The Randomness of the Pen and the Paper

[Redfive]

Any suggestions on tools to use? I have all the source material in PDF format so that's not an issue. I don't really want to spend a bunch of money on a dedicated product like Fantasy Grounds since I don't know yet if they'll like it or if this will turn into a long-term commitment. So I'm thinking we may just do a simple Zoom or Google Hangouts call.

FWIW, CoC, like most games, is free for Foundry. link You'd still have to buy one copy of the program itself, which is $50 for a lifetime, and like I said - the rules for most games are free. It's also less... counterintuitive than Fantasy Grounds.

I don't know the game at all, so you'd need to check that it's the same edition.

FGU isn't that bad, or maybe it is since there have been ...issues when we play. Not having the two usual FGU wiz kids around from my normal group has exposed my weakness in that area.

EDIT: Also, random thought, is it (CoC) available on Tabletop Simulator? That's pretty cheap.

This maybe?

[YellowKing]

EDIT: Also, random thought, is it (CoC) available on Tabletop Simulator? That's pretty cheap.

Ooh good call. The group I'm getting together all have TTS because we play board games together online from time to time. I didn't even think to look there. Even better, it has the "Edge of Darkness" scenario I'm running built-in.

[Blackhawk]

FWIW, CoC, like most games, is free for Foundry. link You'd still have to buy one copy of the program itself, which is $50 for a lifetime, and like I said - the rules for most games are free. It's also less... counterintuitive than Fantasy Grounds.

I don't know the game at all, so you'd need to check that it's the same edition.

FGU isn't that bad, or maybe it is since there have been ...issues when we play. Not having the two usual FGU wiz kids around from my normal group has exposed my weakness in that area.

It's not bad at all - and it wasn't my intention to say it was. It is, however, not exactly the most user-friendly of the bunch. It doesn't try to be - that's not its niche.

Having now used all three major platforms, I see it this way:

Roll20's niche is the polished experience. It's easy to learn, easy to use, and very straightforward. The trade-off is that it's relatively pushy with the subscriptions and microtransactions, and isn't as customizable under the hood. It's like Apple - everything is simple, easy, and ready to go, but at a price.

Foundry's is the one-time-purchase that focuses on versatility, balancing that and usability. Most of the content (including rule systems) is community-generated rather than being additional purchases. Tabletop Simulator isn't a bad analogy.

Fantasy Grounds' niche seems to be the deep-dive crowd. It's incredibly customizable and versatile, which is awesome, but the trade-off here is that all of those options make it less intuitive and creates a much steeper learning curve. If you're the kind of person who prefers Linux, writing batch files, and handling tasks through a command line, then this is for you. With a person who really knows all of the nuances, FG/FGU could doubtlessly blow the others out of the water. But if you're not that person, it's a bit of a struggle.

Every one of them is good, and every one is usable. It's more of a matter of which flavor suits you the best.

[AWS260]

Today I learned that there's an officially licensed music album set in the Spelljammer universe called Spelljams.

[Blackhawk]

So, I finally found a chance for in-person D&D.

I need it - not only is it a last gasp for a hobby that's been effectively dead for me since 2020 due to location, but my life consists mostly of me sitting in the house alone 24/7, save for three or four hours every two weeks when I get some board gaming in. Save for those few hours ever couple of weeks, I rarely - if ever - talk with another human being face to face that isn't one of my kids (which comes with some pretty significant limits.) It's really been wearing on me lately - despite how uncomfortable I am around people, and how poor I am at communicating face-to-face, the need for others is still a thing.

I turned him down.

I've played with the GM before. He's got a hyper-adversarial GMing style that's based on seeing how badly he can screw the players over within the rules, and the players are expected to see how much they can pull over on the GM within the rules. Took falling damage? Roll saves for all of your breakable gear. Your wizard fell into water? Make saves to avoid drowning. Now make them for your familiar with his 6 CON. Rode horses to the dungeon? They're stolen by the time you get out. The result is that you spend most of your time defending yourself from the GM. He gives no thought to story, and there is zero roleplaying in his games - it's just an ongoing miniatures skirmish. And since he uses only the heaviest, densest of rules systems, it becomes a slog.

On top of that, he's using one of my least favorite rule systems (D&D 3.5, with him owning every single rulebook.)

