slythe, if you’re in or near St. Louis, I’ll join your game in a hot minute.
Slythe–do you take newbies* and how far from Chicago are you?
*We played the original version of D&D for a couple of months way back when it first came out, but I’ve done nothing D&D since then.
“The secret of life is, there ain’t no secret, and you don’t get your money back.”
Sign me up.
And I promise not to shoot anyone when the death dice gank me.
<FONT COLOR=“GREEN”>ExTank</FONT>
<FONT COLOR=“BLUE”>“What? Another 1 on a d20? Who in the party did I kill this time?”</FONT>
Sorry, but we play it wet and wild here in Portland, Oregon.
And ExTank, As DM, I’LL do all the fragging!
Slythe:
Amen.
Glad to see somebody still remembers the #1 rule (No arguing with the Dungeon Master). BTW, here it is referred to as the Red Dragon Weenie Rule - any argument w/ the DM results in 1-on-1 combat w/ said red dragon.
{{This is how we play here-AD&D Players Handbook, 2nd Edition(NO PSIONICS!), }}
What, no monks? I love monks! They’re a real challenge to play.
Oh, and I can be persuaded to bring a lasagna for dinner. Particularly if the DM takes bribes.
I’m delighted to read that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE is not buying into all the character kits.
Lynn
Have polyhedral dice, will travel.
Lynn, I am current reviewing my policy on burnt sacrifices. ;).
Sorry, people, but if it ain’t in the book I use, I won’t allow it. And I confiscate all DM Guides at the door, because the ways of the DM are not yours to know.
Slythe,
Sounds like you’ve got a fine game going - keep it up.
My group started when the books (PH 1, MM1) first came over the pond, so all of us had DM’d before the DM guide arrived - we didn’t know any other way to do it.
So now we have a supplement of rule extensions, and changes have to be agreed by all the DM’s. (It is still fun, luckily!)
Do you only have one DM?
I am always DM because the group has determined that slythe is too damn devious to be trusted as a player-character. slythe would back-stab a god if he had half a chance at getting his or her perse!
slythe, one word of advise from a fellow DM.
do let the player bring in their dm guides.
trust me on this, its wonderful to watch the player quiver in fear because they know that what they just encountered isnt written down in the dm’s guide…and they dont have a clue (or a book) on what to make of it.
then you add a something little extra to em orcs, like extra str or a couple of levels and what seemed like a normal group of orcs and goblins turns out to be a nightmare.
once i managed to make 10 gnolls (unmodified)
take down a 5 player party, each player lvl 6 or 7. i was also dm-ing a character on 7th lvl who had never won a fight. point being…the dm is always right (within the normal boundries of the rules) and the players always commit suicide.
and by the way, i hate kits, specially the ones in “classes” handbooks…
bj0rn
bj0rn,
I’m a bit puzzled by your last post. I agree it’s good to modify monsters (different tribe, cross-breeding etc.) so the players are kept on their toes.
Also my group, as I said above, are all Dm’s, and I agree it doesn’t matter that we’ve all read the books.
But I don’t understand the rest.
Why is it good to have 10 gnolls take out a 6th level party? Shouldn’t players at that level be experienced enough to cope?
I can imagine a 7th level character (perhaps a Paladin) never having won a fight. He could be a supreme diplomat, using honesty, intelligence and even guile. But your post implies that he’s been in a lot of fights - and lost them all. Since you’re in control, shouldn’t he have fairer opposition?
Finally I assume you meant by ‘the players always commit suicide’ that your players make a lot of mistakes and frequently get killed. Can’t you put in a Wise Hermit or similar to offer advice?
Sorry, but if everyone has the ghod book, the game slows down to a crawl while every decision I make is looked up. The players use the Players Handbook, and if they prey(oops… make that “pray”) properly they might get to look at the Monster Manual.
[whine]
Aren’t there any decent gamers in the state of Missouri?
[/whine]
Slythe,
No offence intended (I’m not really a Pit person!), but why would giving the players the DM Guide mean that they then look up every decision of yours? Surely all they need is consistency and trust?
My main campaign players (all DM’s) might mention something politely (e.g. if they think I’ve made a gross blunder), but none of them want to interrupt the flow of the game. (I think it makes me a better DM if I play regularly).
I also run the game at my School, and I admit I don’t show them the DM Guide. But firstly I think it is more exciting for beginners, and secondly we only have a couple of hours each week for each group.
The way I’ve always seen it is Fuck the Books - all of them.
Sure I use them as the loose framework to construct my adventures, but they are just one of the many tools I use.
The minute they slow things down - into the fire they go (I still fondly remember the frenzied fire-cleansing we performed on the DM Guide of a nit-picking player who never once DMed, but would always bring the damn book to our games and challenge my every decision).
Those books become a crutch to most players (and DMs) - there is nothing sacrosanct about them.
Slythe: Burnt sacrifices? My lasagnas are never BURNT. I generally have at least two people checking them constantly for doneness, whether I want such help or not.
Auraseer: Well, I did live in Missouri, but not voluntarily. My brother played, too. I don’t think he plays any more, though.
Currently, I play Gemstone III. Look for Granita Smithdott, dwarven warrior. She has the Feather of Doom.
Lynn the Packrat
Slythe, that tagline was in reference to a game where my 2nd-Level Fighter, armed with a bastard sword, did more damage to our 2nd-3rd Level group (and himself!) with three consecutive rolls of a 1 on a d20.
Our mage lost his head, our thief lost an arm and eventually would have died, and our cleric was down for the count.
We laughed so hard we fell off our chairs and cried, and then with the DM’s mutual consent, agreed that it never happened and started the combat over again (after taking my d20 and tossing it out the window ;))
For the rest of that campaign, my Fighter was forced outside the group’s circle of protection during combat, which made saving throws interesting once the mage mastered fireballs.
<FONT COLOR=“GREEN”>ExTank</FONT>
<FONT COLOR=“BLUE”>"…and 'ware the gank-dice, for doth they ever roll poorly at inopportune moments."</FONT>
My God, but you have to wade through a lot of shit here it the Pit, I almost didn’t get to the end of the posts.
I’m with slythe, I hate gamers who try to second the GM. Rules are for the GM to know, although I’ve learned many of them over the years, as a player and not a GM I made a concerted effort NOT to do any extra curricular reading in the manuals and source books for the various games. I’ll have to give your game a miss since there is a continent between us, but we’ve been Cyberpunking and White Wolfing lately anyway.
…at night, the ice weasels come…
Sorry, but so far I refuse to cyber-game. The pizza is crappy, and nobody remembers to bring the beer.
ExTank, I once managed to off my entire party before we left the inn. I needed a box to put a map in, and dumped out the deck of many wonders into a bag of holding for safe-keeping. The DM just shook his head and said,“Do you want me to roll on this, or do you want to start creating new characters after a bathroom break?”
the thing is that the players expected it to be an easy fight, simple as that. now they have realized that a sword in the hand of an enemy could mean death. what i really dislike are player characters who think they can take em all out, dont get me wrong…they can try, but im not going to make it easy.
i always present the players with options, he always picked the worst option (that is the most difficult one) but somehow managed to come through it alive, thus he’s level 7 (hes been through alot)
no, they dont die that often. quite rarely accually. its real simple…you present em with a few options, everything from run to charge and they value out their chances. they know that high risks mean high rewards and low risk mean that they make it through it alive unless they fall over and break their own necks. i rather enjoy when players make mistakes, although i do not have too utilize their mistake (that would be unfair), i on the other hand add a complication. that one of course depends on the situation the characters face, but shouldnt really be critical to the outcome of their actions.
bj0rn