Actually, The Game of Thrones storyline will be played on a modified AD&D 1e + D&D v3.5 system just like they use. Thanks for bringing the "I Hit It With My Axe" video to my attention. Kewl.
BuMp.
Yes, the group is still meeting, having fun, and ordering pizza together. Newbies welcome.
I'd love to join you in September. I'm moving to Warsaw for grad school in September and haven't been able to play a good pen and paper D&D game in a long time. I've DMed several groups and am very familiar with 3.5, at least. I think its silly the way they feel a need to release a new edition so quickly. I hope you guys will have room for me.
I love playing unconventional characters. Two of my most memorable characters were a halfling barbarian with a major napoleon complex and an insane monk who thought he was actually a mage. At the worst possible moment the "mage" would stop fighting unarmed and start trying to "cast" something. He also had an imaginary dragon familar he spoke to on a regular basis and everything he said was always in rhymes. He was a lot of fun to play.
South African expat looking for group :) I'd like to get some D&D 3.5 gaming done, very keen to play, very little experience but I do know the system. I'm also open to other systems, having played a bit of CoC and AD&D.
@antheads I just picked up the Vorheim: Total City Kit. I Hit It With My Axe (the game played by prn stars guys) plays this city. It looks a sweet resource I may use in my game! Designed by an American who got stuck in Finland (?). I like those success stories.
The game continues. ... but I am without Internet. So I cannot check on your replies. The next game is 4 weeks away from Saturday.... and new players need to be prepared.... and I am without Internet until Late NOVEMBER. [Yeah, I am not giving out my phone number here. LMAO]
Maybe a player who is online here can take over the duty of collecting responses? New people will need to be co-ordinated with the DM; me or the other guy yet to be named.
See you on this forum when mt Internet access returns.
Just giving this Thread a bump since Ryan is in the Pathfinder group that starts up this weekend... I play a Cleric-type fellow in this game but I won't get started in it until after my move is complete in November. This is a more by-the-book type of gaming group and the GM has closed admissions to it. So if you're not in it now, you won't be until the group drops a member... I think that might happen in March 2012 when someone's contract expires. Life of expats.
My game is still, and remains, open to new players - especially people who have never played. Just bring a pencil and eraser to my game and dice if you have them.
BUMP
Holiday Friday at 14:00 at my home. I expect 8/10 players, including two new players who created characters this week past. Next game will be Sunday 27 November at 12:00. Sharp.
2012 and two new American players are getting set to join the party and figure out the politics of the Elven lands. W007! And kill a bunch of Orcs, etc.,
I was thinking about creating a blog for the players as it might be interesting to read about their stories, as they develop.
Anyway, just giving this topic a bump since it needs to stay up on the forum otherwise people think it is not ongoing or something. Like always, new players always welcome. The group is a good way to create a social circle without having to visit bars, and gets people away from the everyday challenges of being an expat.
I would be up for this. I'm a complete novice and haven't done any RPG's since school, but I think I would be able to learn quite quickly. I live just outside Warszawa in Piaseczno but a quick trip down PuĊawska wouldn't be any hassle for me. I've lived in Poland since the end of October and am here for good so I wouldn't leave the game to return home or anything.
Our role-playing games group is a great method to meet new people and spend some quality down time getting to know them. One of the best ways I know of to build a positive social circle using social skills in a non-traditional setting.
You do not need to know a bunch of rules before you begin to play. This game is for those looking to participate in an activity that exercises the mind as well as group creativity surrounded by people in a fun, friendly atmosphere.
Great for expats who are introverts and non-geeks.
PM me for more info.
I came across this old quote about Dungeons and Dragons (applicable to role-playing in general) and thought I would include it here especially for people who have never played such a game or in answer to those who just don't get the appeal.
In a society that conditions people to compete, and rewards those who compete successfully, Dungeons & Dragons is countercultural; its project, when you think about it in these terms, is almost utopian.[22] Show people how to have a good time, a mind-blowing, life-changing, all-night-long good time, by cooperating with each other! And perhaps D&D is socially unacceptable because it encourages its players to drop out of the world of competition, in which the popular people win, and to tune in to another world, where things work differently, and everyone wins (or dies) together.... The great thing about old-fashioned, paper-and-pencil D&D was that it straddled the virtual world and the real one: when the game was over, the dungeons and dragons went back to their notebooks, but you got to keep your friends.