On top of on top of that, he's playing in one of my least favorite D&D settings (Spelljammer, which was part of the era when TSR massively overpublished for sales, having a dozen or more active settings on the market at once - which is what eventually led to them shutting down.) The setting itself I always found laughably absurd in their attempt to wedge spaceships into D&D. I may actually dislike Spelljammer more then Eberron.

Now, here was his plan:

Get together every Saturday, play Magic (which, if I know him, would be him power-stomping everyone just to show off) while smoking weed until he decides it's time to play.

My desire to play (what I consider) a terrible setting with a bloated rules system run by a sadistic GM in a room where everyone's constantly stoned is low.

At least this time not playing D&D was my choice.

[Blackhawk]

Oh, and as an aside, I've GMed for him as well. If you're playing anything other than D&D 3.5 or Hackmaster (which was built as a players-vs-GM game), then instead of playing the game, he sits there and tries to do things from his preferred systems that he knows aren't in the rules of the system we're playing. When he's then told that it is abstracted, and he can use his request as flavor for the result, there's no actual rule for it, he'll sit there and argue that there should be - incessantly. Then, when you move on to the next thing, he'll do it again. It's like running a game for a heckler.

In 35 years of GMing games, he is literally the only person I have ever told was no longer welcome at my games. That specific incident involved him showing up 30 minutes later for an 11:00AM game either drunk or stoned, then completely disrupting the entire session such that we didn't get anything done that day. My eldest quit RPGs after that session, and has refused to touch one since.

[Redfive]

Sounds like an easy decision!

Sorry ours didn't work out for you, even though it wouldn't ever be face to face.

[Blackhawk]

Sounds like an easy decision!

Sorry ours didn't work out for you, even though it wouldn't ever be face to face.

I was having a really good time. You run a good game. The hours were just impossible for me to maintain, though. By the time we'd finish, I'd be wound up. By the time I was unwound enough to sleep, it was 3 or 4 AM. It then took me until the next game to get back to a normal sleep pattern.

To be honest, I think it's the only late-night D&D game I've ever played. Every other one I was ever part of started either in the late morning, or early afternoon (so, ~11 AM to 2 or 3 PM for the start time.) I have played in games that started early and ran until late, but those were either when I was in high school, or special sessions.

[YellowKing]

My absolute worst D&D experience of all time. Forgive me if I've relayed this story before:

Met a guy in high school because he was reading a Dragonlance book, and quickly found out we had a shared love of fantasy and D&D. Seemed like a nice guy a bit nerdy but so was I. We finally set up a night for him to come over and join the D&D campaign I was running with a couple of friends. Having an extra player would be really nice.

So he shows up wielding a fucking sword. Not a toy sword for laughs. An actual honest-to-God sharpened blade sword that you could kill someone with. And he refuses to talk in anything but an extremely bad British accent. My two friends are looking at me like "Where the hell did you find this guy and why the hell did you invite him?"

Still, we needed a player so we decide to just press on. He immediately proclaims that his character is immortal, but that it's really a curse because he has to watch his loved ones die. He then proceeds to tell me how he has a full suit of red dragon plate armor with some ridiculous AC. Somehow we muddle our way through this session, call it an early night, and part ways.

So cut to a few weeks later. We are still in dire need of another player, and this guy keeps asking when we're playing again. So against my better judgment I relent. But I lay down the law this time - no accents, no swords, no immortality, no red dragon armor. We're going to be at my friend's house so be on his best behavior, etc. Just be chill and do what the DM says. He agrees, apologizes for the antics of the first session, everything seems OK.

So he shows up, we start the session, and everything seems to be going pretty well. He's not overpowering his character, he's not talking in funny accents, we're playing and having a pretty good time. But we notice he keeps making excuses to go to the bathroom, or go grab something, so every 20 minutes we're waiting on him to come back from some errand. So my buddy follows him out to see what the hell he is up to, and finds the guy flirtatiously chatting up his LITTLE SISTER, which he had apparently been sneaking out to do most of the night. Keep in mind this guy is 16 or 17, my buddy's little sister is 11. He almost literally throws the guy out of his house he's so mad.

