# Anyone up for some D&D with a twist?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 20, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220 "2007-08-20T05:13:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/41 "2007-08-28T01:23:13Z")

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[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja]  
In summary, I will only play a cleric if the party is masochists. 😃  
[/QUOTE]

You have _no_ idea. Years ago, I ran a silly Forgotten Realms campaign (to balance out a simultaneous grimmer-than-death Greyhawk campaign). The party cleric was an evangelical priest of Ilmater. (“Suffrin’ in this _world_ puts _jew-ells_ in yo’ _crown_ in _Heaven_!” Yes, the player actually did the voice. And he had a little miter made out of a bandana that he put on while in character.)

His carried broken glass and such in his pockets, so he could get quick fixes of “suffrin’”, and the party thieves never learned not to try to pick them. His real schtick, though, was that he wouldn’t deprive anyone of their earthly suffering to the detriment of their souls. As a result, when he healed someone, they got the full dose of pain from weeks of recuperation in an instant. I required the other characters to make Constitution checks to see if they passed out. They would limp along at half-hit points or less rather than let him heal them, and I eventually ruled them immune to Symbol of Pain and similar spells.

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**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/42 "2007-08-28T02:29:24Z")

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[QUOTE=sturmhauke]  
D&D is very dice heavy, although maybe it will go faster online since you don’t have physical dice.  
[/QUOTE]

You don’t need to tell ME about it. Just about every tabletop gaming module I’ve played has like 5 rolling actions for 1 in-game action.

Remind me sometime to tell you guys about the time my game-mates tried to full frontal assault an orc fortress… :smack:

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**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/43 "2007-08-28T04:10:19Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> So Sir Dirx, any thoughts on what kind of class you’d like to play? If you aren’t sure, you can do what brownie55 did and just talk out the kind of character you’re envisioning, and let everyone else here try to sell you on classes that sound similiar to your ideas.

I checked around on the Hypertext D20 site, and I think Shadowdancer looks pretty interesting. As for what to start with… Rogue looked good, but all that trap sense will make it the perfect guinea pig in this campaign (have fun, **brownie55** ;)). I’m also not much of a song-and-dance person, so looks like Monk it is.

I was also toying with the idea of being a Gnome, unless there’s some kind of reptilian race I could try out. Looks like that’d fall under the “monsters as PCs” category though, which looks rather messy, and more hassle than it’s worth for a starter player.

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**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/44 "2007-08-28T05:43:32Z")

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Hmm… I’d normally want our party as big as possible, but since we’re typing I’m hesitant to make things much bigger than they are. **Dotchan** , **Algher** , how about if I put you two on a waiting list at least until our first game session, to see how well things work? We might find that even the six we have are too much, or we might find that more would be merrier… either way, I promise to let you guys know ASAP. We’re gonna log our sessions and post 'em on the Dope anyway (assuming all of the players are cool with that), so if we decide to draft you guys in, you can join in without missing much.

As for the cleric issue, I’d rather everyone played something they want. LPNinja is kind to offer, but I think I can solve the issue easily. This is also a good time to mention one of the big dynamics of our game: debt. Getting in debt, and getting out of debt, are both big components of the storyline. You’ll have fairly regular access to a “company store” of sorts that will extend you a credit line, which’ll allow you to buy healing potions and the like. Furthermore, I’m thinking that as soon as your characters prove themselves trustworthy by finishing a mission or two and surviving, their employers might find some “creative” ways to solve their healing problem.

Another hint: everyone take at least a few points of Heal. One of my house rules is that if you need a Kit that you don’t have, you’re allowed to attempt to Jury Rig it. To use a kit you’ll need to pass a DC test that gets easier as your skills increase and lowers in a manner proportional to the inventiveness (or humor) of the procedure described by the player in question.

Anyway, now that we’re taking a waiting list ( ☹ ) let me do the rolecall. As I understand, the following players are in the active party:

**Sir Dirx** - a monk, with intentions to take the Shadowdancer prestige class.  
**brownie55** - a rogue  
**Little Plastic Wizard** - a wizard  
**Revenant Threshold** - a ranger  
**Paladud** - a rogue  
**sturmhauke** - either a psionicist or wrestler. I don’t know anything about psionics, so the wrestler might be better… but I’m happy to learn if you prefer the psion route.

