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2 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Speaking of, any advice for a D&D newbie? I gave it a go a few years back but the DM was a dick so I walked out 15mins in.

The games master is everything. You just want one that tells a good story and works with the characters rather than a dick with a god complex.

Topically, while Metal-Fi was the first and only forum I ever joined until its demise, I did find a message board for gamers in London circa 2005 and went along to a pub called The Green Man by Great Portland Street station to find someone to play with. A bunch of established groups were playing various games and looked impenetrable so I and one buddy (our regular group had dissolved) just found the other people in the room that looked lost. We ended up starting a group that lasted several years and became lifelong friends. Went on holidays together, to their weddings etc.

The first game we decided to play was a London based mystery story where we played caricatures of ourselves, in order to get to know each other. I'll never forget the moment I found out that one of the guy's characters (who turned out to be my best friend in the group) was gay, because there was a scene with him waking up in bed with a man next to him. The slow ticking of my clockwork brain realising "but...hey we're playing ourselves aren't we?"

The characters played 5-a-side football together as part of the story so all I could say was "what about all those showers we took together!?" I went through confusion, disbelief and acceptance in about 30 seconds.

That was how I got my first gay friend.

So, advice? Find a place where people meet to play in a public space, and hope for the best.

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13 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Speaking of, any advice for a D&D newbie? I gave it a go a few years back but the DM was a dick so I walked out 15mins in.

What sort of advice are you after?

 

10 hours ago, JonoBlade said:

My favourite book as a kid was Magician. It may actually make it into a series (‘The Riftwar Cycle’ Fantasy Books In Works For Television – Deadline), but can't find any more up to date info. 

It should tick the diversity boxes because the "baddies" are an Empire of chinamen, but turn out to just be a different culture and no better or worse than the European-based-cliche Kingdom. And they have more awesome magic. 

There are black people wandering around from a southern continent called Kesh so there is a logical reason to be diverse. Even the main character is a bit ethnically ambiguous, merely described as short and dark haired.  

I actually think Game of Thrones did a really good job with having a diverse cast whilst keeping it plausible within the context of each regions' cultures - so most of westeros is white (Anglo-Saxon) except south which is more like Italy, the Free Cities ranged from Mediterranean to African cultures and ethnicities and Dothraki were Mongols (and from memory in books had contact with more Asiatic peoples further east).

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6 hours ago, Dead1 said:

What sort of advice are you after?

 

I actually think Game of Thrones did a really good job with having a diverse cast whilst keeping it plausible within the context of each regions' cultures - so most of westeros is white (Anglo-Saxon) except south which is more like Italy, the Free Cities ranged from Mediterranean to African cultures and ethnicities and Dothraki were Mongols (and from memory in books had contact with more Asiatic peoples further east).

What to look out for as red flags mostly. I mean some are obvious but I want to have fun, not be told your character is blind, you automatically fail anything unless you roll a 20.

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1 hour ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

What to look out for as red flags mostly. I mean some are obvious but I want to have fun, not be told your character is blind, you automatically fail anything unless you roll a 20.

 

 

Are you looking at running a campaign or playing in one?

As a DM the goal is to create an immersive world that might challenge but generally will entertain your players.  Killing them off* or making the tasks too impossible to complete is really poor game design.

The other thing the DM has to do is be open to their players' demands and expectations especially as some players might have an an actual story arc for their character.  Of course all within reason - if your players want to do something radically stupid then sure make it hard and give them a repercussion for being dumb when they fail.

 

But generally if they want to do something within reason, then let them.

 

The other thing - don't be a stickler for rules.  As DM  you might have rolled some monster attacks with such spectacular dice rolls that the party is wiped out.  Just ignore the dice results or modify them.  

Sometimes you have to come up with stuff on the fly - generally just ignore the rules if what the players are doing is logical but not in the book. 

Oh and players will break your world (usually by coming up with something you haven't) - again will require some quick thinking and probably coming up with stuff outside of the rules.

 

I would recommend DND Beyond and its forums for lots of good advice and info.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums.  

 

 

*Though sometimes shit happens.

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22 minutes ago, Dead1 said:

 

 

Are you looking at running a campaign or playing in one?

As a DM the goal is to create an immersive world that might challenge but generally will entertain your players.  Killing them off* or making the tasks too impossible to complete is really poor game design.

The other thing the DM has to do is be open to their players' demands and expectations especially as some players might have an an actual story arc for their character.  Of course all within reason - if your players want to do something radically stupid then sure make it hard and give them a repercussion for being dumb when they fail.

 

But generally if they want to do something within reason, then let them.

 

The other thing - don't be a stickler for rules.  As DM  you might have rolled some monster attacks with such spectacular dice rolls that the party is wiped out.  Just ignore the dice results or modify them.  

Sometimes you have to come up with stuff on the fly - generally just ignore the rules if what the players are doing is logical but not in the book. 

Oh and players will break your world (usually by coming up with something you haven't) - again will require some quick thinking and probably coming up with stuff outside of the rules.

 

I would recommend DND Beyond and its forums for lots of good advice and info.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums.  

 

 

*Though sometimes shit happens.

Cheers, i’m more looking to play in a campaign since I want to actually use the character I rolled previously.

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16 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Cheers, i’m more looking to play in a campaign since I want to actually use the character I rolled previously.

No real red flags.  It is down to the player group, ie how the personalities and how they interact.

 

I am lucky the two groups I am involved in are really relaxed and we all get along really well.   Would say it's sometimes easier being a group with non-nerd/lifelong DND types.  A lot of the full fledged nerds can be anal about rules or how to play.

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3 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Didn't know quite where to put this. Just struck me as funny.

Canadian Royal Wedding 

 

Well the Poms nearly got it right, the princess was taken away and Sarah Furgeson had the toejam licked out from between her toes.

2 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

My wife is taking me out to see Macbeth at the theater downtown later for my birthday. Really super sweet of her, I forgot it was happening with everything else we have going on. F'n love Shakespeare and haven't seen any performed live in years. 

Argh! I could never stand Shakespeare. We were supposed to read it at the end of secondary school but our class rallied and refused to read it. We ended up with Animal Farm instead which I don't really think was a win, but still it was better than Willie-boi.

 

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12 minutes ago, KillaKukumba said:

Argh! I could never stand Shakespeare. We were supposed to read it at the end of secondary school but our class rallied and refused to read it. We ended up with Animal Farm instead which I don't really think was a win, but still it was better than Willie-boi.

Good thing we're not taking you with us then, thought about it but tickets were steep... that would have been awkward.

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5 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

My wife is taking me out to see Macbeth at the theater downtown later for my birthday. Really super sweet of her, I forgot it was happening with everything else we have going on. F'n love Shakespeare and haven't seen any performed live in years. 

Happy birthday dude! Mine's tomorrow. Cheers!

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