway land worked towards prominence as a pit fighter in the bad neighborhood.
That was the first time I realized you could have honest fun gaming without a prepared adventure. Nearly all of my play and design since then reflects this.
Somebody’s homebrew world with weird floating islands that projected individual gravity wells: We spent at least an hour discussing what would happen if you jumped down into a hole that passed through the center of an island. You know, because us players found such a hole and, well, tried what the DM didn’t want us to.
—
The biggest “break-out” moment was one-on-one DMing for my brother, I think it was D&D Red Box (but I can’t remember). The entire thing was improvised as we went; absolutely zero prep. We had a blast as his fighter from a faraway land worked towards prominence as a pit fighter in the bad neighborhood.
That was the first time I realized you could have honest fun gaming without a prepared adventure. Nearly all of my play and design since then reflects this.
Somebody’s homebrew world with weird floating islands that projected individual gravity wells: We spent at least an hour discussing what would happen if you jumped down into a hole that passed through the center of an island. You know, because us players found such a hole and, well, tried what the DM didn’t want us to.
—
The biggest “break-out” moment was one-on-one DMing for my brother, I think it was D&D Red Box (but I can’t remember). The entire thing was improvised as we went; absolutely zero prep. We had a blast as his fighter from a faraway land worked towards prominence as a pit fighter in the bad neighborhood.
That was the first time I realized you could have honest fun gaming without a prepared adventure. Nearly all of my play and design since then reflects this.
Bozo
Planescape and an old school Tiefling, sweet.
Temple of Bozo? As in…the clown? Because that is kind of terrifying.
Bozo
Planescape and an old school Tiefling, sweet.
Temple of Bozo? As in…the clown? Because that is kind of terrifying.
RBPF
Red Box pit fighting. Sweet.
RBPF
Red Box pit fighting. Sweet.
I’ve got to say, I wish I had been in games that didn’t treat the major players as untouchables. The whole Vecna/Khas thing sounded like a blast.
“It was a terrible game,” really? Because you made it sound pretty badass.
Pining for the Wheel
There were some fun setting bits and we had some fun but in the end, the game never came to any kind of satisfying conclusion and I felt like I was fighting the system tooth and nail (as I always did back then).
Even back then, I really wanted Burning Wheel.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
You should come to JiffyCon Boston later this month to deliver us the gospel of Burning Wheel.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
You should come to JiffyCon Boston later this month to deliver us the gospel of Burning Wheel.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
Dude, our pit fighting campaign would have been filled with ten-times more awesome if there was a Red Box-weight Burning Wheel (I probably wouldn’t have played such a system-heavy game with my little brother at that age).
In fact, a few Red Box hacks (like simplified Circles) would be pretty sweet.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
Dude, our pit fighting campaign would have been filled with ten-times more awesome if there was a Red Box-weight Burning Wheel (I probably wouldn’t have played such a system-heavy game with my little brother at that age).
In fact, a few Red Box hacks (like simplified Circles) would be pretty sweet.
Pining for the Wheel
There were some fun setting bits and we had some fun but in the end, the game never came to any kind of satisfying conclusion and I felt like I was fighting the system tooth and nail (as I always did back then).
Even back then, I really wanted Burning Wheel.
I’ve got to say, I wish I had been in games that didn’t treat the major players as untouchables. The whole Vecna/Khas thing sounded like a blast.
“It was a terrible game,” really? Because you made it sound pretty badass.
I’ve got to say, I wish I had been in games that didn’t treat the major players as untouchables. The whole Vecna/Khas thing sounded like a blast.
“It was a terrible game,” really? Because you made it sound pretty badass.
I’ve got to say, I wish I had been in games that didn’t treat the major players as untouchables. The whole Vecna/Khas thing sounded like a blast.
“It was a terrible game,” really? Because you made it sound pretty badass.
