monk
Prospector
Posts: 90
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Post by monk on Feb 18, 2015 19:13:13 GMT -5
I really like your blog. It's a good 'un.
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Post by Admin Pete on Feb 25, 2015 20:21:15 GMT -5
Welcome to all of the new members and I invite all who have not introduced themselves to do so. To those of you who are lurking, make a post in this thread and you will all get an Exalt from me your host , that way we can have the most highly exalted membership around. Seriously come tell us a little or a lot about yourself!
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Post by angelicdoctor on Feb 26, 2015 15:23:09 GMT -5
Well, what can one write about oneself without appearing to make much of oneself? Let's see. I am a happily married man and father of eight most excellent children who have given me cause to have another look at that old role-playing game that was collecting dust in my garage for a number of years. I have been playing off and on now for about thirty years ever since the Moldvay B series box first made its appearance in the early 80s. I have played with a variety of different groups both young and old, from the strange to the socially acceptable and have marveled at the player diversity this game has. When it comes to preferred version I would have to write that the answer to this question has fluctuated especially in recent years. For a very long time, 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was in the primary spot though the B/X series supplanted it until now. Earlier this year (January 2015) I acquired an expensive though rather clean copy of the original game along with all of its supplements to include both Chainmail and even Swords and Spells. Naturally, this edition of the game now reigns supreme in my heart. Having also obtained my own copy of Outdoor Survival I can run a party like its 1974! But enough of that. Back to my story...
Since my 'olders' are now in their teen years I had decided to introduce them to the D&D world first through Stephan Chenault's Castles & Crusades game. Later we also discovered the Star Wars Role-playing game, first the Revised Version followed shortly afterward by Saga edition. Though we had a wonderful time with Star Wars, as the characters gained levels in the middle range, for this game would be 8-12, I suppose, I was finding it increasingly difficult to plan for and execute encounters in a timely fashion. We had gotten through the Dawn of Defiance series of adventures and after running through the 5th of 10 adventures we pretty much called an indefinite postponement. It just became too much in terms of time and resources. We have since started playing James M. Ward's most excellent Metamorphosis Alpha game and haven't looked back. The latter is now the family's preferred choice of game and we even get together with another family to play it. Between our respective families we number twelve in the gaming group including myself and the father of the other family. Ages range between 8 and 19 years for the kids and then us old guys in our early 40s. The good thing about having this many kids to game with? Plenty of miniatures, toys and blocks to recreate the scenes! But I digress. I started listening to the RFI Podcast, THAC0's Hammer and Save or Die podcasts and through them I perpetually find the inspiration to continue fantasy and sci-fi gaming possibly for some time to come and regularly.
Cheers!
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Post by tetramorph on Mar 2, 2015 19:34:37 GMT -5
Welcome monk, cadriel, and angelicdoctor! Welcome also all you who have signed in but have not posted yet. Looking forward to your posts. Only when you are ready, of course!
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Mar 2, 2015 22:51:48 GMT -5
Welcome to the forums,angelicdoctor!
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Post by angelicdoctor on Mar 3, 2015 12:22:34 GMT -5
Thanks to you both! Also thank DM Mike of the Save or Die podcast for directing me here!
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monk
Prospector
Posts: 90
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Post by monk on Mar 6, 2015 15:07:32 GMT -5
Welcome angelicdoctor. Your play group sounds awesome! Thanks for making an introduction post, it's so interesting to hear the gaming situations of other contributors.
Congrats on continuing to game through raising 8 kids. That's an achievement! By your name and family size I'm guessing we're of the same tribe, haha!
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Post by Admin Pete on Mar 6, 2015 17:32:58 GMT -5
Thanks to you both! Also thank DM Mike of the Save or Die podcast for directing me here! Welcome angelicdoctor and my thanks to DM Mike also!
