173: The Dice They Carried

[mintsauce]

Thanks Russ, what an excellent article, I really enjoyed reading it. Quite an emotional read as well, as it reminded me of a similar experience I had two summers ago.

I was in Japan teaching English, and quite early on I made a friend who turned out to be as big a geek as I am (and he was just as proud of it). We got together with his flatmate and another friend on a muggy summer night in the Osaka suburbs, a gathering of geeky English teachers with the core rulebooks, a couple of bags of dice, and plenty of Kirin. I don't remember why I brought my dice bag to Japan - a rustic old Blue Mountain coffee bag that had sat in a drawer for years - but I was very glad that I did.

I'd only played 2nd Edition about 10 years beforehand, but I'd played it a lot, and I knew a bit about the 3rd Edition rules from Neverwinter Nights, so I was pretty much OK. I can imagine that playing with people you've never met before would be quite nerve-racking to begin with, but thankfully these were people I knew fairly well so we were all excited to get going. I was the elven wizard, and we also had a ranger, a thief, and a cleric, all humans.

We played every week for a couple of months, all through the summer. It was a real challenge at times as we didn't even have air conditioning, and if you've ever been in Japan during the summer months, you know that can be a nightmare. We didn't finish our "campaign", but we got a couple of adventures done and had an amazing time. We had to abandon it due to a couple of the guys having commitments elsewhere, but it was a truly memorable experience while it lasted. My dice are now lying dormant - I wonder when they will roll again!

 

[rossatdi]

So it's not our group wherein people play hilarious stereotypes of themselves without realising (most of my closest friends):

Dan - big, overweight guy with a short temper and lvl 70 in aggression (but essentially a great guy) always plays Druid/Fighter/Heavies/Dwarf.

Ryan - small, hyperactive, incredibly fit tends to always favour ninja/thief/rogue classes.

Adam - overly confident pretentious asshole is predictably a mage or psychic type.

Paul - little ex-goth musician & nicest guy in the world, anything that lurks in the shadows often has 'monster with heart of gold' syndrome.

Me - intentionally rebellious and way too controlling, and I always go for the gruff every-man hero. I've realised I always try and assume a leadership role or actively reject it and fuck with whoever does.

 

[slimer]

Perhaps the Escapist can look at the possibility of computer games having the same role play and immersion effect that table top does. I have heard from many sources that it's just not possible to get the same effect from playing a computer game as you would roleplaying. However, this is simply not true. Playing a multiplayer Neverwinter Nights (1 or 2) with a DM is very similar. In fact the added level of seperation provided by the computer can help people role play better. I have table top role played for many years, yet the best role playing sessions I have ever been a part of occurred playing Neverwinter Nights on a persistent world at aussienwn.com.

This would be interesting to pursue for ludological reasons.

 

[Nightfalke]

Good read.

It's been a long time since I picked up my dice as well. And I miss it.

I tried doing an online tabletop game via Skype and some "tabletop simulators" and it was hard to get the feel right. All you hear is the voice, and all you roll is a text command. No sense of comraderie, and no real sense of purpose. At least, when you are all there at a table at someone's house, or a game store, you are there to game. Online, there are so many distractions just from not being in the same room; girlfriends, pets, the uncertainty of how long someone will be AFK...

Nothing will replace gaming with good friends at someone's kitchen table or living room. No technology can replace that.

 

[CanadianWolverine]

Perhaps the Escapist can look at the possibility of computer games having the same role play and immersion effect that table top does. I have heard from many sources that it's just not possible to get the same effect from playing a computer game as you would roleplaying. However, this is simply not true. Playing a multiplayer Neverwinter Nights (1 or 2) with a DM is very similar. In fact the added level of seperation provided by the computer can help people role play better. I have table top role played for many years, yet the best role playing sessions I have ever been a part of occurred playing Neverwinter Nights on a persistent world at aussienwn.com.

This would be interesting to pursue for ludological reasons.

Agreed. Playing the digital pc version of D&D also has another few benefits to role playing:
- there is no possible way you can argue about the rule set, the game forces everyone to adopt the same set
- you can let the rules just play automatically in the background and just focus on being your character

With regards to the article, that sense of dusting off the dice seems to happen everytime for me with pen and paper sessions, where I live it seems exceedingly rare to find out that any one else is interested in playing, let alone allowing a new person to attend their story telling time. Russ, I think you are more fortunate than I, I get the sense much more so that I am excluded from any participation in any new group. There is a group recently that I hope to be a part of, even if it is only as a part-time observer - fatherhood and scheduling conflicts bring on their own unique challenges.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I've only ever played Neverwinter Nights, which is the closest you get to Digital D&D right now, especially since you can build your own modules. I've always been interested in PnP though, and roleplaying.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

This was an awesome piece. I almost feel like digging out my own old dice, cursed as the are. I swear, I never had any kind of luck with those damn dice.