Pining for the Wheel
There were some fun setting bits and we had some fun but in the end, the game never came to any kind of satisfying conclusion and I felt like I was fighting the system tooth and nail (as I always did back then).
Even back then, I really wanted Burning Wheel.
Pining for the Wheel
There were some fun setting bits and we had some fun but in the end, the game never came to any kind of satisfying conclusion and I felt like I was fighting the system tooth and nail (as I always did back then).
Even back then, I really wanted Burning Wheel.
Re: King-makers
You know, somewhere around here I still have the trapper-keeper that has some of the notes from that campaign. I think I might scan some and post them in my LJ for hilarity. I remember having way more fun writing about the EYE OF TYADDA than working on my AP US History essays.
Re: King-makers
You know, somewhere around here I still have the trapper-keeper that has some of the notes from that campaign. I think I might scan some and post them in my LJ for hilarity. I remember having way more fun writing about the EYE OF TYADDA than working on my AP US History essays.
My AD&D 2e fighter had a longspear, which was 30′ and did 3d6 damage. He took it with him wherever he went. I think I insisted that because of my special fighter training I didn’t have any trouble getting it through doorways or around corners, but that the drow fighter-magic-user-thieves in our party (who were envious; their weapons only did like 1d12) couldn’t possibly handle the spear.
Also it was a Planescape game, and my character was from a Prime world where everyone used absurdly long spears. He fell through a transient portal in a secret door in his home city, and believed that Sigil was located in the wall of his favorite tavern until long after it ceased to be funny.
details
So odd, those little details that we get caught up on.
Funny.
details
So odd, those little details that we get caught up on.
Funny.
My AD&D 2e fighter had a longspear, which was 30′ and did 3d6 damage. He took it with him wherever he went. I think I insisted that because of my special fighter training I didn’t have any trouble getting it through doorways or around corners, but that the drow fighter-magic-user-thieves in our party (who were envious; their weapons only did like 1d12) couldn’t possibly handle the spear.
Also it was a Planescape game, and my character was from a Prime world where everyone used absurdly long spears. He fell through a transient portal in a secret door in his home city, and believed that Sigil was located in the wall of his favorite tavern until long after it ceased to be funny.
My AD&D 2e fighter had a longspear, which was 30′ and did 3d6 damage. He took it with him wherever he went. I think I insisted that because of my special fighter training I didn’t have any trouble getting it through doorways or around corners, but that the drow fighter-magic-user-thieves in our party (who were envious; their weapons only did like 1d12) couldn’t possibly handle the spear.
Also it was a Planescape game, and my character was from a Prime world where everyone used absurdly long spears. He fell through a transient portal in a secret door in his home city, and believed that Sigil was located in the wall of his favorite tavern until long after it ceased to be funny.
My AD&D 2e fighter had a longspear, which was 30′ and did 3d6 damage. He took it with him wherever he went. I think I insisted that because of my special fighter training I didn’t have any trouble getting it through doorways or around corners, but that the drow fighter-magic-user-thieves in our party (who were envious; their weapons only did like 1d12) couldn’t possibly handle the spear.
Also it was a Planescape game, and my character was from a Prime world where everyone used absurdly long spears. He fell through a transient portal in a secret door in his home city, and believed that Sigil was located in the wall of his favorite tavern until long after it ceased to be funny.
details
So odd, those little details that we get caught up on.
Funny.
details
So odd, those little details that we get caught up on.
Funny.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
You should come to JiffyCon Boston later this month to deliver us the gospel of Burning Wheel.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
You should come to JiffyCon Boston later this month to deliver us the gospel of Burning Wheel.
Re: King-makers
Or you could send them here:
http://plagmada.org/Home.html
Re: King-makers
Or you could send them here:
http://plagmada.org/Home.html
The craziest highschool D&D game I can remember was a Spelljammer game I was in that took place on the true Spelljammer. The party was an Alaghi, a gully dwarf, a thri-kreen, and one other strange race I can’t recall. The campaign was pretty brief and mostly consisted of our brawling exploits against a cult of human racists trying to rid the ship of non-humans.
