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[Learn On] Play by post DnD 3.5 intro game
zenpotato
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
A number of people have expressed interest in learning how to play DnD, and I wanted to brush up on the DMing rules, so I thought running a play by post game to teach people the basics would be a great idea. (And it is. It's great.)
Here's how this is going to work. You want to learn basics of DnD. You've never played before, and probably haven't even seen a rule book. Not a problem. You don't need one.
Play by post is very similar to a simple forum thread, with typed out actions instead of people sitting around talking. This slows things down some, but provided that every is able to use the English language intelligently (a big thing to ask, I know
) it should become clearer as all the steps are detailed in prose.
Instead of doing this here in OD&M, I'll be running the game at http://www.rpol.net, a site with forum software specifically designed for roleplaying games. It has a built in dice bot, character info, and lots of cool private thread options. Go over there and look up a game under the fantasy section called Of Dice and Men. Register a username, and request to join the game. It's that simple.
Here are the rules. You've got to be new to DnD. This is to get you used to the way the system works. You don't need any books, but a copy of the Player's Handbook helps. For those who don't have it, we'll work together and get you a character. This is all about learning the rule mechanics while still having a fun time. There will be some basic situations setup so people can learn how skills, feats, and combat work.
All that said, this is going to be a pretty simple generic (in the real sense of the word genre) game. All characters are going to be of the classes and races in the PHB. There's going to be a restriction to Good alignments. There's not going to be tons of freedom here--this is going to be one of those classic dungeon crawl type games that everyone learns on.
If you're interested, head on over to www.rpol.net and register. Request access to the game "Of Dice and Men" under the Fantasy heading. I'm looking for 4-6 players, and I've already got two. I'm looking for people able to post about once a day (though I may post a little less--there's a certain amount of player interaction that happens without a reply from the DM). Some days there will be less, some more. This will take a few weeks, even a month to really get going. Experience tells me that a short adventure will take 2-3 months real time at about a post a day from start to completion. We can always take it beyond that if everyone wants, but there isn't any obligation. This is just to learn how to play so you'll know how. You can expand your gaming horizons to the Local Game Store, IRC, other play by post/email games, and any other variations people want to run.
Looking forward to hearing from people.
Here's how this is going to work. You want to learn basics of DnD. You've never played before, and probably haven't even seen a rule book. Not a problem. You don't need one.
Play by post is very similar to a simple forum thread, with typed out actions instead of people sitting around talking. This slows things down some, but provided that every is able to use the English language intelligently (a big thing to ask, I know
) it should become clearer as all the steps are detailed in prose.Instead of doing this here in OD&M, I'll be running the game at http://www.rpol.net, a site with forum software specifically designed for roleplaying games. It has a built in dice bot, character info, and lots of cool private thread options. Go over there and look up a game under the fantasy section called Of Dice and Men. Register a username, and request to join the game. It's that simple.
Here are the rules. You've got to be new to DnD. This is to get you used to the way the system works. You don't need any books, but a copy of the Player's Handbook helps. For those who don't have it, we'll work together and get you a character. This is all about learning the rule mechanics while still having a fun time. There will be some basic situations setup so people can learn how skills, feats, and combat work.
All that said, this is going to be a pretty simple generic (in the real sense of the word genre) game. All characters are going to be of the classes and races in the PHB. There's going to be a restriction to Good alignments. There's not going to be tons of freedom here--this is going to be one of those classic dungeon crawl type games that everyone learns on.
If you're interested, head on over to www.rpol.net and register. Request access to the game "Of Dice and Men" under the Fantasy heading. I'm looking for 4-6 players, and I've already got two. I'm looking for people able to post about once a day (though I may post a little less--there's a certain amount of player interaction that happens without a reply from the DM). Some days there will be less, some more. This will take a few weeks, even a month to really get going. Experience tells me that a short adventure will take 2-3 months real time at about a post a day from start to completion. We can always take it beyond that if everyone wants, but there isn't any obligation. This is just to learn how to play so you'll know how. You can expand your gaming horizons to the Local Game Store, IRC, other play by post/email games, and any other variations people want to run.
Looking forward to hearing from people.
zenpotato on
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Posts
1 post a day does seem somewhat slow...but then, I'm a mod who spends too much time on forums. I'm guessing each of the 4-6 players + GM need to make their post before anything moves on?
1 post a day is pretty average and makes sense. A lot of people play in multipule games and this makes it easy. As well, sometimes you do need to wait for other players to take action.
The 1 post a day thing is mostly on my end--having to type up more than 500 word post a day as well as keep up with stuff going on through private messages and the like is pretty time consuming, and I don't have time to devote more than an hour or so of this a day. When things are going slow, I imagine there will be more than one post a day on my front. Once a day really isn't as slow as it can seem. It's a requirement, not a limit, so if all the players want to move faster, then we can most days. There are games out there that move a lot faster, and a few that move slower. I find 1/day with some give and take works out pretty well.
I don't have a handbook though*used to, but it was borrowed and my friend wanted it back*
A few months is good because that'll give us time to soak it up, interact, and learn to love our first characters.
On the other hand, point buy is infinitely more balanced though less fun. Anyone have any opinions about which is easier to learn on? I'm strongly leaning towards 3d6x7 drop the lowest and arrange to suit.
Edit: We've already got 4 players signed up, so spots are filling up fast. If you're interested, sign up soon. I may stretch the 4-6 to 7, but any more than that quickly gets hard to do when playing by post.
It also gives players an apreciation for higher stats, as 4d6 drop lowest generates stats in a wider array than the typical point buy.
On the character generation, any system where I can choose the value of a given stat, even if it's a choice from a pool. Having to roll for each stat in turn and ending up with the stupidest wizard on the face of the planet is an offputting proposal
That's cool by me. I haven't really dealt with DnD outside of Baldurs Gate, and so have no idea how the character creation works in the normal variety. Baldurs Gate was basically point buy, although you rolled and rerolled till you got the number of points/strength modifier percentage thing (18/00 or 18/50 bit) you wanted, so prehaps not the best way to do things.
I'm also leaning towards a wizard of some description, possibly a sorcerer so I don't have to mess around with memorising things then finding out I memorised the wrong things.
The character I'm thinking of is a 1300 year old golem who fights with an axe. CoH is flexible like that. :P
He has to grant you all access individualy.
ROPL is a flipping awesome tool for PbP games, it allows the DM to create his own threads that no one else can see, he can give each person personal threads.
He can give people multipule characters so they can NPC people, or if they are a shapeshifter, maintain their cover.
it records die rolls.
Its really nice.
Who's the player? I do believe the rules say you can (and probably should) reroll.
Edit:
That's probably why you mentioned in your own post, too :oops:
Looks like a decent mix of classes.
1x Fighter
1x Barbarian
2x Clerics
1x Wizard (me)
Lots of people with armour and/or big swords to hide behind
And a Ranger
Just duck when I tell ya too and we'll be fine.
I plan to be standing next to you, and prehaps a little behind, with a light crossbow.
Gotta have something to fire when the magic runs dry
Just don't expect free refills, I plan on using a bow.
D=
And I was just making my Dwarven Fighter....
EDIT: I'm a huge retard.
As much as I hate Uriel (;)) it might help to have an experienced player. Then they could help explain how a turn plays out rather than us waiting for the DM to come by and explain it.
I've been a fan of Clerics since 2nd edition but they've really jumped in popularity as of late
I remember the good old days when it was hard to convince anyone to be a cleric...
I think I'd do better at it now but I'd rather play as my usual two weapon fighter or maybe try a paladin.
I played a lot of heros quest when i younger, but never really had the nerve to get into proper DnD etc.