[22]Not unlike the New Games, which emerged circa 1966 as a mode of resistance to the Vietnam War (which was a "game" conditioned by the zero-sum mentality of the Cold War, but which, in the instance, both sides seemed to be losing), and persist as a way of encouraging kids to think cooperatively. It's a pity that New Games are even less cool than D&D these days.
NEXT GAME IS TOMORROW AT ANNA'S - the film director. Looking forward to seeing Dusty again. ;-) If you want to join us, don't hesitate to PM. Newcomers are always welcome.
I am closing the door on new joiners to my game today. I have tried my level best to meet with new people and prepare their characters so they can join the game but it is too time consuming for me to continue that at this time. I still have the responsibility for creating the story, handout materials, visual designs of coats of arms etc., but I need some time for myself. The main group returns to play on Saturday and having today, tomorrow and Friday to meet someone new, create a character with them and then meet them again to play a short game before they join the main group is now impossible to manage timewise. So, until further notice, the door to my game is shut.
The general group, however, is large enough (40+ people!) that it supports three other games being played parallel to mine. These games are less accessible to those new-to-the-hobby (i.e. people who are not min-maxers, rules lawyers and munchkin lovers or who know to what those terms refer). These are elitist tournament level fests unlike the social and story emphasis of my game. I would be happy to forward people to those games but, here's the catch, you MUST be an experienced wargamer. So Private Message me the name of games you have played and I will pass along your eMail to the other gamers. But it goes without saying that if these guys are not interested they will not have the courtesy to contact you.
My game resumes for the winter in 72 hours but I am sealing the group until further notice. Have a great winter!
Thom is new to Poland, having arrived from Myanmar with his family for work 6-months ago. Back home, Tom had a social network apart from his family; friends he has known many years. However, for the last months, Thom finds himself almost exclusively with his family or with work colleagues, usually discussing work. It is quite a strain on Thom and his family. Thom speaks Burmese at home, English at work and is surrounded by the foreign culture. It is a situation that is really only appreciated when being experienced.
Thom is also ZenDair, The Adventurer every other week when he plays a role in a group of people who share his experience of Poland. Thom and the other players work together in their different roles as a group to overcome verbalized obstacles and challenges in a story-like game. The players match their wits with puzzles and situations that hardly resemble their real day-to-day concerns of life abroad, helping each other in shared fantastic and idealized situations.
Thom has met a few people, and their personalities, through the veil of role-playing games. Valerie always offers a positive suggestion displaying a wide range of interests; Jerry engages with problems and enjoys the conversational aspects of role-playing; Sam is a staunch activist as is the character he portrays in the game; Dillon expresses himself with difficulty but through the indirect medium of his character makes great efforts to play through his own challenges. Desmond is a person who likes to take action and Charlie is overly concerned with how a rule works and its application.
Whether or not Thom spends time outside the game world with any of the other players or not, the game offers an escape from the daily trials of being a foreigner and the opportunity to quickly assess a new social network.
I have been asked: How does playing a role-playing game help meeting people? The simple answer is within in the form and the response of the player group. A role-playing game is a game without any set answer just one set goal: to survive. There is no finish line, no end game, and no control of the board to monopolize. There are only challenges to overcome and challenges for players to agree to undertake.
It is very free form. The leader of the game, a dispassionate player who creates the challenges for the players in secret, describes what a player can see, hear, taste, smell and touch. He describes this data for a player to analyze and interpret. Players respond to this game leader and build upon the challenges by adding to the information they share at the table. Do they act together? Do they double-cross one another? Do they play with passion? Are they helpful in a scrum? Do they withhold data only they know?
This can all be blamed on playing a character-type much in the way someone in customer service might say, “That’s not my job.” This is a valid way to play the game and it is left to the player’s choice. There is no one to say how to play this game, unlike a tactical game of chess or a competitive sport like football. Rules exist to present a framework for understanding the risk in a game situation not to limit player interaction or imagination.