Spelljammer
Alaghi, thanks for the link; that would have stumped me.
I really loved Spelljammer stuff but really did not like the boxed set that eventually came out for the Spelljammer itself.
I love the idea of human xeno-phobes, though. That is a fun metaphor for racism.
Re: Spelljammer
In 2nd ed the Alaghi (from the complete book of humanoids or some such) had I think a +4 strength bonus, so I made a pretty ridiculous brawler out of him. Ultimately the spelljammer bit was just an excuse to play whatever we wanted.
It’d have been cooler if we had been more aware of racism as an issue on a higher level, there’s a lot of material in the core D&D setting for it. In practice it just came down to us punching out mobs of angry humans when we weren’t at our hippy-commune.
Re: Spelljammer
Punching out human mobs while venturing out from your hippy commune sounds like a pretty damned solid start to me.
Re: Spelljammer
Yeah, it does sound pretty cool. Poor execution though, the pacing was just very slow and most of the PCs were only interested in doing their own weird race-specific things, it was briefly sweet but petered out pretty quick.
A lot of my highschool D&D was pretty low-key. The high-concept stuff never lasted too long, but the fairly generic Forgotten Realms campaign was around for the longest time.
Re: Spelljammer
Yeah, it does sound pretty cool. Poor execution though, the pacing was just very slow and most of the PCs were only interested in doing their own weird race-specific things, it was briefly sweet but petered out pretty quick.
A lot of my highschool D&D was pretty low-key. The high-concept stuff never lasted too long, but the fairly generic Forgotten Realms campaign was around for the longest time.
Re: Spelljammer
Punching out human mobs while venturing out from your hippy commune sounds like a pretty damned solid start to me.
Re: Spelljammer
In 2nd ed the Alaghi (from the complete book of humanoids or some such) had I think a +4 strength bonus, so I made a pretty ridiculous brawler out of him. Ultimately the spelljammer bit was just an excuse to play whatever we wanted.
It’d have been cooler if we had been more aware of racism as an issue on a higher level, there’s a lot of material in the core D&D setting for it. In practice it just came down to us punching out mobs of angry humans when we weren’t at our hippy-commune.
Spelljammer
Alaghi, thanks for the link; that would have stumped me.
I really loved Spelljammer stuff but really did not like the boxed set that eventually came out for the Spelljammer itself.
I love the idea of human xeno-phobes, though. That is a fun metaphor for racism.
The craziest highschool D&D game I can remember was a Spelljammer game I was in that took place on the true Spelljammer. The party was an Alaghi, a gully dwarf, a thri-kreen, and one other strange race I can’t recall. The campaign was pretty brief and mostly consisted of our brawling exploits against a cult of human racists trying to rid the ship of non-humans.
The craziest highschool D&D game I can remember was a Spelljammer game I was in that took place on the true Spelljammer. The party was an Alaghi, a gully dwarf, a thri-kreen, and one other strange race I can’t recall. The campaign was pretty brief and mostly consisted of our brawling exploits against a cult of human racists trying to rid the ship of non-humans.
The craziest highschool D&D game I can remember was a Spelljammer game I was in that took place on the true Spelljammer. The party was an Alaghi, a gully dwarf, a thri-kreen, and one other strange race I can’t recall. The campaign was pretty brief and mostly consisted of our brawling exploits against a cult of human racists trying to rid the ship of non-humans.
I was playing a bard. I encountered a talking portcullis.
Portcullis : “I’m not about to let a bunch of adventurers in!”
Me : “Adventurers? We’re not adventurers!”
Portcullis : “Then why are you carrying all that rope and such? Only an adventurer would be carrying so much rope.”
Me : “Why, My name is Uriah Hemp, and I’m a humble rope salesman!”
