Dungeons and Dragons ~ The First RPG

[Touchfuzzy]

I haven't looked at 5e in detail so I can't give an opinion on it.  The last copy of D&D that I bought in book form was 1st edition AD&D years ago which I no longer have and I have no desire to spend money on a new edition.  (I do current have the 2nd edition Core Rules 2.0 & expansion software though.)

The basic rules are free (and you could really run an entire campaign with nothing but the basic rules if you wanted). I feel like it feels sort of like a streamlined AD&D with better character customization. A few 3.x things are in, but they are generally a lot less offensive than they were in 3.x. Feats are a thing in the full game, but you don't get a ton of them, and they are huge chunks. No more "Oh I want to be a great archer, so I need these 8 feats". You take the archery related feat and boom. You have cool meaty archery abilities.

Overall I think its the most playable version of D&D I've seen, and I played AD&D-5e. Its just simple and doesn't have too much extra "bolted on".

 

[deilin]

I have rulebooks for D&D 1 thru 3.

THAC0 amyone?

I also have the origional version of the first D&D boardgame "Dungeons: A D&D Adventure"

In many of my games, I've tried simulatind the d20 style as much as possible.

It disgusts me how in some games now they try to have ultimate combos for over a 999,999,999 damage, and the enemy still lives through it.

True, in D&D, the party can get unlucky and be wiped out in a bad round of rolls (and bad team play), but, cest la viè.

Since, I've made a few d20, and even card driven games to run adventures with some. I got board and even made a RPG style using MTG cards.

 

[Touchfuzzy]

On a related note, I just caught up on all the books for Fantasy Flights Star Wars RPG Lines. Such a fun game.

 

[Sixth]

Ohh, wow, my topic inspired another one! Gotta pin it on my calendar!


I played DnD a few times in college just for the heck of it. It was always a good party with friends, lotsa fun and... beer.


I always died in it because I tend to be irrational and play the funny guy. Can't help it, it's just so much funnier that way.


*Your sword slipped from your grip and the bandit is ready to strike...*


"Ohh, yeah? Special skill: Puppy Eyes!" - says me.


*Didn't work, you died.*


Ohh, well...


Needless to say, everybody liked my characters. Well, mostly liked their dying scenes, were always hilarious.

 

[Clord]

Like using an actual paper? So retro.


Personally I like computer implementations of the board games unless I play with someone I really know (unless the game is really complex and there is just a good virtual alternative.)

 

[Kai Monkey]

The amazing thing about Paper RPGs which CRPGs will never be able to achieve is the complete freedom. 

In DnD there are an unlimited number of solutions to each problem- sure you can fight your way through the henchmen and fight the evil sheriff of the town, but you could also try and blackmail him, try and get the town to form an armed resistance, join his ranks to gain his trust and betray him, or literally anything else you can think of trying to do. 

There is nothing more frustrating in cRPG's when there is a list of 3 or 4 dialog options and none of them are what you want to say. In DnD you can, and that's why for me I will always see cRPGs as a simulation of tabletop games, not an advancement.

/Kai 

 

[captainproton]

One of my favorite ways of getting past guards in my last Changeling campaign was to spin an illusion and Jessica Rabbit my way past.

You also can't create distractions in computer games with impromptu flash mobs.

 

[Clord]

The amazing thing about Paper RPGs which CRPGs will never be able to achieve is the complete freedom. 


In DnD there are an unlimited number of solutions to each problem- sure you can fight your way through the henchmen and fight the evil sheriff of the town, but you could also try and blackmail him, try and get the town to form an armed resistance, join his ranks to gain his trust and betray him, or literally anything else you can think of trying to do. 


There is nothing more frustrating in cRPG's when there is a list of 3 or 4 dialog options and none of them are what you want to say. In DnD you can, and that's why for me I will always see cRPGs as a simulation of tabletop games, not an advancement.


/Kai

Indeed, it would require a "true" artificial intelligence in games to achieve such freedom.

 

[trouble time]

I recently GM'd my first session of a tabletop RPG (Deathwatch, the Warhammer 40k one) and it was a blast. It was thankfully a really easy game to understand.

 

[Touchfuzzy]

"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."

I love intentional dark satire that is the WH40K universe. Even though a lot of people seem to not realize its a satire.

 

[Kai Monkey]

I played 40k game recently, and it was a blast!

Us: "Sir, we saw the enemy Chaos using Power Armored Troops, we barely survived!"
​Inquisitor: "You must be mistaken, only the empire has Power Armor"

Us: "I see, yes of course, we must made it up the whole thing" (Entirely unironically)

Propaganda is one hell of a drug! 

 

[Touchfuzzy]

I just don't get how people can miss that a world in which all of mankind worships a 10,000 year old man who is sustained by sacrificing thousands of people a day because all the alternatives are even worse is not intended to be taken seriously as heroic.

 

[trouble time]

I played 40k game recently, and it was a blast!

Us: "Sir, we saw the enemy Chaos using Power Armored Troops, we barely survived!"

​Inquisitor: "You must be mistaken, only the empire has Power Armor"

Us: "I see, yes of course, we must made it up the whole thing" (Entirely unironically)

Propaganda is one hell of a drug! 

During the game one of my friends made an emporer joke...one of my other friends called him it and he failed the Fellowship role to talk him down...and well, things got messy. All in game of course, and it was all in character...that was the campaign's first death, and probably a highlight of my expirence so far. (also I got to yell WAAAAAAAAAGH! at 3:00am, that was fun).

 

[Omega Weapon]

Sounds like you guys really had a blast with the WH40K-verse

I'm currently looking at WOD for one thing I'm planning: a one-shot in the setting of The Unforgiving (yes, the Within Temptation album!)

Gonna have to adjust some combat rules I think. And find a way to integrate the "losing memories when using powers" thing.

 

[Idealeven]

Speaking of table top games, do any of you play on virtual table top sites like Roll20.net?

Oh. My. FSM. That website is exactly the kind of toolkit I have spent years looking for. I have tried so many different pieces of software but nothing works as well as that. Thank you so much for introducing me to this.

Anyway, as for the actual thread: I played D&D 3.5 and 4. I actually started with 4 but discovered 3.5 later and went with that, then went with Pathfinder afterwards. I actually use the 3.5 and Pathfinder books as resources for my game designs in VX Ace. I also have the old CRPGs like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and the sequels, and I love them. I find it hard to believe when people say they are fans of RPGs but don't know what D&D is, or (this actually happened) how some Elder Scrolls cosplayers will rant about the childishness of D&D. Learn the history of the costume you are wearing, idiots.

Seriously, though it really is a cultural icon and I think anybody who wants to design a game should spend some time playing D&D or Pathfinder. Understand the roots of the genre and where most of the concepts come from, and experience the gameplay mechanics in their "pure" form. It really helps to make you a better designer.