The Unseen Servant forums

Howdy fellow old-school D&D gamers-

It's been a long while since I last sunk my teeth into a good game of Dungeons & Dragons and today I've decided that while it's impossible (okay, really difficult) to find local games, I'd give the interweb a shot.

I started role-playing games with D&D first edition (basic), but played mostly 2nd Edition. Never really got into the 3rd...4th...768th super platinum, quadruple box set editions etc. I've also played Marvel Superheros, Rifts, Warhammer 40K, and other various RPGs but my heart will always lay in Homlet.

If there's any Legendary status DM's out there starting up a new campaign I'd appreciate the opportunity to participate. And by legendary I mean, not 12 years old running a 4th edition Twilight rippoff campaign.

P.S. - No offense meant towards 12 year olds, people who like 4th edition D&D or Twilight fans.

P.P.S. - I take it back, if you like 4th edition D&D I hope your offended. =)

Welcome rtdersch you're our kinda player!!

My fellow Mod reminded me that we welcome all sorts of RPGs here, and discriminate against none!

But...

rtdersch wrote:...
P.P.S. - I take it back, if you like 4th edition D&D I hope your offended. =)

did I mention you are our kind of person.

Well met, I hope you find a game and enjoy it as much as the rest of us!

--Ron--

Hi Ron, and thank you for the kind welcome. I'm really looking forward to a good old fashioned dungeon romp with like minded individuals.

This is a great site you have here and I look forward to contributing my bit.

For the record, I found US by way of rpggamefind via Dragonsfoot if anyones interested.

-Ray

Hrm, that actually is interesting Ray. Never heard of that site, taking a peek now... if the work firewalls allow.

rtdersch wrote: P.P.S. - I take it back, if you like 4th edition D&D I hope your offended. =)

LOL! I have a confession to make: though it is not my favorite game in the world, I have had fun playing 4th edition (specifically the Essentials variety) -- and that was with a less-than-great DM. My major problem is that: it isn't Dungeons & Dragons, despite the name. If a fantasy version of Battletech (that doesn't have hit locations), Magic: The Gathering and a MMORPG had a baby, it would look like 4th edition. You can have fun playing it as long as you can divorce yourself from the idea that you are playing Dungeons & Dragons, and concede to the fact that combats are going to take FORRRR-EEEEEV-ERRRRR. There are much worse games out there, but it is far from a perfect game, and it isn't something I want to play regularly at the moment. However, it's not an unplayable jumble of crap that others seem to confidently label it as. I won't defend it as "Dungeons & Dragons" but I will defend it as a "decent game as long as you have the right mindset."

Greetings, rtdersch! Now let's stop talking about "the edition that we shall ignore" and let's play some 2nd Edition, Castles & Crusades, or something else! Game on!

Mithrandir I have to agree with you. I consider 4th edition like a big math test with elves dwarves, goblins and the like. It's easily broken if you can play the numbers but that has it's fun points at times. I last played in a 3 man group with my uncle DM'ing we all played Thieves and became unstoppable because we played the numbers game. I played a Shaved Bugbear Rogue with a 2 handed hammer. It was like a comedy act almost but again it had it's fun.

Nothing like the serious hard fun that is the old editions, or my new personal favorite DCC.

Welcome rtdersch! Glad to have you here. You're with like-minded players. I too started with the red/blue basic boxes (the first ones!), then moved to the 1ed hard backs.

AQuebman wrote:I played a Shaved Bugbear Rogue with a 2 handed hammer.

I know NOTHING of any edition beyond 2nd. Is this a real thing? A bugbear rogue, much less a shaved one??? ROFL!

AQuebman wrote: I played a Shaved Bugbear Rogue with a 2 handed hammer.

HA! That's funny! Why a monster? You couldn't find an acceptable race out of the 35+ races in 4th edition?

mithrandir138 wrote: I won't defend it as "Dungeons & Dragons" but I will defend it as a "decent game as long as you have the right mindset."

Dude, that is a truism if I ever heard one. ANY game game be defended as long as you have "the right mindset".

Russian Roulette and Cock Fighting are awesome and entertaining games...if you have "the right mindset for it".

Vargr1105 wrote: Russian Roulette and Cock Fighting are awesome and entertaining games...if you have "the right mindset for it".

HA

ToniXX wrote:Welcome rtdersch! Glad to have you here. You're with like-minded players. I too started with the red/blue basic boxes (the first ones!), then moved to the 1ed hard backs.

AQuebman wrote:I played a Shaved Bugbear Rogue with a 2 handed hammer.

I know NOTHING of any edition beyond 2nd. Is this a real thing? A bugbear rogue, much less a shaved one??? ROFL!

Again we played the numbers game. Bugbears in 4E got +2Dex, +2 Str and an encounter power that did extra damage for one round. Then they came out with a variant where if you hit with these rattling thief attacks with this particular build you got to add both your dex and str to damage and give the opponent a -2 to their attack.

