[Virtual TableTop] P&P RPG

[Mr.Anderson]

Hey fellow RPG'ers,

While the vast majority of threads are about free-form play-by-post RPs, all RP discussion is allowed so I'd like to ask if people have interest in playing the famous Dungeons and Dragons. My 3.5e and 5e books (Player's HandBook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual) have been gathering dust lately (I also have Dark Heresy 1st edition, though lacking anything but the first core rule book) and I'd like to scratch that particular itch.

Personally I prefer to play via the Theatre of the Mind, but there are online tools such as Roll20 which provide us with digital tabletops to play upon. Services like Discord allow for voice communication. I believe it's even possible to participate in Google Hangout calls (which potentially includes video) without an account.

While I prefer to be a player, as I do have the DM's Guide and MM I could potentially DM (be warned, I have no actual DM experience).

If you lack the rule books like the PHB, you can download the 'basic rules' for free on the Wizard's website. You could also get unofficial PDFs without any Google Fu.

Are there any people here interested in playing?

[Balmung]

Ah I didn't know you played Anderson. I've played 3.5, though I've never touched 5th edition. We mainly play Pathfinder on our end, namely Aoshi and myself with a group of friends.

Would be interested to play sometime though.

[Aoshi Shinomori]

I'm also interested. Though I'm really only free on Saturdays.

[Mr.Anderson]

So far my first hand experience is extremely limited; two guest appearances in one campaign, a guest appearance in another and a one shot. Other than that, one of my friends from high school used to play at the cafeteria table next to where I'd usually throw in a few matches of MtG with class mates. Of course also watching things like Critical Role, Dice Camera Action and campaign diaries.

That said, this past year my DnD books collection has expanded pretty much exponentially. Owning ADnD, ADnD 2e, 3e and 5e books now. Think The Complete Fighter, the Quintessential Rogue, Van Richten's Guide to the Undead, Tome of Magic, Book of Exalted Deeds and 3rd party supplements from Kickstarter (Places by the Way, Gods and Goddesses, etc). So I do have a vast wealth of lore to pull from.

I do have work on Saturday, but we close at 18.00 so 19.00 CET (00.00 IST, 21.00 TRT, 18.00 UTC, 13.00 EST and 10.00 PST) should be fine.

Any preferences how it's done? Voice only, with a virtual table top, etc?

[Balmung]

Voice/VTT is fine with me.

[Mr.Anderson]

Been looking through the old books a bit, especially the ADnD and ADnD 2e, there's a lot of interesting stuff there. Character archetypes, abilities and benefits for players, how to handle new abilities, things players can do and world building for DMs. Good stuff, even if it needs some tweaking to make it 5e-compatible

[Tyroki]

This still a thing? I moved cities and lost my D&D group.

[Balmung]

That sucks, a lot of my D&D these days is online.

[Tyroki]

Where do you find your groups?

[Mr.Anderson]

I'm still willing to set up a group here locally. I still have never DMed before (so maybe I suck, who knows).

As for online groups, I believe VTT like Roll20 actually have a build in search function. You can also try things like reddit.com/r/dnd I even think there's a 'looking for group' subreddit.

[Tyroki]

Yeah. Douchey as the asshat is that runs Roll20, it's still the cheapest solution. Just don't ever critique the many problems it's had that haven't been fixed for years, even with constructive criticism. That gets people banned. Caused a stir earlier in the year. I'm not banned though. I leave others to trip that wire. The creator is a fragile little thing that seems to think what he's made is perfect.

[Balmung]

My groups all stem from people I know. One group is a collection of friends that I learned D&D from, and we roll20 after moving about the state. Another group is from a Guild I've been with since 08 in WoW. They focus a lot more in story, and it's been a fun experience seeing D&D played in a different way, ya know?

Regardless, roll20 is pretty simple and the best idea for online play that I've seen thus far.

[Mr.Anderson]

Douchey as the asshat is that runs Roll20... Caused a stir earlier in the year.

I remember, but what Bal said:

Regardless, roll20 is pretty simple and the best idea for online play that I've seen thus far.