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Post by robjn on Mar 8, 2015 14:46:30 GMT -5
I blame my older cousin. He showed up during one of the irregular get-togethers, with the Player's Handbook and DMG tucked under one arm, packed with graph paper and hand-written character sheets, improv-ed a dungeon for me, and that was it. I was hooked. He loaned me the books, (High Gygaxian does wonders for the fourth grade vocabulary) and I've been scribbling dungeons and playing at making worlds ever since.
About a year later, a friend got hold of a Moldvay Basic set at a garage sale, and asked for my help in deciphering all those cryptic "d-whatevers." Another friend loaned me his Mentzer Basic set, and it was there that I really began to 'grok' D&D.
I've played other games, and several other editions, but my first love will probably always be Mentzer's D&D (thank you Frank Mentzer for all those words, especially some of the best DMing and dungeon design advice in the Basic DM's booklet; oh, and Larry Elmore's art is, to me, D&D.)
I ran a couple campaigns back in middle and high school, rotating my games into the mix of Top Secret/S.I., RIFTS/Robotech, Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk 2020. I had a great gaming group. Alas, college happened, we went our separate ways, I moved to Texas and got married, and dropped out of active gaming for several years. Oh, I snatched up Alternity when (thankfully!) Wizards released it, bought into the 3rd Edition(s) when they came out, and played a handful of pickup games at one of the local game stores. I ran a (very) short-lived 3e campaign with the step-son, but then he went the way of White Wolf and I had to kick him out. (I kid. He moved in with his girlfriend.)
Nowadays, I am nursing a couple of play by posts (one exploring my own embellishments to Castle Mistamere, using the Basic Set, the other an Alternity-powered sci-fi/techno-magical dystopian Blackmoor romp (can one romp, when stranded in low orbit?) ). I am also scribbling up a one-on-one campaign for the wife, who -- after 17 years of marriage -- has decided to give this "D&D thing" a fair shake. Given her choice, we're running with 5th Edition. So far, so good, as that system seems to harken back to the best bits of BECMI, with some modern twists thrown in.
I've developed my own "spin" on the Known World/Mystara setting, chronicling those changes through the eyes of a journeyman druid, as serialized at the Piazza's Mystara forum, as well as on the Vaults of Pandius.
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Post by Admin Pete on Mar 9, 2015 19:18:31 GMT -5
Check things out and maybe you will start a pbp here at some point.
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Post by Necromancer on Mar 16, 2015 17:52:24 GMT -5
I really like your blog. It's a good 'un. I second that. It's a good blog, well worth checking out. And monk, I'd love to read more about your Lost Continent setting, it sounds really cool! Perhaps you'd like to start a thread down in the Campaign forum at some point...? EDIT: Hmm, I don't know what to say, really - I must have been really tired when I posted this. monk has already started a thread about his setting, but it's down in the House Rules section. I've even posted in that thread myself... Nevertheless, I'd still like to read more about that setting!
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Post by randyb on Mar 16, 2015 21:10:40 GMT -5
Hi, all!
Been lurking over at ODD74 (is that the best abbreviation?) for a while, posting rarely, and got wind of this board. Much fun!
Got started with Holmes (briefly), moved to AD&D and hung in with the editions through 3e, though I never actually played the last. Never bought 4e, but managed to read through it. Same with 5e, so far. Also with OD&D, coming full
Haven't actively played in... too many years. Time has taken it's toll on my leisure opportunities. I'm not adverse to PbP or PBeM, though.
Anyway, I've already seen lots of interesting posts here, so I'll be around, reading and kibitzing...
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Post by Admin Pete on Mar 16, 2015 21:52:16 GMT -5
Hi, all! Been lurking over at ODD74 (is that the best abbreviation?) for a while, posting rarely, and got wind of this board. Much fun! Got started with Holmes (briefly), moved to AD&D and hung in with the editions through 3e, though I never actually played the last. Never bought 4e, but managed to read through it. Same with 5e, so far. Also with OD&D, coming full Haven't actively played in... too many years. Time has taken it's toll on my leisure opportunities. I'm not adverse to PbP or PBeM, though. Anyway, I've already seen lots of interesting posts here, so I'll be around, reading and kibitzing... Welcome randyb and yes ODD74 is a good way to abbreviate Fin's forum. We are happy that you are here and we hope to have some more pbp games going soon. We look forward to seeing both worlds posted and games going on!