So “playing a character” can be a mask through which a player’s character can be interpreted. And through the interaction within the game, players will get acquainted with one other. Playing an ELF, for example, is mediated through the player’s interpretation of an ELF. So no matter what the excuse for player actions, the player cannot claim to be an ELF his or her self. Same as being a THEIF or a MAGIC USER does not transform a player into a cat burglar or a magician. What is clearly on display is the player’s interpretation of what is ELF or a THIEF or a MAGIC USER.
And that says allot about someone too.
But the most exciting part of the game, and the most revealing of its player, is how they overcome their own limitations. In Dungeons and Dragons, players have six statistics that reflect risk. Other games have a similar base ability function, which interacts with the mathematics of risk. These are random rolls that we call character generation. In D&D, these base abilities have a numeric average in the range of 3 – 18. The higher the number, the better the odds for the player.
So if a player plays a character with a base ability of 6 “Strength,” or base ability of 18, how they choose to play that character will reflect the player’s choices. These base statistics can reflect things in our real world experience. To prove a point, I will suggest a few vivid examples of real world challenges that attest to a “character” from which you may extrapolate their opposite: learning difficulties, naivety, clumsiness, poor health, poor leadership and physical weakness. These do not dictate how a player chooses to play their character. That choice, that reflection of character, never leaves the player. On the one-hand, the player’s abstract reasoning supporting a physically weak swordsman can be a compelling story at a table of fellow travelers but the risk of failure for the individual is greater. There is an implied collaborative success within this player’s choice. On the other hand, risk being an element of every game, a player may choose to limit their exposure to risk by choosing to play swordsmen only IF the ability score is high and the character is physically strong. This implies a specialized choice that reflects upon the player, not his or her fictitious avatar.
Is one way better than the other? That’s not the point. The point in how the player chooses what his or her character chooses to become is the window through which the player may be observed. It is a kind of layman’s Rorschach test. The game does not limit any player’s display of courage, cowardice, perseverance, impatience, team spirit, or individuality through their character. The player brings all that with them to the table.
And that’s how you get to know someone by playing with them for an hour rather than having a conversation with them – to paraphrase Socrates.
I answered in your other thread too, I'll hopefully be able to message you soon, once I've fulfilled the '3 long pertinent posts' rule and avoided infinite recursion, but until then, Ill just say I'm interested!
A new player in the game we had today and a new player for next game. Very happy about that as a large group is a fun group, especially when they try to figure out the mystery and chat each other up in character. Next game the mystery deepens as the secrets within the castle get revealed. (But what the players do with the data they receive, and what information they create from the data, will be interesting for me to watch.) What does a duck's head erased, an owl feather and a radiant eye arranged as a heraldric sigil actually mean...? And whose sigil is this?
I am looking forward to how the players interpret the situation.
So yesterday was our May game, given the many events in our May schedules: holidays, christenings, communions, and a wedding in another country later this week, to round out May. It was a good game. After the usual chatter that happens when people have not seen each other for a month, the group continued their exploration of the ruin. It was not long before they found the missing Wilder, Devon Wilde. Only they did not realise it was him because he was in the form of a giant rat, and attended to by a large group of giant rats. A battle ensued with the rats, and to cut a long story short, the players won - though two of the characters were taken to the brink of death and unconsciousness. Luckily the two clerics had two healing spells between them. The muscular Arnold Schwarzenegger magic user of our group charged into the battle with his consecrated dagger as the last rat fell. It was time to return to the town, with their haul of coin and booty after ridding the ruin of a sizable Goblin raiding force, their over-large two black wolves and now this giant rat with a ring and magic that chased the fighter around with a powerful and very deadly fireball. In fact the final blows upon the large rat happened just as the fireball was to envelope (can cook to a cinder) the fighter. And as the fighter was going over the body of the rat, the illusion disappeared and the body became that of a man. The ring was removed and so was a purchase order for 100 swords to be delivered to a buyer in/near the village - issued by Stanis of Safeton from the town of Narwell along the Wild Coast (a neighbouring country of bushwhackers, highwaymen and nobles).
One of the players was from Narwell and knew of Stanis and his reputation and filled in the other players including the story of a box that had gone missing, for which Stanis was looking for trackers to find and return to him.