Though to be fair. I've heard that after you've gone through the setup that Fantasy Grounds is far more powerful. Sadly I have literally 0 experience with it.

But yeah, if we all have a DnD itch, I suggest we scratch it
(latest research suggests that scratching an itch makes it worse, but I'm OK with that for DnD )

[Tyroki]

I remember, but what Bal said:



Though to be fair. I've heard that after you've gone through the setup that Fantasy Grounds is far more powerful. Sadly I have literally 0 experience with it.

But yeah, if we all have a DnD itch, I suggest we scratch it
(latest research suggests that scratching an itch makes it worse, but I'm OK with that for DnD )

FG is very powerful, sure...

But my gods the price.

Edit: Anyway. I'm down for some play.

[Mr.Anderson]

Well I'm certainly down for some play too.
Since starting this thread and now I've actually amassed quite the collection of books (though I officially lack any adventures). Indeed, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Mordernkainen's Tome of Foes, Volo's Guide to Monsters, the 3 core books, some other supplements now make up my 5e collection.
But it doesn't stop there, 3.5 core + Libris Mortis or the Book of Exhalted Deeds.
Also several ADnD and ADnD 2nd edition books are all trying to bend the shelf with their girth.

[Tyroki]

If we're doing anything 3.5, can we do Pathfinder (3.5 adventures can be converted fairly easily)? I'd LOVE to try the Sphere's of Power system instead of standard magic.

[Mr.Anderson]

It's often joked that Pathfinder is 3.75 (with fairly good reasons) so I don't think that would be hard. But I don't have any pathfinder books, nor am I very familiar with it. So I won't be able to DM it at all I think.

Also I checked out the spheresofpower wiki and... I'm intrigued, but it's not very well explained.

Best I understand;

• You get to chose a Sphere (category) which has 1 or more associated, at-will, Powers (kind of like 4e's powers) which will have single or multiple uses
  (For example: Warp gives you Teleport and Bend Space as powers, each with their own Talents)
  (For example: Destruction gives you Destructive Blast which deals bludgeon damage, but Telekinesis gives you Telekinesis which can lift objects, but you may also use it to 'Catch' projectiles and 'Hostile Lift' to lift hostiles. These are specific power usages defined within the power)
• Upon levelling up you gain Magic Talents which may be used to buy into a new Sphere or buy a Talent for one of your existing Powers
• Your class level + ability modifier gives you Spell Points which can be spend to increase effects as described by your base Power or purchased Talents

Did I get that right?

[Balmung]

Pathfinder has been my game since it came out, we switched to it after 3.5. But we're now moving toward 5th edition. Despite all that---

I haven't really seen anyone use the sphere's of power set of rules. Though have messed with some wonky rulesets for custom games where people wanted to do different forms of magic. Specifically spell points, so sort of similar.

[Tyroki]

So the deal with Sphere's of Power is that it's a weaker magic system than the standard one (so, y'know, more interesting when coupled with martial characters), but much more versatile.

The amount of overall talents and spheres you can have is based on whether you're a half, three quarter, or full caster.

But yeah. In general you got it right, Anderson.
Overall, I just build everything using d20pfsrd. There is also the Spheres of Might ruleset, though I don't know a thing about it (only found out about it's existence the other day).

I've seen plenty of love for Spheres online, so I've wanted to try it for years now.

Also, if the DM allows for the Spellcrafting system, it basically lets you make Signature Moves by combining your Spheres. Then much of the old actual magic systems spells that take actual time to cast can, at the DMs discretion, be cast as Rituals (so usually take longer and require actual effort, dice rolls and some degree of roleplaying if the DM wants.)

Overall it looks fun, reduces the power of casters, while allowing them to be much more useful over many encounters instead of blowing their loads early and being useless.

Edit: 5th Ed looks alright, though I'm not so fond of just how much they brutally murdered magic overall.

[Balmung]

Magic is still incredibly powerful in 5th edition, and honestly feels a bit more powerful then pathfinder. Such a strong different between the two at low levels.

They're both incredibly great for different reasons. Reason I haven't played pathfinder in awhile, is due to Pathfinder 2 being put up and kind of watching the system with a wary eye.