Let's put it this way. I've never played in my entire lifetime, and thought this would be interesting. Give me the tools and information for a complete nooby.

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Awesome sig made by Goten!

The character generator demo is a good place to start. I'm already looking at a swordmage (assuming we're allowing Forgotten Realms).

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Tahu 1000 - Former Member

We're not sure what we're allowing and it's all on what the DM chooses.

A few things to try:
1) If too many people are joining, we can probably try doing two to three groups initially, then combine them as people drop out. There are going to be people who lose interest, so the starting 15 or whatever it is we're at isn't a true number. I reckon it'll end around 4 or 5 active people. This would be a lot of work for the DM the first few weeks, though. If people really like their groups, multiple campaigns could be neat.

2) Depending on situations, I can probably learn how to DM from a friend. I was wanting to anyway, and he was showing me the ropes at one point in a D20 Modern campaign. I can at the least temporarily DM.

3) It might be a good idea to have the people who have played before DM in shifts, so it doesn't all fall on one person's shoulders. Might make it easier to get a DM too. It could be neat to have multiple takes of one campaign anyway.

4) We could have one thread in which people list their starting characters, then as campaigns are put together, people can drop in and out editting their character stats on that page. This last option could be a problem for DMs that don't allow certain classes or whatever, or for people who play more and have higher level characters.

Just a few options that came to mind.

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Interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons playtesting paper and pencil rpgs playing Dungeons and Dragons with your fellow villagers? Drop me Eadwulf me a pm!

Yeah, as it is, we're going to need to split the players into about 3 campaigns, unless the DM feels like altering encounters to house at least 7 players.
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Now, as promised, I'm going to throw together a post for tools/general information.

Tools: These are what will absolutely be needed for one to participate in the campaigns that will be played.
- Gametable -- This program is what we will be using to play the game, it has the ability to save your character's dice macros, making it easy for one to roll whatever power they feel during the encounter, as well as serve as some visual aid for the campaign.
- Skype -- This is what we will be using to talk with other players in the campaign, as well as with the DM. The DM hosting the campaign through gametable will also be able to post the information about the hosted game through it so our adventurers will be able to connect to a private session. (Note to DMs: The information required for giving to the players is fairly standard, IP hosting on, password, and port(if necessary).)
- A Microphone - Crucial to have along side Skype, makes everything easier in the long run, enables the adventurer/DM to speak freely without their text being lost in a sea of rolls during the campaign.
- The Wizards.com Character Builder - A very handy tool for creating characters. Walks you through different steps, allows for a lot of customization for one's Character. Easy to use, demo allows characters to level up to level 3. (after that something will be worked out.) Note: Be sure to save your character sheet somewhere you will remember it -- as you will need it for a lot of other things.
- iPlay4e - This is a website where you can upload your finished character sheet and have it there for easy access. It will tell you your character's basic information (armor class, stats, combat powers, and the like.)

General Stuff: Stuff you need to know.



This would be your general overview for a typical party make-up. The classes, overall, are pretty simply explained in the Wizard's character builder.
-- However, that does not mean that we are limited to just four people per campaign - the campaigns will just need to be adjusted to accommodate more adventurers.

As far as general rule stuff goes, that is easier to explain what to do at a certain time when actually playing, rather than explaining everything at once. For a simple starting overview: It's a game where you roll dice.

For additional info, you can search many of the D&D wikis lurking around on the internet.

That's enough from me for now... I can explain a bit more later if needed.

~DC1

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Thanks for the info DC, sounds like it should be fun. I have been wanting to try this ever since the guys at Penny Arcade started doing write-ups of their games, it seems really fun.

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Nice summary of the roles. I usually find that certain other, minor roles should be filled. Keep in mind that these are from 3.5E for the most part.

Scout: Usually a striker or controller (rouge is the most popular option, but less offensive-minded casters can also do this), the scout is responsible for making sure that the party doesn't turn the corner and run into a dragon without any warning. Also, rouges are used to detect and clear traps, while most casters that know invisibility spells can turn most light characters (anyone wearing lighter armor and with high Dex, usually) into a scout.

