
Happy 40th birthday, Dungeons & Dragons - izietto
http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/happy-40th-birthday-dungeons-dragons-214544046.html
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pstack
When I was young, I was a dedicated athlete. To the point that I missed weeks
of school every year to travel and compete in the championships. I would spend
all of my down-time (including between matches) with index cards and graph-
paper, designing campaigns.

Unfortunately, the sports meant I never had an opportunity to find anyone to
play the campaigns with. To this day - in my thirties - I've only played for a
few weeks with other people and that was fifteen years ago.

It's probably the one thing I really regret. That I didn't find people that
were also into it and, as an adult, find a way to regularly group together
with them. It seems like it would be an incredible blast. Especially since
being an adult means having all the money for the fancy custom maps and all
the guides and everything.

Long live the memory of Gary Gygax.

~~~
rndmize
It's dangerous to go alone! Take this:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg](http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg)

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protomyth
D&D was an amazing game. My younger brother went form Dr. Seuss to the AD&D
Players Handbook in his reading progression just so he could play with us. I'm
pretty sure his speed math is a result of this era.

I got a copy of Gygax magazine recently and all the fun memories came flooding
back. I made life-long friends and thought about things I never would have due
to D&D and its decedents.

On the darker side of humanity, D&D also gives a bit of a current lesson to
techies in the valley. It is very easy to demonize a group and make quite a
bit of cash off it. If you didn't head the lessons of the Tea Party and
Occupy, then maybe looking at D&D wouldn't hurt.

"So, what do you do?"

~~~
jaysonelliot
Hi, I'm the guy behind Gygax magazine. It really made my day to see your
comment. Thanks.

~~~
protomyth
Well, amazing job of capturing the early experience in one magazine. It felt
like an old Dragon or even a Byte magazine because I looked at every ad. It
still amazes me how the ads in some magazines with amazing articles are
welcome and the web still hasn't gotten it right.

~~~
jaysonelliot
You just named two of my favorite magazines growing up. I used to send in
those "reply cards" that Byte magazine had, and I'd actually go through and
circle all the numbers for ads on the card that I was interested in.

I think ads work in magazines like that because they're for audiences with
specialized interests, and because a magazine ad isn't as intrusive, and
hopefully doesn't get in the way of reading.

We do a PDF version of the magazine as well, but I'm trying to think about
what else we can do to keep it relevant for people that don't read those
formats.

~~~
ConceptJunkie
In those days, the ads were an integral part of the experience and actually
_added_ to the value of the magazines. I was also an avid reader of "Byte" and
"Dragon". I have several years' worth of Dragons from the 1980s, and was lucky
enough to score a copy of the CD compendium during the short window it was
available... and of course old issue of "Byte" magazine can be found on
archive.org.

And of course, both magazines featured wonderful cover art. "Dragon" had a
huge variety of artists and featured some really unforgettable pieces and Byte
often featured Robert Tinney who perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the
computer revolution with his simple, clean, but imaginative artwork.

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georgeecollins
When I was a kid I played with a group of boys I didn't know that well at
first. Some were kind of nerdy (me), some were jocks that were interested in
playing, I guess to find something imaginative in an otherwise conformist
experience. We all became friends, but we couldn't talk about playing D&D
because it wasn't "cool" at high school.

At a high school reunion I saw many of that group and realized that was
probably the most successful group of people I ever sat down at a table with.
Three professors, a doctor, and a very successful business consultant. I feel
really lucky to have had that experience.

Now my kids have the internet, and great video games. In those days we had to
entertain ourselves by telling stories. It brought some interesting people
together.

~~~
troels
You know, we had video games back in the eighties/nineties when I was a kid.
We even had BBS's as a precursor to the Internet. We still played D&D. So
don't worry about that.

