Maruc's page

"Do you know when D&D first appeared in the UK? So far, I've been surprised to see how fast it spread in its early days."

Sorry John I don't, however we were using the original cover version. To be honest I haven't seen the guy how introduced me to D&D for best part of 25 years... so I can't ask him either!

I drew the line in one game went the DM (bless him) decided that an assassin would kill a party member during the night. He somewhat abitarily killed mine. I said "So how does this make the game fun?" he laughed and said "Its fun for me!"

Hmmm.

I have a feeling that they just offer different gaming experiences. They both have advantages and disadvantages:
pbm allows for more time to flesh out your charater away from stat hunting, whereas live gaming give a more intense experience. I do both and I like both for those reasons. I interested what you guys think.

My wizzy, whom I lovingly played for 5 years died in an outhouse toilet after miserably failing his saving throw when it suffered from a direct fireball stike.

All I remeber saying at the time was "Could someone get me a light?"

Its been interesting to scan through these memories. Over here in the UK I was introduced to 1st Ed AD&D in 1979 at the grand age of 10. I didn't buy my own copy for a while but there was a group at secondary school who were playing and it peeked my interest and joined in, for some reason I played a Monk. My first purchase was a pack of Citadel minatures Adventurer set 1. I can't remember what it cost me but I do recall refusing to pay over £0.95p for a giant model which now cost over £15!

Pass me my wheelchair.

Maruc

Well, for starters, put yourself in the Cleric's shoes. You know that, sooner or later, someone is going to try to stop your nefarious plans. So, how would I intelligently defend my lair?

This is the most important bit of advice.

But.. you can throw in a few wild cards. Why stick to the listed monsters you have? I've thown a Lich at a party of equivalent power supported by 4 ghosts. Half the party got tapped a few levels (which I very kindly offered them back with a side adventure) but it stretched them. I am constantly surprised by player ingenuity. So what I suggest may seem like desperation tactics, but they were pleased when they won though.

On the other hand you can have alot of fun with intelligently played lowbie undead, the trick I've found is to wrong foot your players by playing on their assumptions. Ever filled a orc barracks with 10th level orcs? Ever make them run from a blind beholder with 5 hps? These sound passe but it works!

Maruc

Hey Guys:

I found an interesting text based D&D Campaign getting set up elsewhere on these boards. Something I've been hoping to see more of. The game is set in Mystara. I thought I'd let you all know about it. I think it'd be fun to be in a game with you all.

http://playbycomment.wordpress.com/

Charaters: Miklos, Feldard, Saeth (departed), Nicolai (dead), Hasan, Ludo, Stephan & Maruc (me!)

Hello G

This has been by far the most engaging game I have ever played and at 5 years certainly the longest. I thought the initial premise of character use was clever, but ultimately unworkable as people invest alot of themselves in their characters.

What really works IMO is the narrative technique. The action is descibed in posts as if you are reading a book (third person) certain assumptions are made by the characters in order to make the narative flow so strict adherance to the rules is secondary.

Experience is awarded skill use/story progression basis as pbm is by its natue a slow medium. But this has its advantages as well, the narative allows for character developement. The use of a simple system like OD&D helps stop the enevitable rule abuse by players (me included). The beauty of the game is that it is readable and engaging even if you aren't playing.

I hope more of this style of this style of gaming is out there....

Maruc