Quick Start Rules

[Sparkie]

You certainly can if you've also been playing D&D for more than three decades.

For me, It's more like three months.

And thank you, Steerpike, for pointing out the SRD stuff. I started learning about this when I got into my other campaign. I'm amazed at how much you can do for free!

 

[Steerpike]

For me, It's more like three months.

And thank you, Steerpike, for pointing out the SRD stuff. I started learning about this when I got into my other campaign. I'm amazed at how much you can do for free!

Yeah, Wizards of the Coast is probably regretting the OGL, but you can't put that cat back in the bag.

 

[Ravana]

Yeah, Wizards of the Coast is probably regretting the OGL, but you can't put that cat back in the bag.

I'd like to be able to pull the cat back out of the bag—at least once (liberate WotC from Hasbro), perhaps twice (liberate TSR from WotC… though that one is less important, as it did far less damage and at least some good).

Yes, I know the realities of the business world make that unlikely. But this is a fantasy forum, so I feel free to indulge.…

 

[Sparkie]

I'd like to be able to pull the cat back out of the bag—at least once (liberate WotC from Hasbro), perhaps twice (liberate TSR from WotC… though that one is less important, as it did far less damage and at least some good).

Yes, I know the realities of the business world make that unlikely. But this is a fantasy forum, so I feel free to indulge.…

Not to get too far off topic, but I'd like to say something about this. I wish I could have been there in the heyday, in the late 70's and 80's, playing AD&D. My parents and relatives insist that "everyone played it." D&D was still a niche thing, but many poeple gave it a try. It was new, it was fun, and you could dojust about anything with the ruleset. It must've been awesome.

 

[Ravana]

It was. It was absolutely unlike anything that had preceded it, in terms of published games, and it had two appeals no other game possessed: (1) it was non-competitive—no "winners" and "losers"; (2) it was open-ended—the game never had to stop. Plus arguably (3) there was no limit on the number of people who could play at once, apart from the size of your parents' basement or dining room. Which was rarely an issue—not because the rooms were that big, but because we were all skinny back then, and were still flexible enough we could sit on the floor if we ran out of chairs to share. At one point, I had 15 players in the game I was running.

And yes, you could do anything. After all, the rules told you you could.

Oh: and it had really cool dice, too. Always a plus.

It would be interesting to see a speculative analysis of how the computer industry might have evolved differently had D&D never existed. The game created an entire generation of geeks with a sense of empowerment—and of unity—that previous generations never had access to, because they actually had a format in which to "be themselves" (or, for that matter, to be anyone else). It no longer mattered that you weren't a jock, because now you had firm friends of your own, who shared your interests—and who could be jocks, when they weren't wizards or clerics… or creating and running the entire world. (Now that's empowerment.) And who you weren't in competition with: to this day, I prefer not to play games which have clear winners.* I don't know anyone from my high school who went into the computer industry who didn't play D&D at least a bit. And, of course, a lot of those who'd started in RPGs became attracted to computers when games started appearing on them… and it no doubt occurred to at least a few of them that they might be able to write their own. Even without that, here was something where they were receiving license to play games, and "play around" in general: at the time, that was pretty much all you could do with computer students. Everyone realized the potential—to some extent: I suspect few guessed correctly its ultimate trajectory—and knew that they had to keep these kids interested in this rapidly-evolving toy, no matter what methods were used or allowed to retain that interest.

I predate even AD&D, by the way—if barely, and possibly only on a technicality: I started playing roughly the same time the first "Basic" set came out, but the GM was using the three spine-stapled paperbacks in a white box, plus Greyhawk and Blackmoor, so that's what I started on. (I started playing in the '76-77 school year: I can't remember precisely when, but I remember the grade.) He and I picked up Eldritch Wizardry at about the same time… which was a supply issue, not a release-date one: by then, that's how rapidly they were selling out. The "advanced" books started appearing shortly after Basic; I remember our GM getting annoyed when I picked up the Monster Manual… now I "knew" all the monsters. What can I say? It was the first one out. Not my fault they didn't release the PH until the following year.… I got my first-ever Christmas "IOU" in 1979: the initial run of the DMG sold out too quickly for my parents to get their hands on one, so they put one on reserve at the local hobby store.

Needless to say—given the clarity of memory regarding things which happened almost three and a half decades ago—the game left a lasting impact upon me. To the good? I'm sure I could find arguments. But the only thing I might change would be to have started playing a year earlier.

•

*Not that I'm not completely non-competitive: I definitely prefer winning. I just don't see why everyone else should have to lose in order for me to enjoy that. I despise tie-breaking rules in sports: if it's a tie, it's a tie. One of the games I played a lot was the original Illuminati. I almost never lost… because one of the ways you can win it is cooperatively: I'd accumulate a couple key items that could fulfill other people's victory conditions, wait until someone had enough they could afford to part with to cover mine, make the trade—simultaneous victory. (My best friend rapidly realized I would do this at any opportunity, rather than persevere and pursue a solo win, and started playing to accumulate whatever it was I needed.) My favorite traditional card game is euchre: you can't win the game alone—you have to win in conjunction with someone else. I don't mind beating the other players under such conditions… I still get to share the win with somebody.

 

[Steerpike]

My monsters are almost never faithful to book versions, since players have all the books. It's fun to have players say "Well, uh, it looks like a kobold, but remember last time..."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

My favorite traditional card game is euchre: you can't win the game alone—you have to win in conjunction with someone else. I don't mind beating the other players under such conditions… I still get to share the win with somebody.

I like the principle of this card game. I'll have to look it up, now, and see if it's easy to learn!

 

[Ravana]

I like the principle of this card game. I'll have to look it up, now, and see if it's easy to learn!

It's a lot like bridge, except you don't play it with a full deck. Which, for me, made it the perfect game.

Yes, I'm guessing you may already be familiar with it. I just have a terrible time resisting straight lines.

 

[SeverinR]

It's a lot like bridge, except you don't play it with a full deck. Which, for me, made it the perfect game.

Yes, I'm guessing you may already be familiar with it. I just have a terrible time resisting straight lines.

Just played 5 and 6 person Euchre, really different, using 2 eurche decks. (first one played was high)
4 bowers, If you didn't have the perfect hand you were risking it to bid. I had 2 diamond bowers, a king and a 9, I bid three and was euchred. Two were mine before we even started, but the other two didn't even take one.

 

[SeverinR]

Not to get too far off topic, but I'd like to say something about this. I wish I could have been there in the heyday, in the late 70's and 80's, playing AD&D. My parents and relatives insist that "everyone played it." D&D was still a niche thing, but many poeple gave it a try. It was new, it was fun, and you could dojust about anything with the ruleset. It must've been awesome.

Maybe I wasn't quite in the "Hayday"(1981-5;High school and military), it was popular but I wouldn't go as far as to say "everyone was playing it."
In High school, our best turnout was 20 people playing one campaign.(Glad I never Dm'd that.)
Played in Germany with 4-5 others. Played an all nighter while on alert for peace-testers, 18 hours in game. That had an interesting twist, beating on in game monsters, while any moment we could be called to beat protestors with rubber batons and clear high impact shields, if they crossed over the fencing.

My first set of D&D books in a suitcase were destroyed when I was rear-ended, they ended up jammed under the front tire of the car that hit me, the suitcase slid 30 feet, and then laid there while radiator fluid drained down on them. (Thats when I learned never let someone ride in the back of a hatch back. Better books then people.)