 

[SimuLord]

Speaking as someone born and raised in Boston who lived there for 25 years, allow me to defend our drivers as wicked awesome. 128, 495, and 93 are Darwinian constructs. Survival of the fittest, and a mortal lock that you'll get home wicked fast.

Out on the Mass Pike one sunny morning, my friend was doing 90 in the second lane and a cop went whipping by her at a speed of at least 110, not bothering to pull anyone over. You can get from Boston to Albany in less than two hours if the traffic cooperates, and to the Connecticut state line in one (you could drive to NYC in two hours if the Connecticut state troopers weren't such money-grubbing sticklers for the speed limit.)

On-topic, 2nd Edition AD&D FOR LIFE. Life without the possibility of parole or those 3rd edition "enhancements" that dumbed the game down. I haven't played in 15 years---when my friends and I traded D&D night for seven-card stud, that was the end of it for me.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Perhaps the Escapist can look at the possibility of computer games having the same role play and immersion effect that table top does. I have heard from many sources that it's just not possible to get the same effect from playing a computer game as you would roleplaying. However, this is simply not true. Playing a multiplayer Neverwinter Nights (1 or 2) with a DM is very similar. In fact the added level of seperation provided by the computer can help people role play better. I have table top role played for many years, yet the best role playing sessions I have ever been a part of occurred playing Neverwinter Nights on a persistent world at aussienwn.com.

I'd have to disagree with you. I find that D&D is primarily a social experience, and stripping that away leaves you with just another RPG, albeit one that you can control. True, the roleplay isn't as advanced as one over teh computer, but it still will give you a more fulfilling experience in my mind if you play with a bunch of buddies from work.

This would be interesting to pursue for ludological reasons.

I'd have to disagree with you. I find that D&D is primarily a social experience, and stripping that away leaves you with just another RPG, albeit one that you can control. True, the roleplay isn't as advanced as one over teh computer, but it still will give you a more fulfilling experience in my mind if you play with a bunch of buddies from work.

 

[JannixPizzalordofdoom]

It was really nice reading, a little "Sunshine story" before bed bedtime. Amasing how many nerds are out there, including me. I have played D&D only a couple of times, but played several other "ruleless" scenarios ranging from student of Hogwarts to Spacemarine or British solder in WW2, thus pen&paper are great they don't have the same epic thrill as LARP's do. and I prefere to actually swing a sword(even if it's just made of latex) to rolling dices.
I'm sure that others would agree with and some disagree.
But defending Bretonnia with your regiment and 200 other people against the Empire is just not as epic when your sitting around a table.

 

[Ardus_Virgo]

Everyone in my entire family are DND Fanatics. Not only that, but my friends and I have started a DND club at my High school. May DND live on!

 

[slimer]

Nothing will replace gaming with good friends at someone's kitchen table or living room. No technology can replace that.

I enjoy Pen and Paper immensely, but it's mainly a social event. For role playing I recommend you try a persistent world on a role playing server with Neverwinter Nights 1 or 2. It is the most intense role playing experience, especially if you get a good DM and it can be quite social as well.

I'd have to disagree with you. I find that D&D is primarily a social experience, and stripping that away leaves you with just another RPG, albeit one that you can control. True, the roleplay isn't as advanced as one over teh computer, but it still will give you a more fulfilling experience in my mind if you play with a bunch of buddies from work.

I have tried LARP and Pen and Paper, until you have attempted role playing with NWN 1 or 2 don't count PC games out.

If anyone would like to partake in an on line role playing session using NWN2 please message me.

 

[Flying-Emu]

I don't LARP.
And I wasn't trying to harp on NWN, and I have played it, just so you know
I was simply saying that I think that it's a bit too impersonal. I found playing with my friends a bit more fun, since we could tell variations in voice level, and could add accents without making our friends attempt to read our bastardized attempts at a drunken dwarf's ramblings.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

I've never played DnD-- although I've always said that I would if I ever found an active group to join. I do, however, participate in a GURPS campaign every Friday-- it's the highlight of my week.

 

[NordicNinja]

After several years of no roleplaying, I joined an online campaign using RPTools and Ventrilo. It's not perfect, but the DM is fantastic and makes the most out of the mediums we use. He becomes a one-man sound effects board, since we can't actually see him making all kinds of noises it actually works out well.

I have a fatalistic approach to my character. I would like him to go far, but I look forward to rolling up my next one when I get him killed.

 

[TDM]

That was actually touching. The inner self never changes, habits fold around to acustom to surroundings, but if you like something at a given moment, well, you'll always like it a bit.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

I am another Texan, and the author is quite right: this is gun country. I myself currently don't yet own any not powered by air, but that's just a time and money thing. Still, as much as we love guns bladed weapons aren't exactly right out. Everyone I know carries at least one knife (myself included) and many more would carry swords if it weren't illegal. It's legal to wander around with a loaded shotgun on your back, but not carry a blade over nine inches. *shrug*

at any rate, I just took issue with the idea that noone cares about blades here. s'madness iss wot it iss