Our waiting list:

**dotchan  
Algher**

If I missed anyone from either list or got any details wrong, please tell me. 🙂

What I’m really hoping will happen is that the party entertains itself, so to speak: if party-internal interactions make up a lot of the session, we can happily add dotchan and Algher in… if I’m responding directly to everyone, however, I feel as if 6 is about the most I can handle. (If we get any more volunteers though, I’d be happy to run a second game for the second party; it’d be neat to see how two different teams took the same obstacles.)

Also, now that we’re discussing races, I’d really rather not go into the nonstandard ones, just for ease of bookkeeping. Any of the standard races should be fine, though, and if anyone who has experience wants to start rolling up their character, feel free to. For simplicity’s sake, I use the point system. I don’t have the sourcebook with me, however… could someone who has it handy please remind me how many points each player starts with?

As for those of you who’re just getting started, once we figure out how many points to assign I, or someone else here, can write out simple instructions for how to fill out the excel sheet.

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**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/45 "2007-08-28T05:46:53Z")

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Oho! I just had a better idea! Right now we have a 6-player active party and a 2-player waiting list… how about we just run two 4-player parties, so that we can let everyone play? Depending on what people’s schedules look like, it may work out best that way: you’ll play the exact same game (assuming one group doesn’t find a blaring error that I correct before the next game), and I’ll just run things on different nights. I can post both logs after everyone has gone through each session, so we can compare notes and laugh at each other… it should be a ripping good time.

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**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/46 "2007-08-28T06:44:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Omi no Kami]  
**sturmhauke** - either a psionicist or wrestler. I don’t know anything about psionics, so the wrestler might be better… but I’m happy to learn if you prefer the psion route.  
[/QUOTE]

Heh, actually my latest idea, in case I wasn’t clear enough earlier, was to make a psionic wrestler. I’d be a psychic warrior rather than a psion, so I’d have fewer powers and better combat ability. Or I can just be a barbarian wrestler instead.

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**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/47 "2007-08-28T12:09:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja]  
Bloody hell I always have to play the askdlfjasdlf cleric.

If I have to play a cleric this time I’m going to worship the god of artifice. If there isn’t one, I will make him up.

A gnomish cleric. To the god of artifice.

I will make the awesomest wands EVER. They will have gears and colored smoke and Jacob’s ladders. And I will make wounded party members sing praises to the god of artifice before I heal them.

In summary, I will only play a cleric if the party is masochists. 😃  
[/QUOTE]  
If you go this route, there is a Forgotten Realms deity that would suit you. He goes under the name of Gond.

[Here’s a Wiki article on him](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gond_(god)). Of course, you’ll have to get the DMs permission to use FR material. Indeed you should clear any sourcebook with him before committing to an idea. But he makes a good starting base for a god of Artificers.

I’ll be happy to help out in some capacity, but probably can’t manage playing because of the cursed word “timezones” - being east of the Atlantic drastically hampers my ability to be online at the same time as the Americas-based players. Let me know.

_Subscribes to the thread and ambles off._

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**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/48 "2007-08-28T12:16:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Omi no Kami]

Also, now that we’re discussing races, I’d really rather not go into the nonstandard ones, just for ease of bookkeeping. Any of the standard races should be fine, though, and if anyone who has experience wants to start rolling up their character, feel free to. For simplicity’s sake, I use the point system. I don’t have the sourcebook with me, however… could someone who has it handy please remind me how many points each player starts with?  
[/QUOTE]  
The number of points is your decision.

The example characters all had 25 points to start with. 28 will make the characters more powerful and 32 will be quite high powered.

My advice would be don’t use 25 points. At least one of the character plans will be horribly gimped.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/49 "2007-08-28T13:24:21Z")

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[QUOTE=MHaye]  
If you go this route, there is a Forgotten Realms deity that would suit you. He goes under the name of Gond.

[Here’s a Wiki article on him](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gond_(god)). Of course, you’ll have to get the DMs permission to use FR material. Indeed you should clear any sourcebook with him before committing to an idea. But he makes a good starting base for a god of Artificers.  
[/QUOTE]

I remember Gond all too well. We had a gnomish cleric to Gond in a game, oh, some years ago. He was the center of a lot of jokes, partly because most of the usual clerical stuff is held in ‘meh’ by Gond.