Rope Salesman
It has an almost Monty Python quality to it, doesn’t it?
Re: Rope Salesman
I think our games sort of tended to that in those days, even in the midst of the serious.
I think the goofy jokes are often more memorable than the adventures they derailed.
Re: Rope Salesman
I think our games sort of tended to that in those days, even in the midst of the serious.
I think the goofy jokes are often more memorable than the adventures they derailed.
Rope Salesman
It has an almost Monty Python quality to it, doesn’t it?
I was playing a bard. I encountered a talking portcullis.
Portcullis : “I’m not about to let a bunch of adventurers in!”
Me : “Adventurers? We’re not adventurers!”
Portcullis : “Then why are you carrying all that rope and such? Only an adventurer would be carrying so much rope.”
Me : “Why, My name is Uriah Hemp, and I’m a humble rope salesman!”
I was playing a bard. I encountered a talking portcullis.
Portcullis : “I’m not about to let a bunch of adventurers in!”
Me : “Adventurers? We’re not adventurers!”
Portcullis : “Then why are you carrying all that rope and such? Only an adventurer would be carrying so much rope.”
Me : “Why, My name is Uriah Hemp, and I’m a humble rope salesman!”
I was playing a bard. I encountered a talking portcullis.
Portcullis : “I’m not about to let a bunch of adventurers in!”
Me : “Adventurers? We’re not adventurers!”
Portcullis : “Then why are you carrying all that rope and such? Only an adventurer would be carrying so much rope.”
Me : “Why, My name is Uriah Hemp, and I’m a humble rope salesman!”
Spelljammer
Alaghi, thanks for the link; that would have stumped me.
I really loved Spelljammer stuff but really did not like the boxed set that eventually came out for the Spelljammer itself.
I love the idea of human xeno-phobes, though. That is a fun metaphor for racism.
Spelljammer
Alaghi, thanks for the link; that would have stumped me.
I really loved Spelljammer stuff but really did not like the boxed set that eventually came out for the Spelljammer itself.
I love the idea of human xeno-phobes, though. That is a fun metaphor for racism.
Rope Salesman
It has an almost Monty Python quality to it, doesn’t it?
Rope Salesman
It has an almost Monty Python quality to it, doesn’t it?
Re: Rope Salesman
I think our games sort of tended to that in those days, even in the midst of the serious.
I think the goofy jokes are often more memorable than the adventures they derailed.
Re: Rope Salesman
I think our games sort of tended to that in those days, even in the midst of the serious.
I think the goofy jokes are often more memorable than the adventures they derailed.
Re: Bozo
Yeah as in the clown. The next adventure I had a big bag of clown noses that I had looted from the temple.
Re: Bozo
Yeah as in the clown. The next adventure I had a big bag of clown noses that I had looted from the temple.
Re: Spelljammer
In 2nd ed the Alaghi (from the complete book of humanoids or some such) had I think a +4 strength bonus, so I made a pretty ridiculous brawler out of him. Ultimately the spelljammer bit was just an excuse to play whatever we wanted.
It’d have been cooler if we had been more aware of racism as an issue on a higher level, there’s a lot of material in the core D&D setting for it. In practice it just came down to us punching out mobs of angry humans when we weren’t at our hippy-commune.
Re: Spelljammer
In 2nd ed the Alaghi (from the complete book of humanoids or some such) had I think a +4 strength bonus, so I made a pretty ridiculous brawler out of him. Ultimately the spelljammer bit was just an excuse to play whatever we wanted.
It’d have been cooler if we had been more aware of racism as an issue on a higher level, there’s a lot of material in the core D&D setting for it. In practice it just came down to us punching out mobs of angry humans when we weren’t at our hippy-commune.
The first time I realized you could just *decide* to break the rules was when my basic D&D buddy did up a character where he rolled 3d12 for his stats.
My 3rd-grade mind was blown.
d12 Hersey
3 d12’s for stats!
