Preserved Topic: RPG - starting a new campaign (Page 2 of 3)

np

I feel that way sometines too.

Skaarjj: We are going to play on weekends, since that is the only time both you and tiki are available and because it is the only day(s) that I can play that early in the afternoon...

SPyX: A half-elf ranger shouldn't be a problem to play even if you are new. They are almost like a straight fighter for the first 8 levels, then get spells and they get a little more "trouble" playing, but by that time you'll probably have gotten the hang of it. The reason mages etc. are harder to play is that they have less hp and you have to decide spells etc for them to use and it takes some practice to chose the right spells. Another easy to start character is a barbarian - almost like a clean fighter, but still different But the most important thing is that you make a char that you like and want to play, if there is any problem I can always help...

I got the LOTR DVD on the day it was released, spent a couple of hours infront of the DVD player since then. Can barely wait for the Deluxe version of the DVD is released. And on the DVD they say that the Two Towers is going to be better that The Fellowship of the Ring... didn't think that was possible


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Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

Just a quick question Ven, before I get back to studying these rules, are we supposed to be those seven wizards? Cause if we are I don't quite see how it works, and if we aren't, where do we come into the story?

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

You are not one of the 'Seven Wizads'. If you were you would all have to be wizards and that woulnd't have been any fun, now would it The campagin will take place about 200 years after the Wizards' time of adventure and wandering...

[edit]If you are familiar with the Forgotten Realms setting you can almost think of the Wizards as this world's Elminster and Drizzt.[/edit]

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Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

[This message has been edited by Veneficuz (edited 08-15-2002).]

Actually, we could all play wizards...with multi-class options in the 3rd edition rules, it would be pretty interesting...

Main class - wizard - multi-class (any option...hehe).

BTW - the Monk/Wizard multi is very good...nice ac, good hp, and a great mage...that can 'survive' a close combat...I used one in POR II...very effective, esp. at high levels...

I think I may take that then...or maybe not. Then just about all of us would be monks...

you want to be a mage? or wizard?

I've got tons of DnD books and d20 products .. let me know if I can help

actually I went ahead and put some small things together

I know you all have the PHB so Skaaji look on page 48 or 52 those are the Sorcerer and Wizard classes .. I would mention Prestige Classes but I'm not sure if tiki or vene are using upper level characters .. I would assume your starting from lvl 1 .. just because it's better to start out at that level with beginner players

if you want more details about Wizards and Sorcerers Prestige Classes let me know .. I have the books

[This message has been edited by RammStein (edited 08-15-2002).]

Ummm...we don't all have the PHB. I just have those online d20 rules that suhp linked to earlier. Personally I have no idea where I can get them in my area.

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

I guess I shouldn't have assumed you all had the PHB .. to pick it up go to any Wizards of the Coast or The Game Keeper store, if neither of those two stores exsist look in your local yellowpages for 'Games & Supplies' .. there is usually atleast one store in your town .. if not .. then unless you want to buy it offline .. I don't know what to tell you


Click on the Image to go to the Recycling Center .::. cEll .::. 513

[This message has been edited by RammStein (edited 08-15-2002).]

We/they are all starting at level 1, so prestige classes won't be available until later on when they get some more levels. So the only mage classes available that i know of is the wizard or the sorcerer.

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Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

cooo .. I would have assumed you would start at lvl 1 .. yeah a Wizard or Sorcerer would be best suitable .. though a Sorcerer would be more of the "evil" inclined .. as the Wizard is more for the practice and systematic about it's class

I don't think the sorcerer has to be evil inclined. I always think a sorcerer as a more chaotic character compared to the wizard. The sorcers does what he feels like at the moment, but the wizards thinks it through first and takes his time so he doesn't make the wrong decision. But that is just my "feel" for the classes...

_________________________
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

yeah .. what I meant to say was a Sorcerer is more chaotic .. they don't carry a book around with them to call spells upon .. Wizards have a book and only know a few spells by heart .. they tend to be more forthright

I wonder what Skaarji will pick


Click on the Image to go to the Recycling Center .::. cEll .::. 513

Legolas wasn't a half elf or a ranger. . . but he sure is cool

Legolas was a ranger. An elf-ranger that is, being different from a human-ranger like Aragorn.

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

[This message has been edited by Skaarjj (edited 08-16-2002).]

Why do you think so? He is never said to be one - at least nowhere that I can find. And he is also described as being a messenger of his father, the King of Northern Mirkwood, which sudgests that he was an active part in that community. Rangers are supposed to be somewhat wild folk yes? What am I missing?

Edit: Fix sig





[This message has been edited by SPyX (edited 08-16-2002).]

In the terms of elves, rangers are something different. They are part of the warrior class of the elvish community. They are master archers and fight to protect the forests of their home.