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diziet
The community from Teamliquid.net had a long running D&D show on twitch.tv (It
ran for almost a year about once a week until the characters had a full party
wipe, characters got to level 8-9 and they fast forwarded 100 years in the
future)

They recently started a new one:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3ACZ5XDA0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3ACZ5XDA0)

~~~
soneca
Wow! Thanks for showing me this. I just watched about 3 hours of it. Some
random, and almost all week 33 (where one dies).

I thought I wouldn't enjoy it, but it was awesome! I haven't played D&D (or
any RPG) since 12, 13 years old (i am 34 now). I really would like to come
back to it.

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ergoproxy
Anyone who wants to learn more about OD&D ought to visit the Original D&D
Discussion at [http://odd74.proboards.com/](http://odd74.proboards.com/)

Michael Mornard, who was a regular player in Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's
OD&D campaigns is a regular contributor. He posts under the handle
"gronanofsimmerya."

Jon Peterson who wrote THE book on the history of D&D also posts there using
the handle "increment." Also check out the blog he setup for his book, Playing
At The World, at
[http://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/](http://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/)

~~~
deveac
Used to game with John in the nineties. I don't think his contribution to
documenting the history of the game can be overstated, and that will probably
only ring more true in the future. _Playing At The World_ is kind of an
amazing book.

~~~
greatquux
Completely agree. I've never played D&D and I bought the book after reading a
review, but didn't realize that D&D would be the lens or focal point through
which the history of wargaming and world-simulation would be focused. But it's
a fabulous book, and a breath of fresh air to read a well-organized and
researched non-fiction history like this one.

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tehwalrus
DnD is so much more satisfying than almost every computer game I've ever
played. (Note, I've never got into MMORPGs, not sure why, so my main
comparison here, possibly unfairly, is Skyrim et al.)

Fighting with/against humans is _so_ much more fun than fighting with pre-
programmed enemies; the challenge is much greater. Additionally, rules can be
bent for beginners, and even for experienced players to make the story more
interesting.

Also, the sheer geekery of it, the terrible puns, the amdram atmosphere... it
speaks to something deep inside me. :)

If anyone knows/wants a London group, with or without homemade
accessories/costumes, check out my post on LFG[1] (thanks to rndmize for
introducing me to that subreddit!)

[1]
[http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1w9ubp/offline_any_dnd_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1w9ubp/offline_any_dnd_or_paranoia_groups_in_london/)

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talmir
I remember when I was a kid. The idea of dice, some rules and paper helping my
mind escape the mundane realities around me and live epic adventures with my
friends was fascinating to me.

Today we still meet up (after almost 20 years of roleplay) weekly and play.
Its our pokernight :)

Currently working on a better character sheet for the pathfinder version of
d&d : [http://charsheets.herokuapp.com](http://charsheets.herokuapp.com)

Demo character (One I am going to be using next session)
[http://charsheets.herokuapp.com/publiclink/27](http://charsheets.herokuapp.com/publiclink/27)

If you decide to use it, be warned. It is still a work in procress. Very
alpha. Such dev.

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pgrote
Maybe someone knows the answer to this. I played D&D when there were three
books. The Dungeon Master's Guide had a red demon/devil on it and according to
wikipedia it is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master's_Guide#Advanced...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master's_Guide#Advanced_Dungeons_.26_Dragons)

Where can I find a community that offers games with that rule set? Is
referring to the rule set as AD&D the proper way?

~~~
Jtsummers
AD&D is the proper term. If you want that specific ruleset it was republished
by WotC one or two years back, used versions also available. If you're more
flexible on the ruleset there's Old School Renaissance [1], set of games which
try to recreate the rules/feel of AD&D. RGP Geek [2] might be a forum you're
interested in. You can likely find a group in your area if you're in a bigger
city or metro area at gaming shops. If you use Reddit [3] is a reasonably
active place to find groups or players.

[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_retro-
clon...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_retro-clones)

[2] [http://rpggeek.com](http://rpggeek.com)

[3] [http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/](http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/)

------
jamesjguthrie
I think I'm going to buy the new game. I never played it when I was younger
but wanted to and since I've been watching Big Bang Theory box-sets I've
really wanted to!

~~~
nappy-doo
I'd wait a little while. D&D is currently at 4th Edition (abbreviated as 4E).
A lot of people _do not_ care for 4E, and I'm among them. They find that 4E
lost everything that the happened during the polishing to 3.5. As a result,
Wizards of the Coast is working on creating a 5th Edition, as I type this.

I would recommend you wait a while for 5E, or try PathFinder, which is a
continuation where 3.5 left off, and seems to be gaining lost of ground
against WotC D&D.

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
On the other hand, many people found that 4E removed a lot of the things that
made d&d annoying or worse, including a lot of the 'system mastery' abuses.