That is HERESY!
Hand me some d12’s, dammit.
d12 Hersey
3 d12’s for stats!
That is HERESY!
Hand me some d12’s, dammit.
The first time I realized you could just *decide* to break the rules was when my basic D&D buddy did up a character where he rolled 3d12 for his stats.
My 3rd-grade mind was blown.
The first time I realized you could just *decide* to break the rules was when my basic D&D buddy did up a character where he rolled 3d12 for his stats.
My 3rd-grade mind was blown.
The first time I realized you could just *decide* to break the rules was when my basic D&D buddy did up a character where he rolled 3d12 for his stats.
My 3rd-grade mind was blown.
Re: Spelljammer
Punching out human mobs while venturing out from your hippy commune sounds like a pretty damned solid start to me.
Re: Spelljammer
Punching out human mobs while venturing out from your hippy commune sounds like a pretty damned solid start to me.
We did a 2 year long Feng Shui game. It rocked primarily because of two things:
1. No one was familiar with the Shadowfist cardgame or the RPG- all my friends were diehard HK movie fans. So I introduced the game as an HK game about Triads & Police and then introduced all the crazy magic and time travel.
2. We tossed out the rules preventing time paradoxes, which worked really well for pick up games, as events from 2 weeks ago actually would be playing out simultaneously with events happening right now.
Sadly, we had to toss the rules almost entirely. It just was too much time for each fight. On the other hand, I developed a solid chunk of narrativist skills in those days.
1 million bullets
Two years of Feng Shui, that is a whole lotta bullets.
How did the HK police stuff meld into the rather gonzo magic and time travel stuff?
Re: 1 million bullets
It became really interesting- naturally the Triads were looking at the mystical Netherworld as a prime place to hide “stuff”. And then the cop player decided he would chase them through time to catch them.
Re: 1 million bullets
When you say narrativist skills, what did you cultivate at that time?
What nar muscles did you build back in those days?
I was fond of story squats and thematic push-ups, myself.
Re: 1 million bullets
It took a few sessions, but I figured out that it was easier to just keep in mind the NPCs motivations and simply set scenes on the fly based on those than to do “if-then” trees. Pretty soon the PCs were building/breaking alliances throughout the various factions, and building lots of personal relationships.
The exploding dice mechanic provided a great situation where a player was trying to distract an uberpowerful sorceress and ended up killing her, on accident… when then set into motion ALL KINDS of trouble as everyone assumed major power plays were being made.
Re: 1 million bullets
It took a few sessions, but I figured out that it was easier to just keep in mind the NPCs motivations and simply set scenes on the fly based on those than to do “if-then” trees. Pretty soon the PCs were building/breaking alliances throughout the various factions, and building lots of personal relationships.
The exploding dice mechanic provided a great situation where a player was trying to distract an uberpowerful sorceress and ended up killing her, on accident… when then set into motion ALL KINDS of trouble as everyone assumed major power plays were being made.
Re: 1 million bullets
When you say narrativist skills, what did you cultivate at that time?
What nar muscles did you build back in those days?
I was fond of story squats and thematic push-ups, myself.
Re: 1 million bullets
It became really interesting- naturally the Triads were looking at the mystical Netherworld as a prime place to hide “stuff”. And then the cop player decided he would chase them through time to catch them.
1 million bullets
Two years of Feng Shui, that is a whole lotta bullets.
How did the HK police stuff meld into the rather gonzo magic and time travel stuff?
We did a 2 year long Feng Shui game. It rocked primarily because of two things:
1. No one was familiar with the Shadowfist cardgame or the RPG- all my friends were diehard HK movie fans. So I introduced the game as an HK game about Triads & Police and then introduced all the crazy magic and time travel.
2. We tossed out the rules preventing time paradoxes, which worked really well for pick up games, as events from 2 weeks ago actually would be playing out simultaneously with events happening right now.