Returned to the village, the fighter and the party went to visit a crippled fighter, also of the wild and from the local area. He recognised the cloak the fighter was now wearing had once belonged to Devon Wilde. And so the story of Devon Wilde came out: a local fixer that acted as a middleman between various sellers, particularly Stanis of Safeton. Stanis is a low level kind of dealer who has a grander picture of himself: always a man of bigger plans. Why he left Safeton is anyone's guess. The players brought the purchase order to the fighter's attention with the question could the weapons be destined for the castle, bought by the former occupants that were forcibly evicted 6 months ago. The fighter looked at it and remarked the order was dated 3 months ago - by that time the castle was a ruin and it's former occupants staked. So something is afoot.
There was a discussion about payment for training. The two fighters are trained for the forest and share much in common. The player needs more training to progress to discipline his ability so was asking his one-legged colleague for that training. A price was set: 4000 in silver. It is steep. However this fighter, a Ranger, is a legend in the area - a scout for the Elven army in the Elven country of Celene and a ********** owner in Narwell of the Wild Coast, also a good source of rumours. So the party resolved to continue their explorations for gold - or at least silver - within the bowels of the ruin.
Deciding to kill some time while they rest up and pick up two sets of armour the following week, the players bring the purchase order to the attention of the town Reeve (mayor) who is quite disconcerted. Arming a rebellion (three months ago!) while he was responsible and without any kind of local bailiff to keep order is not happy news for him. He promises to send word immediately to the Baron. This is a serious development - more serious than a simple Goblin problem. The word returns that the baron will be returning to the village to have an audience with the players and hopefully get to the bottom of this purchase order.
So with the revelation that the Goblin's Rat God was the long time missing Druid, Devon Wilde, will the party be able to unravel the plot to bring illicit weapons into the Baron's lands? The ring "Lingua" seems to work as a universal translator but more uncertain is the question why it would be found on the hand of the Goblin's rat god. Was Devon a prisoner? Who was his jailer? Who was his contact in the village? To whom were the weapons intended? Does this relate to "the box" stolen from the Wild Coast? Will the players be able to keep peace until the Baron - and one can assume the Baron's armed force - return?
This is how we meet people through our game's activity: the group is presented with a puzzle; they listen to each other discuss options; and I see how they envision the story and what part they play in solving it. The dice means nothing is certain and it keeps everyone freewheeling as a team. It does not require players with experience; and anyone who wants to meet others by discussing something besides work, sports, politics and religion is welcome. Afterwards, in separate groups, we went to watch The Great Gatsby film and visit the free night at the museums as friends bound by imagined tasks and no longer total strangers.
I am not sure what you mean? No one in our group is a smoker so we can offer you nothing to smoke to fit your needs. We meet for several hours, play the game and share a meal together. Our game is a social platform to engage with and to better understand the thinking of others'. It helps us make friends without making too many snap assumptions or prejudicial judgements about one another.
Have you ever read a book; pictured yourself within a story; and imagined how you might handle a difficult situation[/url]: what might be the consequences of different decisions?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure
Maybe we can start your clarification from that perspective.
I thought this was funny. And since our group plays in an imaginary world like Game of Thrones, I thought I would share it here.
Season 4 spoilers: Game of Thrones. youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KNRbV66Q-wo
I am just going to lay this down here: thehourofplay.wordpress.com
I know that there are people simply reading this topic, and for them I offer that website for interesting further reading. Next game is last weekend of this month. If you want to engage with others and make new friends, I highly recommend what we do.
Sorry. I know of one other group that plays in English led by a German fellow but in Lodz. If you play without worry about rules, just concentrating on imagining and asking questions so you can visualize what is described in your mind (a good practice on its own), you will find you are surrounded by a social group of listeners who make good friends.
Just remember the group is the biggest RULE in the game and not a rulebook. Picking your group is more important than picking any specific game to play. A bad group can spoil your experience. An a55hole in the game (claiming to play an a55hole, as is the usual excuse) will be an a55hole in life. Do not spend your time with an a55hole even if that is the only group in your area. That is little known but really good advice. I do not allow a55holes into my game. I welcome players who are new to the hobby. And that's why my group grows and people socialize.
People have said to me that they do not have enough imagination to play role-playing games. Now imagine a world without music, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, automobiles, aeroplanes, mobiles, space travel, computers, ingenuity, innovation, problem solving, reasoning, critical thinking.... etc, etc.