So anyway, that's the last I saw of him. School ended shortly thereafter, and the guy wound up taking both of my Monster Manuals and some other assorted books which he had borrowed and I never got back. I never saw him again at school and have no idea what happened to him. The only good thing that ever came out of that whole debacle was the running inside joke of proclaiming "I'm immortal" during our play sessions thereafter.

[Blackhawk]

It's a pretty much inflexible rule that existing characters don't get to join my campaigns. You can recreate that character within the guidelines I'm running under, but no, you're not bringing your level umpteen half dragon that honestly rolled three 17s and two 18s (and your dump stat is a 15.)

[Redfive]

Sounds like an easy decision!

Sorry ours didn't work out for you, even though it wouldn't ever be face to face.

I was having a really good time. You run a good game. The hours were just impossible for me to maintain, though. By the time we'd finish, I'd be wound up. By the time I was unwound enough to sleep, it was 3 or 4 AM. It then took me until the next game to get back to a normal sleep pattern.

To be honest, I think it's the only late-night D&D game I've ever played. Every other one I was ever part of started either in the late morning, or early afternoon (so, ~11 AM to 2 or 3 PM for the start time.) I have played in games that started early and ran until late, but those were either when I was in high school, or special sessions.

Yeah, I definitely understand. I wish my schedule were a little more flexible.

Maybe someday I can do something starting early on a weekend day, if so I'll be sure and let you know.

[Punisher]

I promise to know more of the rules next time, should it ever come.

You are most welcome. I will give you a heads up if the opportunity arises.

I would also possibly be interested depending on time and game and everyone's ability to seal with my brain nonsense.

[Redfive]

I promise to know more of the rules next time, should it ever come.

You are most welcome. I will give you a heads up if the opportunity arises.

I would also possibly be interested depending on time and game and everyone's ability to seal with my brain nonsense.

I think we are tentatively aiming for next Friday night 7/19. 9pm CST start time.

I can give you an invite to the discord channel, if you are not already signed up. If you can hop on discord we can discuss further.

[Punisher]

I promise to know more of the rules next time, should it ever come.

You are most welcome. I will give you a heads up if the opportunity arises.

I would also possibly be interested depending on time and game and everyone's ability to seal with my brain nonsense.

I think we are tentatively aiming for next Friday night 7/19. 9pm CST start time.

I can give you an invite to the discord channel, if you are not already signed up. If you can hop on discord we can discuss further.

Ok.
Send me the invite and times you are available to talk please.

[Redfive]

Looks like you are already on the server, I sent you a PM to continue. We are trying to play this Friday night--let's try to talk before then.

Thanks

[hentzau]

So I was a big old nerd and went out to the midnight release of the new D&D Player's Handbook at my FLGS. Nice big thick book, it's going to take a bit to absorb all of the changes they've made. Love the art direction, some nice big sections at the beginning of the book giving really good and clear examples of play. More tidbits as I look through the book.

[Redfive]

So I was a big old nerd and went out to the midnight release of the new D&D Player's Handbook at my FLGS. Nice big thick book, it's going to take a bit to absorb all of the changes they've made. Love the art direction, some nice big sections at the beginning of the book giving really good and clear examples of play. More tidbits as I look through the book.

I have quite, by accident or apathy, ignored the news about the changes until last week when I saw a summary. It seems like most of them seem to be positive so I am considering purchasing the PHB.

Not in any hurry as I currently have a group of OO'rs that are only level 4 right now running a bi-weekly(ish) campaign and I'm not so interested in asking them to change mid-stream.

[hentzau]

So I was a big old nerd and went out to the midnight release of the new D&D Player's Handbook at my FLGS. Nice big thick book, it's going to take a bit to absorb all of the changes they've made. Love the art direction, some nice big sections at the beginning of the book giving really good and clear examples of play. More tidbits as I look through the book.

I have quite, by accident or apathy, ignored the news about the changes until last week when I saw a summary. It seems like most of them seem to be positive so I am considering purchasing the PHB.

Not in any hurry as I currently have a group of OO'rs that are only level 4 right now running a bi-weekly(ish) campaign and I'm not so interested in asking them to change mid-stream.

Yeah, if you're happy, you can wait. Apparently there's already an errata in the works that will probably (hopefully) be included in the second printing.