Sadly, we had to toss the rules almost entirely. It just was too much time for each fight. On the other hand, I developed a solid chunk of narrativist skills in those days.
We did a 2 year long Feng Shui game. It rocked primarily because of two things:
1. No one was familiar with the Shadowfist cardgame or the RPG- all my friends were diehard HK movie fans. So I introduced the game as an HK game about Triads & Police and then introduced all the crazy magic and time travel.
2. We tossed out the rules preventing time paradoxes, which worked really well for pick up games, as events from 2 weeks ago actually would be playing out simultaneously with events happening right now.
Sadly, we had to toss the rules almost entirely. It just was too much time for each fight. On the other hand, I developed a solid chunk of narrativist skills in those days.
We did a 2 year long Feng Shui game. It rocked primarily because of two things:
1. No one was familiar with the Shadowfist cardgame or the RPG- all my friends were diehard HK movie fans. So I introduced the game as an HK game about Triads & Police and then introduced all the crazy magic and time travel.
2. We tossed out the rules preventing time paradoxes, which worked really well for pick up games, as events from 2 weeks ago actually would be playing out simultaneously with events happening right now.
Sadly, we had to toss the rules almost entirely. It just was too much time for each fight. On the other hand, I developed a solid chunk of narrativist skills in those days.
d12 Hersey
3 d12’s for stats!
That is HERESY!
Hand me some d12’s, dammit.
d12 Hersey
3 d12’s for stats!
That is HERESY!
Hand me some d12’s, dammit.
1 million bullets
Two years of Feng Shui, that is a whole lotta bullets.
How did the HK police stuff meld into the rather gonzo magic and time travel stuff?
1 million bullets
Two years of Feng Shui, that is a whole lotta bullets.
How did the HK police stuff meld into the rather gonzo magic and time travel stuff?
Re: 1 million bullets
It became really interesting- naturally the Triads were looking at the mystical Netherworld as a prime place to hide “stuff”. And then the cop player decided he would chase them through time to catch them.
Re: 1 million bullets
It became really interesting- naturally the Triads were looking at the mystical Netherworld as a prime place to hide “stuff”. And then the cop player decided he would chase them through time to catch them.
We had almost exactly the same experience. Our game ended with the world saved but every PC dead except Sturm (the one who does die in the books).
Dragonlance takes so much shit for being railroady, and it’s not at all undeserved, but everybody I know who actually enjoyed it had the same experience of playing the first couple modules and then riding joyously off the rails.
We had almost exactly the same experience. Our game ended with the world saved but every PC dead except Sturm (the one who does die in the books).
Dragonlance takes so much shit for being railroady, and it’s not at all undeserved, but everybody I know who actually enjoyed it had the same experience of playing the first couple modules and then riding joyously off the rails.
Re: 1 million bullets
When you say narrativist skills, what did you cultivate at that time?
What nar muscles did you build back in those days?
I was fond of story squats and thematic push-ups, myself.
Re: 1 million bullets
When you say narrativist skills, what did you cultivate at that time?
What nar muscles did you build back in those days?
I was fond of story squats and thematic push-ups, myself.
Re: 1 million bullets
It took a few sessions, but I figured out that it was easier to just keep in mind the NPCs motivations and simply set scenes on the fly based on those than to do “if-then” trees. Pretty soon the PCs were building/breaking alliances throughout the various factions, and building lots of personal relationships.
The exploding dice mechanic provided a great situation where a player was trying to distract an uberpowerful sorceress and ended up killing her, on accident… when then set into motion ALL KINDS of trouble as everyone assumed major power plays were being made.
Re: 1 million bullets
It took a few sessions, but I figured out that it was easier to just keep in mind the NPCs motivations and simply set scenes on the fly based on those than to do “if-then” trees. Pretty soon the PCs were building/breaking alliances throughout the various factions, and building lots of personal relationships.