Frankly, that is more scary to me than any game that needs a little imagination and language proficiency to play. youtu.be/iYo86GHocgc
YOU TUBE FEATURE ON THIS FORUM BOARD DOES NOT WORK SO HERE IS THE LINK:
My group is a good way to make friends for all the reasons quoted in the article. SOURCE: twinsburgbulletin.com/news%20local/2014/02/06/humanity-learned-at-d-and-d-group-is-no-fantasy
Humanity learned at 'D and D' group is no fantasy
Chris Beason of West Oralee Lane in Twinsburg, whose son, Shayne, has Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism), is spearheading the local "Dungeons and Dragons for Aspies" club. Its membership is open either to those who are "neuro-typical," or to those who are on the autism and Asperger's spectrum ...
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Role-playing is used not only to teach language or interpersonal "people skills" but other skills such as those needed in emergency response. source: fultonsun.com/news/2014/feb/20/dungeons-disasters
Disaster role-play exercise helps William Woods University improve preparedness, safety plan
"I feel like I'm playing a giant game of Dungeons & Dragons," said William Woods University Behavioral and Social Science Chair Shawn Hull as he jotted down statistics on a pad of paper".
"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness." - C.S. Lewis
By Gareth May One of my starkest reality checks in life came at the age of 12, during a game of Dungeons & Dragons. In typical fashion, my cocky Halfling character Puck - think Jimmy Krankie in chainmail with a scimitar and a gourd-sized chip on his shoulder - had ...
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Everything I Needed to Know about Marketing I learned Playing D&D
I thought this business presentation was interesting... It is making the rounds on social media. slideshare.net/fullscreen/wrttnwrd/everything-i-needed-to-know-about-marketing-i-learned-playing-dungeons-and-dragons/2
At the same time I started playing D&D, I was transitioning into a new job as CEO of Kickstarter. I initially started playing to hang out with the Kickstarter team. Over time the game has become much more. Here are three things I've learned playing D&D....
medium/editors-picks/24b4cc17def4
Why we play in a fantasy world and not in a "real" world... youtu.be/YS5-ayYTMiQ
The concept of this satire is fantasy people play "real" people, and I have a laugh at their reactions. This seems to be the right topic, about a friendly activity group encouraging friendship in a foreign country, to share a harmless sense of humour - as well as being appropriate to a forum.
e. If you'd read his work and not just something from a quote engine, you'd know how to spell his name. Do D&D fans read anything? Apart from Terry Pratchett, that is.
Well, if the functions on this forum would work properly, I would not be scrambling to correct problems on a timer. This was originally meant to be simply a quoted image. Then it turned into more of a hassle. The delete button got a little wilde at the end.Thanks for correcting that. I was never a fan of Wilde's, however I do recognise his wit.
As for a literary repertoire, mine gravitates towards Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Hammett. I took a specialisation in the Romantics at university so there are those in my background obviously (Tennyson, Keats, Percy & Mary Shelley, Stoker, etc.). I never much cared for the Victorian novelists - though reading 14 novels in one autumn semester, and most of those the prolific penny-paid Dickens, has much to do with my apathy there for this group. I am more into the expats in Paris surrounding figures like Sylvia Beach and Gertrude Stein for their contemporary writing style.
Let's see: the fantasy genre? Pratt is derivative crap lifted up with all the strength characters that are, to my exposure, two-dimensional can muster. David Eddings' formulaic works are better, especially the first work, The Belgariad, more so than the later ones. John M Ford's The Dragon Waiting is a very good read as are the first three Ice and Fire novels by George Martin. Katherine Kurtz's Deryni Chronicles provokes an interesting reading in its twist. Poul Anderson's stories reveal his background as a storyteller full of Norse mythology. I particularly like his Broken Sword but his Three Hearts and Three Lions, I have yet to read but it is on my list, is lauded. In front of me is Bernard Cornwell's The Winter King and I am currently reading Mary Stewart's Merlin books, which I find very well written as far as I have read. If we toss in the old standard, Rosemary Sutcliff's King Arthur Trilogy, the above list doubles for a who's who in historical fiction - Pratt and Eddings excused. No doubt you have heard of some of them?