“We are going to be looting this temple, you know. And you’re a cleric.”  
“Meh. Gond’s pretty much okay with that.”

“What about all those undead?”  
“Gond doesn’t have a lot to say about undead.”

It became something of a motto of the party: “Gond’s Okay With That!”

Then there was the time we had to break an artifact against another artifact to destroy a great evil…

“Okay, Gond is NOT okay with that!”

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**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/50 "2007-08-28T14:23:48Z")

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I’m in the EST timezone, and I’ll have time to play every day until the week of September 17th, when class starts. (I don’t have my schedule on hand, but IIRC I’ll be in attendance Tuesdays through Thursday, afternoonish.)

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/51 "2007-08-28T14:58:13Z")

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Anyone familiar with the Far Side that shows what a dog hears? Picture me as the dog. I’m grasping about one word in five in this thread. 😃

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**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/52 "2007-08-28T15:00:37Z")

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Blah blah blah. Blah blah\*\* jsgoddess \*\* blah blah.

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/53 "2007-08-28T15:15:01Z")

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[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold]  
Blah blah blah. Blah blah\*\* jsgoddess \*\* blah blah.  
[/QUOTE]

At least it wasn’t what a cat hears. 😃

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**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/54 "2007-08-28T17:25:37Z")

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I am good with whatever (either backup, Duex ex Dorkina, or in another group).

Once the party creation metrics are settled I will create the character. Since I am backup, it will probably be the afore-mentioned Druid.

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**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/55 "2007-08-29T05:46:26Z")

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I’m fine with FR material, so anybody who wants to pull story elements from it is free to. Just be warned that this is likely to be an extremely silly and extremely bloody campaign.

Ooh, **jsgoddess** doesn’t understand what we’re saying! Quick, somebody con her into playing a cleric! 😉

The psionic wrestler and druid both sound fine… I just need to find the psionics sourcebook. As for scheduling, it’d be best for me if we waited to work days out until around sept. 10th.

Oh, and character creation! Let’s use the point system with 28 points; it’s easy, and it doesn’t force our rogues to min/max in order to survive.

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/56 "2007-08-29T12:56:04Z")

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[QUOTE=Omi no Kami]  
Ooh, **jsgoddess** doesn’t understand what we’re saying! Quick, somebody con her into playing a cleric! 😉

[/QUOTE]

Oh dear. It’s bad when you’re being threatened and you don’t know with what!

However, if you’re still looking for players and can accept someone who is as clueless as I am, I’ll play whatever role. I’m not picky (nor, obviously, smart).

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**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/57 "2007-08-29T13:30:36Z")

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Gameplay question:

For the spellcasters, would it be possible to use a Magic Point system\* instead of a Spell Slot system? The latter has never quite made sense to me, both from a gameplay and a in-world explanation point of view. I like having more versatility as a spellcaster.

\*i.e., the character picks what spells he learns, magic point values are assigned to each spell, and then he can cast any spell he wants until he runs out of mp.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/58 "2007-08-29T13:40:53Z")

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I can’t play, due both to timezones and to this curse I have, where every time I sign up for a DnD online game Shit Happens.

But I can subscribe!

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**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/59 "2007-08-29T14:24:05Z")

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Well if you’ve got room in a party of a waiting list, I’d be happy to join in. I’m up on my 3.5 but I haven’t played in a few months. I can always find something interesting to fit the party.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-up-for-some-d-d-with-a-twist/416220/60 "2007-08-29T16:06:36Z")

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[QUOTE=dotchan]  
Gameplay question:

For the spellcasters, would it be possible to use a Magic Point system\* instead of a Spell Slot system? The latter has never quite made sense to me, both from a gameplay and a in-world explanation point of view. I like having more versatility as a spellcaster.

\*i.e., the character picks what spells he learns, magic point values are assigned to each spell, and then he can cast any spell he wants until he runs out of mp.  
[/QUOTE]

It sounds like you’re looking for a sorceror – you get a certain number of spell slots per level, though you don’t have as many spells that you know. The versatility comes with the price of needing to know just what you’re going to do. I think there was once a spell point system to substitue for spell slots, but as I recall it no longer became viable once the sorceror class was created. I could be wrong, though.

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