Dungeons and Dragons
 

I was reading a little while ago about the soon-to-be-released Dungeons & Dragons V4 rulebooks, and the fact that they will have online tools available that will allow people to play the traditional pen and paper game with others around the world.

It's not a "computer" version of D&D, more like a way of spanning the traditional gaming tabletop over the internet.

So I started looking around, and it seems that there have been online RPG tools for some time. That it is possible to play traditional RPG's with others over the internet.

So, I know there are at least a couple of RPGers on HDC (although not sure how many).

Would anyone out there be interested in starting an HDC D&D group and playing using these online tools? We could use the D&D 3.5 rules and free online tools (the v4 rules will charge people a monthly fee to use their online tools).

Since I haven't played in many, many years, I would prefer someone else to go DM. We could learn as we go along.

So, would anyone be interested?

Never played D&D, how long does a game take?

It is variable. Games can be designed to play in a hour or two. Others can span over several sessions.

You can get pre-made adventures, or design your own - it is a very open-ended game.

Dunno how - can you make a picture?

years ago when i was selling books on ebay - i would pick up these things (D&D manuals) when i saw then with intent to sell them in a large lot.

Ironically i've found a lot more of them since i've stopped selling - and still buy them when i see them.

have quite a collection of them now - have been told that they are worth a few bucks.

I don't have a huge amount - but I do have the old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks, as well a the Temple of Elemental Evil module. A few other things as well.

Here is the "official" website which gives some info:

http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome

And this site:

http://www.wizards.com/playdnd/playdnd.asp

has a sample game to play

i have a shitload of old books. i read them every once in a while. i have mostly 2nd edition stuff, but also quite a bit of first ed. I never got into 3rd edition. by the time i was in my 20s, i didnt feel the need to learn an entirely new set of rules when i knew the previous 2 by heart.

i have actually been considering building a program to connect and play 2nd edition online, but that is in a huge lsit with all kinds of other projects. time < ambition.

Sounds like a good project.

What I didn't like about the later rulesets was that they were written with miniatures in mind. It became that it was hard to play without them, which I think defeated the original spirit of the game.

I think most people used miniatures, maps etc with the earlier editions. It just wasn't pushed on you the way it seems to be now.

TSR focused on gameplay, especially in 1st ed, and in the beginning with 2nd ed. tsr started to fall because it became about money, because the bitch that was married to the co-creator inhereted his half when he died, and she hated gary gygax.

Wizards of the coast bought tsr, adn thinsg looked very promising, then Hasbro bougth wotc. boom, all about the money again.

Yeah the desire to get more money out of gamers seems to be increasing.
The new 4th edition will have the usual costs involved (ie rulebooks, modules and adventures to be released etc).

They are also introducing an online virtual tabletop, which will likely have a cost between $10 and $15 a month. And there is talk that "virtual miniatures" may cost more.

Now, D&D probably isn't as popular as it was in the past, but $15 a month is pretty expensive, when you consider the only thing this has to pay for is server power and a pre-built application (which of course will need bug fixex/updates etc but it is not the same as running an MMPORG where they have to come up with, and update the game content). Users will be creating the content, the makers only have to provide the tools.

It certainly has come a long way from the spirit of AD&D.

Pretty much.

what i had imagined was an online rpg engine that could be modified to allow any games to be played online. if i ever get time to map it out, i will probably draft a spec then recruit other C# programmers online to make one. Open source, of course, so it would be free and beyond any copyright problems.

There are a few tools around for playing pen&paper based RPG's online (eg OpenRPG, Gametable) but in my experience they are a bit cumbersome.

OpenRPG I think is written in python, and Gametable I think is Java.

It would be excellent to see something a bit more polished (which the official D&D online product probably will be, but at a significant cost).

Would probably run a bit better if written in a C variant too.

Can you make some kinda...website...where you could design your own levels and have a random dice roller program thing, a character design and upgrade system, the rules, and a visual representation with maybe basic flash animation to show the events as they unfold?
Would that be hard?

We could play it then...Vod would help you.

i actually have something in mind that would use web services and a database. basically, you would have aprogram that you have on your computer that would connect to the internet for playing with other people, although a web interface woulod probabloy be there too, in case you wanted to play from someone elses computer.

Lol sounds pretty complex.

The thing is, the rules are quite complex, and no computer game has managed to incorporate all the complexities of the rules. Neverwinter Nights is based on D&D rules, but it is limited.

The rest of the things you mention are already available to some extent. OpenRPG gives a visual representation of the game map, and has character sheets. There are numerous dice rollers online (including on the official D&D website).

dice rollers are very easy. i could write one in probably 10 minutes. if i did get around to writing a program for playing online, a dice roller would definitely be included.

Sure, the dice roller is easy, but the rest of Phalanx's suggestions were a bit more complex! :)

i usually use my hands to roll the dice -though i have been known to blow them out my nose for dramatic effect


:D

I imagine the 4 sided dice would be quite sharp and painful up the nose :D