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

*sigh* This is why I suggested the straight fighter...for anyone first playing DnD, all the class/race things can be overwhelming...not to mention the roleplaying aspect. All the different races have 'traits' that seperate them from Humans...and that in itself can be a challenge to roleplay. Combine that with a class that is a bit complicated (like Ranger, but not as complicated as a few! others...), and one can soon be overwhelmed...

I suggest no one play a Monk or a Druid .. because they are very hard to start out for a beginner .. even though later levels are very rewarding .. no beginner player has ever survived the early lvls from my experience

WS .. a fighter is a great start but they tend to become boring eventually

IMO the best classes to start out as are:

Ranger
Barbarian
Fighter
Wizard
Cleric
Paladin
Rogue


Click on the Image to go to the Recycling Center .::. cEll .::. 513

A fighter is boring? Well, not with the 3rd edition rules, they are not! With multi-class options (and many of the 'fighting' feats), they 're-polished' the good ol' fighter, putting the oumpfff! back into this class.

For beginning players, this is a great way to start learning DnD - because the Fighter is in the front ranks (well, I hope he is ). After that gets boring (if you will...personally, good role-playing never gets boring...), then multi to another class!

Very nice. Very simple. Very effective. And, to be honest, when one starts out, Hack -n- slash plays a big role...it's only later that a beginner starts developing 'real' role-playing skills...and starts to really get a 'feel' for the Mechanics of the game...allowing him to start with, say, a mage (and survive!). Of course, we all know the 'Hey, that class has cool abilities, I wanna be able to do that!' kind of thing...but many of these kind of classes 'need' special approaches (and rely on that Fighter in the front ranks!). Such is the nature of beginning...

Of course, Barbarian is always good for starters ('Hulk hate. Hulk smash!'). Or, one can use the Conan variant - the 'smart' barbarian (as long as you don't play him like Arnold Schwarzenegger...play him like in the books from Robert E. Howard). The best Barbarian of all time? Easy. Gath of Bhaal, from the Horned Helmet series. One can always multi him later to a Rogue...very nice.

Ok, on another note...I've installed OpenRPG, (along with the other Python stuff...). How do we connect together? On with server? I got the dice roller working, but what about character sheets, character models, etc? Guess I'll have to do more reading...*sigh*

I think tiki has a good charcter sheet for openRPG. I lost my copy of it when I reinstalled Linux.

When we decide to play one of us (probably me) sets up a server and then the rest of you connect to that server.

_________________________
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

Wow. I go away for a few days and everything takes off. I like.

The only reason I'm usually against multi-classing a monk is that the class has so many higher level benefits. Of course, multi-classing does have advantages, which have been pointed out. I guess I should say that I usually don't like to multi-class--I'm something of a purist, I suppose.

As for the time, like Skaarjj, midnight would be a bad start time for me. I imagine our sessions would last for at least a few hours, and there's no way I could afford to go to bed at two or three in the morning. I have a feeling time is going to be the most difficult thing to work out, and the composition of the group may be determined by who can play at the most favorable time.

Unless...Suho, you don't work on weekends, do you?

Cuase if you don't then Friday and saturday nights would be perfect for it, cause of no work the next day.

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

Well, I don't work on weekends, but I do go to church on Sunday morning... so that would leave Saturday night out. More importantly, though, I currently live in a very small (one room, kitchen, bath) place, and I don't think my wife would appreciate me staying up that late when she's trying to sleep.... So, schedules aside, midnight (or, realistically, even ten or eleven o'clock) start times are not feasible for me. If everyone else is cool with that time, though, I guess I would have to drop out. That would suck, I suppose, but those are the breaks.

Sine the last time I posted in this thread I have become my off line groups DM. Becomeing DM takes up enough of my time that I won't be able to play here even though it looks like it would be fun.

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Odd behavior; even temperament...

Ok it looks like we've got the party pretty much together:

Skaarjj-Sorcerer
Webshaman-Paladin
Spyx-Ranger
tiki-not yet decided
Suho-not yet decided

Veneficuz-DM

**tiki looks around the asylum rec room. Shouts:**

Hey Trigger you still wanna play?

Ok, times:

Weekends are a must it looks like. Suho can't play late we need to tweak the schedule. I dont mind play ing in the wee-hours of the morning. I cant start this weekend or next (Ive got this wedding thing going on ).

V: do you have another schedule suggestion?

Finally, character sheets. I'm going to see if there is a way to post them. If you guys think its worth while I'll write a mini tutorial to show how to fill them out. Give me some time cause little busy (see above). Just tell me what you need.

Skaarjj: does this help? I didnt hear back from you.

Yes, that with the character sheets is a good idea...and a 'mini-tut', on how to impliment them into the program would be nice...it is kinda complicated...

Hmm... OK, I'm still a little concerned about my screwing up the schedule for everybody, but I appreciate you still counting me in. Looking over the list so far, it appears that we are still short both a healer and rogue. I would be willing to play either, unless someone really wants to play them, in which case I would probably go with a monk. For now, until things get a little more concrete, put me down as "Cleric or Rogue." When tiki and Trigger (if he's playing) decide, then I'll let you know for certain.