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Post by randyb on Mar 17, 2015 10:20:19 GMT -5
Welcome randyb and yes ODD74 is a good way to abbreviate Fin's forum. We are happy that you are here and we hope to have some more pbp games going soon. We look forward to seeing both worlds posted and games going on! Thanks!
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Post by bestialwarlust on Mar 17, 2015 20:23:08 GMT -5
Hello I also got wind of this board through an episode of SOD. I'm mostly at the ODD74 forum but this looked like another good place to poke my head into.
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Post by Admin Pete on Mar 17, 2015 20:31:54 GMT -5
Hello I also got wind of this board through an episode of SOD. I'm mostly at the ODD74 forum but this looked like another good place to poke my head into. Welcome aboard! If you have a campaign we would love to hear about it. Look around, comments and suggestions are entertained daily.
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Post by bestialwarlust on Mar 17, 2015 21:25:22 GMT -5
Hello I also got wind of this board through an episode of SOD. I'm mostly at the ODD74 forum but this looked like another good place to poke my head into. Welcome aboard! If you have a campaign we would love to hear about it. Look around, comments and suggestions are entertained daily. No ODD campaign currently I finished one a few months ago. Though I do plan on starting one up. I actually use the Delving Deeper rules for my ODD games.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2015 3:01:44 GMT -5
Welcome, bestialwarlust! It's a good community here, with lots of great ideas being tossed around.
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Post by Admin Pete on Mar 18, 2015 6:19:04 GMT -5
Welcome aboard! If you have a campaign we would love to hear about it. Look around, comments and suggestions are entertained daily. No ODD campaign currently I finished one a few months ago. Though I do plan on starting one up. I actually use the Delving Deeper rules for my ODD games. Good, perhaps down in the fora you can share how using Delving Deeper is working for you. I, for one, would love to hear more about each simulacra that anyone has used. That is the best review - from someone that has used something.
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Apr 7, 2015 8:45:08 GMT -5
My birth year is 1937 and I turn 78 today (4/7/2015). Our original core group of 9 guys all grew up together and we are all within a few years of each others ages. Two of our original 9 have passed away and of the remaining 7 only three of us are in good health. Out of the original 9, 4 of us still live in the same neighborhood and play regularly. The other 3 still show up about 4-6 times a year, but due to declining health those three have not been able to make it this year and the four of us that game together regularly are planning a trip to visit each of the three that live out of town. One of the four of us is also in poor health but determined to make the trip.
We started an organized twice-weekly game night in 1956 playing cards, boardgames, and wargames that we made up. We had played together from early childhood (cowboys and indians was a long time favorite), we were into westerns, fairy & folktales, science fiction and a lot of other things. I remember homemade bow & arrows, spears, swords, staffs etc., and hunting and fishing with our fathers and grandfathers, and getting old enough to get our first guns and the thrill of hunting and getting that first kill.
Starting in 1956 (noted above) up until 1971 we had played about 1400 games. Then in early April 1971, a cousin of one of my friends sent him a copy of the Fantasy section of Chainmail. We got hooked on it quickly and played it right up until the same cousin sent a copy of D&D in February 1974 and we immediately converted our Chainmail campaign over to OD&D.
Starting with Chainmail Fantasy and continuing with OD&D we played our 1000th game in January of 1982, our 2000th in December 1995 and our 3000th game in September 2008 and this past weekend April 4th and 5th we played our 3687th and 3688th games. Our current goal is to reach 4000 OD&D games and 400 years of game time.
