(CLOSED) OOC

[GreyWolfVT]

I kinda figured Antman was buried in school stuff once more. No worries here.

[Dram]

Are they both in school? No problem here either.

[GreyWolfVT]

I thought they were. But I am not sure I know they do play RPG games in RL from what I've heard in conversations with them on here.

[stephberg]

No, just Antman is in school. MW is a bum, I don't even think he has a job...or maybe he has a job, but just doesn't go... or goes and just doesn't do anything....I'm not really sure, but I do know he's a bum...and he doesn't reply to texts...

[GreyWolfVT]

Yeah he hasn't been responding to any method of contact I have for him. I even tried reaching out to antman but nothing.

[badams30]

Hey fellas, it's been great playing in this one with all of you. I'm probably going to bow out at this time. Best of luck, and hope to join you all later on in another game. Thanks for the great time...

Brandon

[GreyWolfVT]

I'm done here as well since the DM has up and vanished I'm going to bow out of the game as well.

[Sol]

Hey guys,

Been my pleasure also. Great gaming with you. See you elsewhere on the boards!

I will continue to keep an eye out on this game because: why not? ; )

Also, definitely check out my podcast. It can be your next game if you wish since you have the option to play along. If you check it out, stay in touch and let me know how you like it.

Victory to you, my fellows!
Sol aka Zirus

[Dram]

I am done here also. It is to bad I was enjoying playing a nontypical character.

[Sol]

Hey guys, good to be back. Zirus the Lizard Man reporting for duty!

[Antman9]

Glad to have you back Sol. I'm super excited and looking forward to a long (translated as no more dang school/work hiatuses) campaign. I have lots of wonderful, exciting, probably scary plans for the future of Dragons Belch. So buckle up and get ready for a ride (although Zirus has had his share of rides already )

Thanks
Antman9 (Marc)

[thesniperknight1]

Glad you are back antman! can't wait to start this campaign again

[Antman9]

Thanks for your support sniperknight. I'm excited myself.

Glad you are back antman! can't wait to start this campaign again

[GreyWolfVT]

I'm glad to be back I am however making a new character. Mumble and my minotaur will remain retired

[Antman9]

I found the following post by Alethan in the General RPG Discussion area and the Gimme Some Games! thread.

I was wondering what some of you think about what he said. I have given D&D and its various editions the same consideration over the years. One of the primary reasons I originally started creating my own custom rule-set was because I felt the Old School Games were too restrictive and the newer editions too narrow and forced the player into a specific type (leaving no room for creativity).

The restrictive element for the Old School Games I saw was that you either attacked or cast magic and nothing else. Perhaps that is just how all the DM's I played under ran their games. I wanted something that would allow my players to do anything they wanted to do, to customize their character as much as they liked, giving them more freedom to create a living, breathing PC (theoretically speaking of course). By opening the process up and not forcing "you can only use this weapon or that skill" (Alethan) I felt the players would embrace their creativity and feel unhindered in a true role-playing environment.

I try to run my campaign as a true "Sandbox" allowing each and every character to follow their every whim or desire. By giving the players the rope by with to hang themselves I also hope to open up the campaign to be what they make it. I try to have no set-in-stone rules, no specific chain of events, and no specific plot plans involving adventures or PC's. The creatures do not stay static, they move and grow just like the PC's over time. Each and every NPC and Creature has their own will, desire, likes/dislikes, and make decisions based on their own individual history and the events currently taking place in their world.

My original plan when creating my rule-set was to embody the spirit of the old with the new. Part of that process meant modifying the magic system and adding a DC system (difficulty class). The DC system allows every player to attempt anything their heart desires; ultimately giving them as much rope as they like. The nature of the dice ultimately enhances the DC system in this environent (that is my hope anyway).

I truly want my players to be creative with their characters. The Race and Class descriptions I provide are nothing more than guidelines, a starting point, an example of the types of characters and creatures they will meet in my campaign. I would love for players to come up with new spells, design their own weapons and armor, or find exciting new ways to manipulate and use the items they find during their journey. By embracing their character's persona more players might find this creative environment very appealing.

My ultimate goal is to allow exactly what Alethan stated: "design whatever character you want!" A secondary goal would be that the rule-set I am creating eliminates or deters the min/maxers, and forces them to take a hard look at their character instead—as a real thing with all the quirks and nuances that normally come with (not a robot)—to embrace the journey instead of the achievement, or far worse, the loot.

Thanks
Antman9 (Marc)


Alethan wrote:

The perception:
Old School Games don't allow you to develop your character because you're limited to Fighter, Cleric, Magic User, and sometimes Thief.
Contemporary Games let you customize and develop your character exactly the way you want them.

The reality:
Old School Games give you basic guideline for how you want your character to function in the world - fight with your hands, use a connection with a god to do divine things, bend mystical magic to your will, or sneak around and pilfer things. You can take that basic guideline and design whatever character you want! There are no limits to how you build your fighter - gladiator, knight, tracker, thug, ex soldier. There are no limits to what kind of focus your magic user has. I think most OSR GMs would be perfectly fine with you making your own spells (approved by them to assure they aren't too powerful, obviously) or focus on just certain types of spells or a particular path of magic. Same for the cleric or thief.

Most Contemporary Games severely restrict your character growth and development. You have to go down specific paths. You have to plan your build way ahead of time to make sure the feat you take at level 1 will be the one you need for whatever discipline you want to take up at level 6. What if you change your mind at level 4? You can't drop feats and rebuild! You're stuck with what you picked earlier on. That's a great idea if you are a min/maxer and want to build the ultimate fighting machine or the perfect caster. But I don't think most people really want to do that.

I remember following along with a 4e game on a forum several years ago. It was all people in my guild on D&D On Line. At one point, after leveling several times in just a few weeks of PbP gaming (????), they got a treasure with a magical battle axe in it. One of the fighters said, "Oh, excellent! That's my specialty! I can definitely put that to good use!" And the DM said, "That's why I put it in the treasure list."

I quit following the game at that point.

From my experience (that being one of the first, but there have been many since), Contemporary games/GMs do a significant amount of game manipulation (fudging dice, placing treasure instead of randomizing it, etc.) in order to make the event more fun for the players.

From the OSR perspective, that is just the opposite of what makes the game fun. The game is fun because it's grit and struggle and there is a chance for character death in the next encounter and then you have to start over. The GM is sometimes perceived as "mean" because they don't fudge the rolls, because they let the dice make the decisions. But that's what it's really all about! Otherwise, the GM is just telling a story the way he wants it to be and you're being manipulated into following it.

It doesn't matter if your fighter is specialized in longswords and he gets a magical battle axe in the treasure. He can still use it just the same, no penalties. Now he has something else to work into his character story, not that he's a specialized fighter with 3 feats in Battle Axe and you've just given him a Spear +1, +3 vs. Serpents that he can't use.

[Antman9]

I'm glad to be back I am however making a new character. Mumble and my minotaur will remain retired

Glad you came back GreyWolf. I'm looking forward to seeing your new PC.

[GreyWolfVT]

Going to make a Half-Giant

[MonkeyWrench]

I'm still messing around with my new character idea. I have a goal and character type that I think will be fun and original but I need to match the right class and race for it to really mesh!

[GreyWolfVT]

Well I'm settled just maybe not on the name so much... but Half-Giant (Fire Giant) Woodsman

[MonkeyWrench]

A fire giant heritage woodsman? That sounds so crazy it must be brilliant!!