Our party was a Dark Elf Crossbow wielding thief who would use his magic crossbow to change places with the BBEG, A Human Thief who would use an ability or two to lower their defenses, and then My Shaved Bugbear to put out brutal amounts of damage with a hammer Gallagher style. This is how every fight went no matter what we were facing it was pretty ridiculous and clearly not playtested to have a group like that.

The Bugbear was a valid player option as a race. The human thief in the group was named Bunzai so I named him Funzai and said he was Bunzai's cousin. To look more human he regularly shaved his entire body lol. I just still struggle to see how a 6'8" shaved bugbear with a giant hammer was as stealthy as a drow with a crossbow but that's 4E for you .

This moment I list below is still to this day my favorite 4E moment of all time, just too funny. I had a paragon path where if I killed something everyone that saw it would get a -2 to their attacks against me for the rest of the encounter. I killed a minotaur who then get a free attack as they die. Due to the way it was worded, he got a -2 to his attack due to how awesome my killing blow I hit him with was. To be impressed by your own death is pretty sweet in my book

AQuebman wrote:Again we played the numbers game. Bugbears in 4E got +2Dex, +2 Str and an encounter power that did extra damage for one round. Then they came out with a variant where if you hit with these rattling thief attacks with this particular build you got to add both your dex and str to damage and give the opponent a -2 to their attack.

Our party was a Dark Elf Crossbow wielding thief who would use his magic crossbow to change places with the BBEG, A Human Thief who would use an ability or two to lower their defenses, and then My Shaved Bugbear to put out brutal amounts of damage with a hammer Gallagher style. This is how every fight went no matter what we were facing it was pretty ridiculous and clearly not playtested to have a group like that.

The Bugbear was a valid player option as a race. The human thief in the group was named Bunzai so I named him Funzai and said he was Bunzai's cousin. To look more human he regularly shaved his entire body lol. I just still struggle to see how a 6'8" shaved bugbear with a giant hammer was as stealthy as a drow with a crossbow but that's 4E for you .

This moment I list below is still to this day my favorite 4E moment of all time, just too funny. I had a paragon path where if I killed something everyone that saw it would get a -2 to their attacks against me for the rest of the encounter. I killed a minotaur who then get a free attack as they die. Due to the way it was worded, he got a -2 to his attack due to how awesome my killing blow I hit him with was. To be impressed by your own death is pretty sweet in my book

This post was so obscene I almost reported it.

In all seriousness, that example is why it's so hard for me to get into the more recent revisions of D&D. I prefer a more "realistic experience", I of course use the term loosley as I am indeed aware these are fantasy games however, my mind can only wrap around so much.

Even in D&D I like things to make sense, contectually of course.

-Ray

rtdersch wrote: Even in D&D I like things to make sense, contectually of course.

Yeah, with things like "Encounter Powers", "Healing Surges" and other craziness like that, realism gets shoved out of the way and game mechanics take the spotlight. I like getting nerdy with game rules, almost too much, but I am with you -- game rules should dictate how real-world things/actions (with the exception of magic systems, for obvious reasons) should be adjudicated, limited, etc.

Magic systems that are limited to power points or follow the Vancian model are the way things should generally be done. If not, you have casters become these overpowered game ruiners. In 4e, everyone is overpowered -- and they called it "balance". I am not fond of it, but it can be fun if you are playing a game where you care very little about story, anything close to "realism", etc.

mithrandir138 wrote:In 4e, everyone is overpowered -- and they called it "balance". I am not fond of it, but it can be fun if you are playing a game where you care very little about story, anything close to "realism", etc.

Exactly. I think the other aspect of having such overpowered characters is that Wizards attempted, well I guess succeeded in crafting a world (Eberron) where such characters could exist. Don't get me wrong, I heart steampunk. What I don't care for are worlds that are so high magic that you might as well be playing a sci-fi rpg. I guess I'm just old school in that I like dungeon crawling, low magic worlds, gritty and/or dark settings etc...

At the end of a gaming session I don't care if my character found the +329 two-handed sword of life slaying. I care that
A.) the group had an awesome gaming experience and we accomplished something and...
B.) that there was a real sense of danger, knowing that it could have gone all wrong but didn't (hopefully).

What can I say, my life is pretty safe and that's how I like it. I roleplay because I want the risks as well as the rewards. I still like it to be grounded though, with rules in place that make sense, that way my characters accomplishments seem more...tangible.

Now if the above isn't the writings of someone who desperately needs a rpg experience then I don't know what is!

-Ray

Welcome to the boards, Ray! This is a nice place - you'll find what you're looking for here. There's a few young'uns around, but mostly old timers like me.

Heh count me as one of the youngsters but I do prefer the old school style of play. I like a system where anything can happen while being grounded in a good story and character choice not a system designed to give the maximum + somebody can achieve. It's why the DCC Magic System makes me smile every time I have to use it, even the DM has no clue what to expect and that is awesome.



Low-level wizards are powerful. High-level wizards fear for their souls.