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Very true, we have between 8-12 of us non-coms onboard Nimitz during my military term. US Navy '88-'94 here. I believe we played every other night onboard at sea, and 2-3 times a week in port.While I'm not an officer, I did leave the army as a sergeant... Best of both worlds - no fraternising with the privates, and the officers didn't want to hang out with us.True, but that didn't stop me from playing some D&D now and then, just usually with fellow non-coms and such.
94 on the Nimitz...did you leave before the WestPac? When we missed Hobart and Sydney so we could play World Police with China and Taiwan?
Yeah, I was there, VFA-147...
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Sorry, not a military guy, either.
But I do want to give an example of how hard it can be for one of y'all to find a game.
Before I came down here to Florida I DMed at a city full of military players -- half of both of my groups were fresh out of Annapolis.
But... a (gamer) friend of mine was an Intelligence Officer in some-such department and he was not allowed (for protocol or whatever reasons) to participate in social activities with certain other (non disclosed) military personnel.
And he really loved gaming. Here was a guy who wasn't able to socialize with military folks because of his specific military job. I ran 1-on-1 sessions for him.
-W. E. Ray
Contributor
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Wow! I had almost forgotten about this thread. Good to know the conversation is still going.
Xaaon, I just detached from NIMITZ. I'm on USS BOXER, now. We're deployed to the Fifth Fleet for the next several months working with the coalition on this whole anti-piracy thing.
Thanks for the anecdote, Molech. That's probably the most extreme example I've heard. Not sure what someone would be doing in Intel that would so closely curtail who they can associate with. Thanks for helping him feed his gaming addiction.
My biggest issue right now is the lack of bandwidth at sea. I'm running three Pathfinder campaigns (2x 3.5e & 1x PFRPG Beta) on roleplaymarket.com. It takes forever for the combat maps to load, but it's worth it. I'm having tons of fun bringing Sandpoint, Falcon's Hollow, and the Arthfell Forest to life.
Anyway, the Joint Forces Roleplaying Command is still open over at Google Groups. The link is posted in one of my earlier threads.
To all my military brethren and their supporters, stay safe, good gaming, and God speed!
Well, I am no longer in the Air Force, but I held the rank of Captain and have gamed throughout my career. I never played with anyone who was in the military. In fact, the only advertisement for a game I ever saw was at the chow hall at Al Udeid in Qatar. Unfortunately, I was leaving the next day.
E3 in the Army deploying in less than a week! I have a couple soldier gamers in my battalion I run things for, but i dont know what im going to do when i deploy and cant bring dice! Many on these forums know of my dilemma! Play-by-post maybe but I have no idea how to do it.
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Nrtrandahl,
First off, I wish you good luck and a safe return home.
As for gaming, if you'll have sufficient connectivity when you're deployed, you can look into a number of play-by-post sites. I frequently (and perhaps annoyingly) tout the virtues of roleplaymarket.com. However, that can be kind of bandwidth-intensive. There are lots of folks who play by post, here, and there are several online dice rollers to make up for your missing dice.
If you're interested in roleplaymarket.com, feel free to send me a private message there (my alias there is Niverian). For PbP gaming, here, I'm sure one of the regulars on these boards can help you get started with that.
Nrtrandahl,
First off, I wish you good luck and a safe return home.
As for gaming, if you'll have sufficient connectivity when you're deployed, you can look into a number of play-by-post sites. I frequently (and perhaps annoyingly) tout the virtues of roleplaymarket.com. However, that can be kind of bandwidth-intensive. There are lots of folks who play by post, here, and there are several online dice rollers to make up for your missing dice.
If you're interested in roleplaymarket.com, feel free to send me a private message there (my alias there is Niverian). For PbP gaming, here, I'm sure one of the regulars on these boards can help you get started with that.
Excellent! Thank you, sir. Ill be sure to look into it once im in the sandbox. I know that there'll be one spot where im going that has free wi-fi so hopefully it's not too slow and crowded.
E3 in the Army deploying in less than a week! I have a couple soldier gamers in my battalion I run things for, but i dont know what im going to do when i deploy and cant bring dice! Many on these forums know of my dilemma! Play-by-post maybe but I have no idea how to do it.
well, i would suggest that you get pdf copies of all your favorite books, and put them on a thumb drive, get a single set of dice, get a small dice bag, put your thumb drive into the bag, and go.
you will be surprised at how much stuff you will eventually collect over there. unless you are in a truly geographically dispersed site, you will be able to have good connectivity at best, and at least electricity. it wont be like a 12 month field problem, and the more stuff you bring to keep your mind focused, and your fingers busy the better off you will be.
regardless of what game you play, 4e, pfrpg, etc. the books are pdf. give somebody you trust your books, and have them mailed to you as soon as you get someplace steady. bring them with you. i did. there are ways to do all of these things.
i didnt do very much playing (the group where i was were dunderheads, didnt like them much) but i spent alot of time working on my campaign world.
but yea. bring at least one set of dice. you will be glad that you did.
oh, another thing: you will have an apo there, so you can buy things on line, oir in catalogs, and it will be mailed to you, without excess postage. there are so many options....oh, and like the other guy said, stay safe, be smart, listen to your leadership, keep your kevlar and body armor on, weapon clean, eat, drink water, do pt, stay busy, and correspond with loved ones.
dj, retired, 22 years army.
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well, i would suggest that you get pdf copies of all your favorite books, and put them on a thumb drive, get a single set of dice, get a small dice bag, put your thumb drive into the bag, and go.
Hey DJ -
His problem is the unit won't let him bring dice as they've declared it a prohibited item. Otherwise your advice is really sound. I did a ton of world building there too, and like you, my unit was dunderheads. Besides, I had so little free time. Bah.
wow.
dice: a prohibiited item? i hope that playing cards are prohibited as well, along with dominos, and anything else that could potentially be used to gamble with, i am assuming that is why they are prohibited.
there is always the old school method of random number determination: folded pieces of paper with the number on them, the pencil drop method, using excel to generator random numbers.
there are alternatives to using actual dice.
i will mail you dice after you get there. this screen name is my ako account.
with a dot between first and last names.