~~~
precisioncoder
The great thing about D&D is since the system is ultimately controlled using
the GM's brain any abuse can be patched on the fly. Assuming you have a good
GM of course.

~~~
ConceptJunkie
That was the best part... and I created lots of modifications to the rules
when I was very active in the 1980s... a detailed initiative system, an
alternate magic system... etc.

Unfortunately, TSR got into this fascist "if it's not official, it's not
allowed" kick for a while, but eventually that nonsense was left behind and
WotC has done a fine job with the property (4e notwithstanding).

~~~
precisioncoder
I hear you, it's always good to stir things up a bit. Personally on my
campaigns I like to bring in the Iron Heroes reserve hp system. Basically
heroes get a pool of double their max hp as "reserve" when they rest they can
transfer hp from this pool to their hp. It eliminates the whole 5 minutes of
battle 8 hours of resting problem for adventurers.

As for WOTC I'm really unsure how I feel about what they've done. I read that
with 4th edition they also fast forwarded Forgotten Realms 100 years and
switched it to the new magic system. I don't really read that much fantasy
anymore but it still bothers me a little that the Realms I knew and loved are
now gone. Kind of reminds me of that old Dragonlance 5th age thing. Oh well I
guess I'm just getting old, I'm sure there's lots of people who enjoy having a
fresh start. In other news I'm really excited that Shadowrun seems to be
making a huge comeback! There's also seems to be some action on the Darksun
front, it's really nice to see some of those old favorites that I felt never
got a fair shake rise from the dead.

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camus2
Never played D&D or AD&D , unfortunatly. I got Stormbringer , Hawkmoon ,MERPG
and CoC and a few weird french ones I dont remember the name.

Though I dont play tabletop RPGs anymore , i still buy rule books or campaigns
when I find them in shops, just to read them.

One might say video games killed tabletop RPGs , maybe somebody will come with
a new concept using technology while keeping the essence of RPG, cause having
a computer as rolemaster is not very exciting.

~~~
pmiller2
>One might say video games killed tabletop RPGs

I'd disagree with that. RPGs were always pretty much a niche hobby. There's a
rich fandom if you know where to look, and the industry is adapting to the
pressures of technologies in some interesting ways (e.g. embracing print on
demand). Check out the activity on forum.rpg.net to see the hobby alive and
well.

~~~
Jtsummers
Interestingly, a few years back with D&D 4th Edition, there were a lot of new
players coming from the video game side of the house. And not just the
stereotypical nerds. As a friend lamented once, "You know, I get that you play
these games. But why are my frat brothers playing D&D?"

A lot of popular RPG video games are either based directly on a tabletop
system or get a tabletop system made for them. In the latter case, it's often
an easier game to get into (the Dragon Age RPG is a good example) than some of
the more standard tabletop systems. And then there's Cortex and Cortex+ which
exists pretty much just to turn movie/tv shows into RPGs.

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quaffapint
Really enjoyed everything from painting the figures to creating maps and
characters to staying up all night with friends geeking out.

Sadly I can't find anyone willing to give it a go to see if I would still be
into it. Would really be a good use of something like Google Hangouts.

~~~
jasonlotito
So despite what other people have said, Roll20 does not use Google Hangouts.
It uses Tokbox. However, it tends to work better than Google Hangouts ever did
for us in the past. Enough so that we were able to switch to using the Roll20
video/audio chat rather than our normal Skype session.

Anyways, Roll20 is great, and I'd give it a shot. Roll20 has allowed my 10+
year gaming group to keep gaming.

~~~
arcosdev
I don't believe this is accurate. I think the Google Hangout "app" is fairly
new: [http://help.roll20.net/misc-playing-in-google-
plus/](http://help.roll20.net/misc-playing-in-google-plus/)

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tobinharris
OMG. I want to play DnD again.

I won't forget a friend realising how you could abbreviate Find And Remove
Traps. Never. Gets. Boring.

Strangely, DnD caused different types of teenager to unite around the same
table; Geeks, tracksuits, metal-heads and pot smokers.

Them were the days...

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jmspring
Played quite a bit as a kid, not so much in college, then a bit more after
college. I haven't played in years, but I still have all my gaming books in a
box. Now and then I do go through them to reread an adventure or two.