We have played through about 371 years of game time in the main campaign and have four OD&D side campaigns in the same world. I call the main campaign the Tarrozian Campaign and it is very deadly. TPK's are common and getting a group of characters to 4th level is always a cause for celebration. The original core group of players have had between (I am guessing here) 550-750 characters each. In spite of about 450 TPK's, each of us have retired about 10-18 characters apiece. But on some game days we have went through 8-10 characters each.
Our typical gaming session used to be about 12 hours in length which works out to about 36 days of game time on the average. (includes travel time and in-town time which usually passes very quickly, most but not all the time). Ten game sessions is roughly a year of game time, and we usually go through about 7-8 game years per year, although once we retired we are picking up the frequency of gaming so that is approaching 10 game years per year for about the last 12 years. On the other hand since we passed about 70 years old the length of our games has decreased to about 8 hours split into two - four hour segments with a long break in the middle.
A surviving character will usually reach 4th level in about one game year and 6th level by the end of the second game year. By 4th level a fighting-man (as an example) would have a magic weapon, a 50% chance of magic armor, some other magic item and would have saved about 2000 GP after all spending etc was accounted for and would have that amount available to outfit his next foray into the wilderness or a dungeon or whatever. By 6th level a fighting man would have a magic weapon, magic armor, 1 or 2 other magic items and have accumulated about 8000 GP. He would also have attracted the first few of his permanent followers by this point based on his Charisma.
The odds of a starting 1st level character reaching 4th level is roughly 1 in 6. The odds of a 4th level character reaching 6th level is roughly 1 in 2. The odds of a 6th level character reaching 8th level is roughly 1 in 2.
Survival is tough, magic is hard to come by and special, my players seem to like it this way and when I play I like it this way as a player.
We have some children who play now and then and some grandchildren who play now and then. We also have a few great-grandchildren who are just starting to play. We hope that some of them will carry these campaigns on when we are gone.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 2:53:52 GMT -5
Welcome, Crimhthan The Great, and happy birthday! Your history sounds amazing, I'm looking forward to hearing your stories about gaming OD&D through the years. I think we all wish we could have a campaign as robust as yours. If you don't mind my asking, which part of the country (I'm assuming US) does your group live, and when you first picked up Chainmail and OD&D did you know of any other groups who played, or was it just yours? I'm always interested in hearing about where and how the game was being played in its earliest days.
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Post by Necromancer on Apr 8, 2015 6:59:52 GMT -5
Welcome aboard and happy birthday, Crimhthan The Great! That is a truly amazing story, and I'm quite frankly utterly impressed. Those statistics are just mindblowing. Reading your presentation is very inspirational and encouraging - I sure hope to keep myself interested in the RPG world when I'm 78! Have an Exalt!
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Post by Admin Pete on Apr 8, 2015 22:21:02 GMT -5
Crimhthan The Great, so the odds of a 1st level character reaching 8th level is 1/6 X 1/2 X 1/2 = 1 in 24, that has to be the most deadly campaign I have ever heard of outside of perhaps David Hargrave's Arduin. That is pretty brutal.
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Post by waysoftheearth on Apr 9, 2015 3:25:18 GMT -5
That is awesome Crimhthan The Great; among the most inspirational things I've ever read on the internet.
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Apr 9, 2015 9:21:13 GMT -5
Welcome, Crimhthan The Great, and happy birthday! Your history sounds amazing, I'm looking forward to hearing your stories about gaming OD&D through the years. I think we all wish we could have a campaign as robust as yours. If you don't mind my asking, which part of the country (I'm assuming US) does your group live, and when you first picked up Chainmail and OD&D did you know of any other groups who played, or was it just yours? I'm always interested in hearing about where and how the game was being played in its earliest days. Thank you! I live in central Ohio south of Columbus out in the rural areas. One of my buddies cousins sent us the game with a few some suggestions on play. Every time we got something new we went through it for things to add or try out in the game. We would take ideas from anywhere. Thank you, the rest of you for the birthday wishes. Yes, it is a brutal campaign, we do not pull punches or fudge rolls. I know many people have a problem with the death toll and their players would rebel if they died that often. We were in our mid-30's when we started playing Chainmail fantasy and late 30's when we started playing OD&D. Character death is not a failure, it is a learning experience. What many people call meta-gaming is just smart play. Here is what Gygax says in the Introduction in Men & Magic: Gygax assumed that you as a player knew everything there was to know about the rules and the game world that was available to know. Hence the house ruling nature of the game to always keep it fresh.