The exploding dice mechanic provided a great situation where a player was trying to distract an uberpowerful sorceress and ended up killing her, on accident… when then set into motion ALL KINDS of trouble as everyone assumed major power plays were being made.
Re: King-makers
That sounds like a fun Burning Wheel game.
Re: King-makers
That sounds like a fun Burning Wheel game.
Re: Spelljammer
Yeah, it does sound pretty cool. Poor execution though, the pacing was just very slow and most of the PCs were only interested in doing their own weird race-specific things, it was briefly sweet but petered out pretty quick.
A lot of my highschool D&D was pretty low-key. The high-concept stuff never lasted too long, but the fairly generic Forgotten Realms campaign was around for the longest time.
Re: Spelljammer
Yeah, it does sound pretty cool. Poor execution though, the pacing was just very slow and most of the PCs were only interested in doing their own weird race-specific things, it was briefly sweet but petered out pretty quick.
A lot of my highschool D&D was pretty low-key. The high-concept stuff never lasted too long, but the fairly generic Forgotten Realms campaign was around for the longest time.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
Dude, our pit fighting campaign would have been filled with ten-times more awesome if there was a Red Box-weight Burning Wheel (I probably wouldn’t have played such a system-heavy game with my little brother at that age).
In fact, a few Red Box hacks (like simplified Circles) would be pretty sweet.
Re: Pining for the Wheel
Dude, our pit fighting campaign would have been filled with ten-times more awesome if there was a Red Box-weight Burning Wheel (I probably wouldn’t have played such a system-heavy game with my little brother at that age).
In fact, a few Red Box hacks (like simplified Circles) would be pretty sweet.
Most of my teenage rpg years were, unfortunately, filled with making characters and not actually gaming. There was a time in high school, when I was hanging out with the skater crowd, that I ran a guy solo in D&D. He described it for the other guys the next day and they thought it sounded fun. Then someone scored some cheap beer. Boh!
I think my first rpg memory was my dad trying to play with my brother and I when we were probably 7 and 4, respectively. I very clearly remembering, after my dad telling us that we were in a tavern looking for fellow adventurers to go into the dungeon with, standing up on a chair in our den and yelling, “Anybody want to go into the dungeon with us!”
Most of my teenage rpg years were, unfortunately, filled with making characters and not actually gaming. There was a time in high school, when I was hanging out with the skater crowd, that I ran a guy solo in D&D. He described it for the other guys the next day and they thought it sounded fun. Then someone scored some cheap beer. Boh!
I think my first rpg memory was my dad trying to play with my brother and I when we were probably 7 and 4, respectively. I very clearly remembering, after my dad telling us that we were in a tavern looking for fellow adventurers to go into the dungeon with, standing up on a chair in our den and yelling, “Anybody want to go into the dungeon with us!”
Most of my teenage rpg years were, unfortunately, filled with making characters and not actually gaming. There was a time in high school, when I was hanging out with the skater crowd, that I ran a guy solo in D&D. He described it for the other guys the next day and they thought it sounded fun. Then someone scored some cheap beer. Boh!
I think my first rpg memory was my dad trying to play with my brother and I when we were probably 7 and 4, respectively. I very clearly remembering, after my dad telling us that we were in a tavern looking for fellow adventurers to go into the dungeon with, standing up on a chair in our den and yelling, “Anybody want to go into the dungeon with us!”
Most of my teenage rpg years were, unfortunately, filled with making characters and not actually gaming. There was a time in high school, when I was hanging out with the skater crowd, that I ran a guy solo in D&D. He described it for the other guys the next day and they thought it sounded fun. Then someone scored some cheap beer. Boh!
I think my first rpg memory was my dad trying to play with my brother and I when we were probably 7 and 4, respectively. I very clearly remembering, after my dad telling us that we were in a tavern looking for fellow adventurers to go into the dungeon with, standing up on a chair in our den and yelling, “Anybody want to go into the dungeon with us!”