(In fact, I think I might like to get out of the monk mold--I just finished Neverwinter Nights with a pure monk, and I'd like to try something other than smacking people around with my bare hands.)

We need a good mix of people, fighters, rogues (I'd love to have a barbarian in the party), mages. A selection of spells, close and ranged fighters. A couple of the mage classes would be good, since we tend to be physically weaker characters and a bit easier to kill with weapons if you manage to evade our spells. Since we don't yet know exactly wat we're going ot have to do, the best kind of party we could create is one that can deal with just about anything which comes its way, meaning also a good mix of races.

Yes...thanks tiki and ven...that handbook helped, and I think that tutorial on writing and implementing sheets would be good. I still haven't figured it out.

Exactly, and looking at the confirmed slots now, we have two fighters and one magic user. Another magic user would be nice, but if there's only going to be two more of us (tiki and myself), I would say that one of us would pretty much have to play a rogue and the other would have to play a cleric. I know the paladin has healing skills, but they really can't compete with the cleric, and we're going to need the paladin as our up-front fighter (along with the ranger, who would go either ranged or melee, depending on the situation). If Trigger joins us, I'd say throw another magic user in the mix (or maybe a barbarian, if Skaarjj is feeling a little vulnerable).

I think we need to figure exactly who is going to play and when (very important) so we can think about party balance. You're right, we don't know what we're going to have to do, but chances are we're going to need the two classes I mentioned.

I've been a little bussy lately so I'm not able to get everything ready for this weekend, but next weekend should work fine with me.

At the moment we are spread (timewise) from -6 to +10, so the only way to get Suho and Skaarjj's play time to be before midnight would be to get Tiki and SPyX up early in the morning. If they get up and start playing at 7am the time will be 2pm here in Europe and around 11pm for those in the Far East. That might still be a little bit late for Suho if he intends to get up early the next day, but I'm not sure how much earlier Tiki and Spyx are willing to get up...

It is not a must to have a rouge in the group, but it will surely help with the traps etc. And if you get a rouge with a high dex they are also great archers since they get to use the 'sneak attack' while using the bow/crossbow. But the most important thing is that everyone play something they like, I'll change parts of the campaign to suit the party better as soon as I see what chars will be used.


_________________________
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

I always feel vulnerable when I play a magic user. They are so low in their HP unless you get some very good rolls, which I haven't for this. My rolls range from 14-18 ATM...with mainly 14's and 15's and one 18 that's going towards my intelligence.

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

an avarage of 14-15 is very good! what method for rolling the stats are you using?

_________________________
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

really? then why does it tell me in the 3E players handbook that if I get bellow 13 can re-roll...that owuld take 13 to be a bad score...I think

I'm just using Open RPG. I just hit the d6 rolling button four times, do the maths, repeat.

I now have to figure out a method of getting the PHB home...that's a large file, and I only have a dial-up.

Koan 63, written on the wall of cell number 250:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

Yeah, the time is kind of worrying me. Skaarjj said he would be OK with playing late, so I may end up being the only one holding everyone back. If that is the case, I would have to back out. As I said before, that would suck, but it may be necessary.

Honestly, I don't think it's really going to be feasible for me. Even starting at 11 would be rough...

If we can get tiki and Spyx to get up early we can start before 11, but that is up to them how early they get up... It would really suck if you weren't able to play

Skaarjj: the PHB (page 8) says that you should reroll if your highest score is 13 or lower, or if the sum of all the modifiers are less than 0.

I think that the best way to calculate the stats are to either:
- roll 4d6 and use the 3 highest scores, do that 6 times and then 'connect' the scores with the stat of your choose.
- Or to ensure that all characters are equally good we could use a Non Standard Point Buy system (DMG page 20) starting with 28 points. The way that system works is that each ability starts at 8, and then you distribute your points as you see fit. For scores up to 14 it is 1 point for 1 "ability score", from 14 to 15 and 15 to 16 it is 2 points for 1 "ability score", and from 16 to 17 and 17 to 18 it is 3 points for 1 "ability score".


_________________________
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

I like the 'non-standard' system best...it allows one to 'tailor' the character better...just my opinion...can I use it?

WS: sure, go ahead and use whichever system you like



_________________________
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
- copied from the wall of cell 408 -

Yipee! Ulik the Half-orc lives! I'll post the stats tonight...I love the non-standard method...nothing better for roleplaying than a tailor-made character...albeit the scores are not the greatest...but then, roleplaying is not exactly dependent on scores...but it is nice to have scores that allow one to play a desired class...

Another question...what about the miniatures, and other graphics? Are you using your own? And can we use our own? I have POR II, it has 'great' character graphics...all 3D. Just trying to figure out how to take a screen shot....then I can 're-work' the graphic....need something to look at...or does someone have a better idea?