Melee: Usually a defender, most of whom can dish fairly significant amounts of physical damage out, but might also be a melee-focused striker. There are many monsters who can just laugh off spells, but have a hard time dealing with a barbarian with a giant axe (golems, for the most part). Common classes for this are fighters, barbarians, melee rangers, and paladins. Rouges can work so long as whatever you're fighting isn't immune to crits.

Mage: The opposite of the melee. Mages (wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, clerics, druids...) usually have plenty of utility from their spells, and are always useful. Additionally, there are plenty of monsters that are daunting physically, but fall to spells quickly. Mages are almost always controllers, but might also be strikers.

Ranger: Not the class, but someone capable of shooting enemies from afar, because sometimes that dragon won't come down within reach of your melee. A lot of overlap with mage, and most offensive spells are ranged.

Face: While the party has a leader, they also need someone to do the talking. While Clerics and Warlords tend to use Wisdom and Intelligence, you almost always need someone with high charisma. Usually a mage that casts spells based off Cha.

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Tahu 1000 - Former Member

I suppose I might be interested in this. What times would be running this?

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I can deal with it! I roll with 8ad 8r8ks all the time. No 8iggie!

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Hideyoshi wrote:

The Wii is lucky to handle cardboard. Let alone wood.

Another thing that we need to know. Everyone who is interested post times for which you'd be available for several hours. Keep in mind that campaigns usually go for very long and if you are still a student we have a 99% chance that it will run into your school year.


I am available pretty much every night except Tuesdays and Thursdays.


And now we have

Thyker's Guide to Playing D&D the first time

* Create a character and personality for them to follow. For a lot of characters it's just making a class, and having them have one goal and relentlessly try to achieve that goal

* Talk to the DM constantly. If you are asked to do something, ask how you do it if you don't know.

* This is a game about your imagination. Think about something you want to do, and ask the DM if you can do it. Don't be annoying about this (i.e. "I WANT TO GET DRUNK AT THE BAR!")


That is seriously all you need to know. You have a person right next to you (metaphorically) who knows everything there is, and is supposed to be prepared to allow a lot of things your crazy mind comes up with.

Nights work the best for me as well.

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Awesome sig made by Goten!

In the fall I won't be available Monday and Wednesday nights until 9-ish EST, possibly the same for Thursdays.

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Feel free to add me on Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Topsummoner

Join us at the RV Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/DgtPWPM

In the summer, I'm available at night (after 8 EST or so) weekdays and Saturdays, and basically all day Sunday. I need to check my availability for the fall, but I know I won't be able to play Tuesday or Thursday nights.
As for characters, I've also made up a dragonborn paladin (full core-rules legal). I'll upload him and my swordmage to iPlay.

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Tahu 1000 - Former Member

As far as Characters go, I've made and uploaded my Dragonborn fighter to iPlay4e.

~DC1

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I can only really play Monday, and Wednesday nights. If that is too limiting of time, I'll step aside until the fall.

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I can deal with it! I roll with 8ad 8r8ks all the time. No 8iggie!

I'm available Monday and Friday nights, as well as weekend nights for the time being. I may be available Tuesday nights in a couple weeks, but I don't know for how long. As for fall, I don't register for classes until 28th-29th, so I won't know until then.

Also, my Cleric Deva is uploaded.

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Interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons playtesting paper and pencil rpgs playing Dungeons and Dragons with your fellow villagers? Drop me Eadwulf me a pm!

I haven't been on here in a while, but I noticed this, and I'll play. I'm used to DMing for 3.5edition games, but I want to be a pc for this campaign.

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Want one of these sig characters for yourself? Go ask Goten http://www.runevillage.com/ThePub/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=436409

As for when school starts, I'm not sure. With rehearsals and homework at night, I doubt I could really make this work unless it was one night a week or maybe in the mornings.

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Awesome sig made by Goten!

If we have a surplus of players all with limited availability, would it be possible for two or more people to share a character (or DMing) to increase the speed of games, while keeping a text version here so the sitting players/other people can follow what they missed?

I know I'd only be able to play weekdays after 7:00 this next two weeks and the first two full weeks in August, missing days sporadically along the way.

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