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Post by kesher on Apr 9, 2015 14:06:06 GMT -5
Wow, Crimhthan The Great, that's an amazing post! Thanks for sharing your own invaluable bit of deep gaming history...
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Post by Admin Pete on Apr 9, 2015 14:18:39 GMT -5
Wow, Crimhthan The Great, that's an amazing post! Thanks for sharing your own invaluable bit of deep gaming history... Welcome kesher, happy to have you aboard!
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Kjeran
Wanderer
Lord of Isungsgardr
Posts: 2
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Post by Kjeran on Apr 12, 2015 23:35:54 GMT -5
Well, I started gaming on 26 December 1981. the game was Gamma World 1e that received from my aunt for Christmas. I ran my cousins through my first adventure and was hooked. a friend go Moldvey Basic for Christmas and those were our games for a while. D&D and AD&D rules were mixed with abandon. We also played Traveller, Fasa Trek, and DragonQuest. There were other games as well, but most did not have long term campaigns. As far as OD&D goes, I had all the LBBs + Supplements & Chainmail, but traded them in the mid 90's for the Traveller LBBs + Merc & High Guard and a copy of Deities and Demigods with Moorcock/Lovecraft. Currently, I'm running two campaigns with my home group, the Guardians of the Polar Bear: Swords & Wizardry Complete and a 5e game. The S&WC plays a lot like our mishmash of B/X, BECMI, and 1E in the early to mid 80s. I looking forward to seeing what Blueholme Complete will be like. I have a campaign world I've been working on for 30 years, but very little playing has occurred in it.; I use abbreviated versions for some of the lands and some of the lore seeps into my other campaigns. My blog that I post on infrequently is: Polar Bear Dreams & Stranger Things.
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Post by Admin Pete on Apr 13, 2015 5:29:33 GMT -5
Well, I started gaming on 26 December 1981. the game was Gamma World 1e that received from my aunt for Christmas. I ran my cousins through my first adventure and was hooked. a friend go Moldvey Basic for Christmas and those were our games for a while. D&D and AD&D rules were mixed with abandon. We also played Traveller, Fasa Trek, and DragonQuest. There were other games as well, but most did not have long term campaigns. As far as OD&D goes, I had all the LBBs + Supplements & Chainmail, but traded them in the mid 90's for the Traveller LBBs + Merc & High Guard and a copy of Deities and Demigods with Moorcock/Lovecraft. Currently, I'm running two campaigns with my home group, the Guardians of the Polar Bear: Swords & Wizardry Complete and a 5e game. The S&WC plays a lot like our mishmash of B/X, BECMI, and 1E in the early to mid 80s. I looking forward to seeing what Blueholme Complete will be like. I have a campaign world I've been working on for 30 years, but very little playing has occurred in it.; I use abbreviated versions for some of the lands and some of the lore seeps into my other campaigns. My blog that I post on infrequently is: Polar Bear Dreams & Stranger Things. Welcome! We look forward to hearing about your campaigns and your campaign world. I would also like to hear about your experiences with Gamma World and more.
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Post by Koren on Apr 24, 2015 14:14:50 GMT -5
Hello, hello! I never got around to registering back when you started the board, but was reminded again by a recent episode of the Save or Die podcast. Don't know how active I'll be here, but no doubt I'll pop in and share my thoughts now and then.
Thanks for having me!
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