And on that note, I can list Beowulf in the same genre as well as The Bible. I have not turned to the bookcase behind me where I am typing, which includes the well-known Arthur Golden as well as (perhaps) the lesser-known Robyn Young (also historical fiction). Role-playing, regardless of genre, has a rich history based in literature, which includes, but is not solely based on, the likes of Pratt. I think my above list of fantasy writers tends to prove the point. I have only listed my favourites that spring to mind.
I never much cared for the Victorian novelists - though reading 14 novels in one autumn semester, and most of those the prolific penny-paid Dickens, has much to do with my apathy
You read fourteen victorian novels, most of them by Dickens, in one semester? Are you Kim Peek? Perhaps you are a little prone to exaggeration.
No doubt you have heard of some of them?
Is that a question? I've read most of the Bernard Cornwell Sharpe tales, but as for Merlin and wizards, etc. I felt a bit old for them about forty years ago.
You read fourteen victorian novels, most of them by Dickens, in one semester? Are you Kim Peek? Perhaps you are a little prone to exaggeration.
There are some ordeals one never forgets. The class on Victorian Novels is one of those for me. I had 4 other classes of literature to also read for. Reading Dickens was excruciating full of meaningless minutia that had some meaning hidden within the dungheaps no one in that class had any time to properly digest.
To wit, I quoteth the wisdom of The Bard two centuries before: brevity is the soul of wit.- Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 2
The number of novels for that one class was 14. Not 13 and not 15. But the number was 14. The weeks of study for that one class were 13. Not 12. And not 14 UNLESS this was the number of novels to be read and confused with the number of weeks to read them which was 1 week less than the novels to be read. [I do not forget this Holy Hand Grenade!]
No doubt you have heard of some of them?
Is that a question? I've read most of the Bernard Cornwell Sharpe tales, but as for Merlin and wizards, etc. I felt a bit old for them about forty years ago.
Then you do not know these authors, with the exception of Cornwell, in their genre of historical fiction? Pity. They are good, award winning authors and have written some books for grown ups, like yourself. Cornwell's Winter King is highly regarded I am sure you know.
Like they say, some men are born with a hairy mustache while others cultivate them over a period of time. Who is to say which soup strainer is better kept, eh?
Here is a funny throw back to 1995, you might appreciate for its humour: youtu.be/2fPgIIB67bw
And another something funny for its truth: youtu.be/SVaD8rouJn0
Here is one author's perspective I think is a good juxtaposition with the Wilde quote: "Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it." ― Lloyd Alexander goodreads.com/author/show/8924.Lloyd_Alexander
Are there any fantasy game groups with a sex element? I imagine there are lots of people out there who would like to dress up as wizards or goblins and get their rocks off while playing D&D, etc. Not being at all familiar with this sub-culture, perhaps that's what it's all about and I'm just naïve.
I am sure you can find something to suit your taste in almost anything. I am sure there are sexual deviant pedos posing as English teachers who seek out doe-eyed underage pupils for private tuition; a common enough occurrence in the world, which I am sure supports the highly unimaginative plotlines for the uncreative, talentless adult video market.
Just to disabuse you of misconceptions, Roger5, people no more dress up to play a tabletop role-playing game than they would to play Call of Duty on their computer or dress as bankers to play Monopoly. The difference in role-playing games to either a computer game or a board game is the higher human element between players that affects the rules. There is more spontaneous creative thinking and teamwork involved alongside the whole idea of collectively imagining everyone in the story.
Imagining the events and empathizing with the main character in role-playing is much like reading for pleasure, except the players are the main characters and the story is fluid.
The purpose of our role-playing group is for expatriates to meet other normal expatriates they might otherwise not meet through sports or drinking and create new, lasting friendships between such folks in a fun setting.
which I am sure supports the highly unimaginative plotlines for the uncreative, talentless adult video market.
I'll have to take your word for that. I still think there must be scope for taking the fantasy one step beyond. After all, it's about expanding the imagination.
I am sure there are sexual deviant pedos posing as English teachers who seek out doe-eyed underage pupils for private tuition
I still think there must be scope for taking the fantasy one step beyond.
Making individuals feel uncomfortable in a group would be counterproductive to the reason the group exists: to make friends. Leveling up Mr. Wizard is not the point to the group.
