Slashdot Mirror
Podcasting D&D Games
Reader PoC wrote to give us a heads up on RPGmp3.com, a site that (wait for it) allows you to download reviews of D&D modules in audio format. These include live, unscripted excerpts from gaming sessions trying out the modules. If you've never played D&D before, this is a safe and cheeto-free way to check it out. They even have exerpts from sessions in the awe-inspiring ($100 US) World's Largest Dungeon.
Does it really make sense that you could have Wisdom = 18 and Intelligence = 5 ?
The third comment on the page (dated October 26 @ 16:59:07 GMT) has the following complaint:
Some of you may have noticed that the site was down today was we had reached our bandwidth allowance. I have now upgraded the bandwidth to 17GB per month, which should tide us over for a while.
I predict that this will happen again, just 8 days later...
Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
Oh God, this is not what I want to listen to.
DM: An inky black darkness envelopes the area right in front of you, cutting off your vision of the tunnel.
Player (replete with pocket protector and buck-teeth induced lisp): I casth magic missthile at the darknessth!
Oh yeah, I will so be downloading all of these and playing them right alongside my Vivaldi and Mozart mp3's. I tell ya', nothing initiates a Zen-like "self" moment quite like listening to the gorgeous, awe-inspiring arrangement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons Spring movement by Vanessa Mae, replete with hard-pounding trance-like fluidity, followed by 6 geeks arguing about the composition and chemical makeup of a 2d6 fireball.
Why is this an apple story?
Podcasting doesn't have anything to do with macs, ipods or apple directly. Its multiplatform in both nature and implementation [software here for mac, win, linux, more] and is simply a way of automating content transfers based on RSS enclosures.
[place
I don't really care what your hobby is - there are going to be "normal" people doing it, and some rather extreme people. Whipping down a hill at 100mph on nothing put a board of wood or two is not exactly my favourite activity, but skiing at normal paces is fine. Heck, I know people who ski 3 times a week - how do they do it when they have jobs or girlfriends?
Answer: as with anything else in life, it's priorities. For those who don't spend time organising their priorities before doing them, the priorities naturally gravitate to things you feel comfortable doing, and that you are good at. Some people aren't comfortable in social situations as themselves - e.g., low self-esteem. Don't deny them their hobby just because they ain't like you.
The group that I currently game with involves: one MBA, one elementary teacher, one pre-school teacher, one engineer, and one tech graduate. The two teachers are women. We play once every few months. No harm, no foul - keep your paranoia and delusions to yourself.
Mind you ... none of us were anywhere near those 30th anniversary games.
You can take a look at any Liberal Arts major. They are great with people, but suck at math and science.
END COMMUNICATION
Galstat, you have entered the door to the north. You are now standing by yourself in a dark room. The pungent stench of mildew eminates from the wet dungeon walls.
Not to feed a troll, but... Gaming is a hobby with a 'loser' repuation. You might recall that, up until fairly recently, reading SF, tinkering with computers, and electronics had that same reputation-still do, to some extent. It's a pretty safe bet that anyone here does at least one of the three, and likely more than one. My gaming group consists of seven people. WE play once a month or so, because of our personal and professional lives. The group has a test engineer, a project manager, a software engineer, an avionics tech, a special ed teacher, an accountant, and a stay-at-home mom (two young kids). None of these are exactly name tag and paper hat professions. In the relationship area, the group is 3 couples and one single guy (me) who's single because I like my toys (Cars, computers, bikes, and paintball) and the ability to play with them freely more than I like relationships. I've had the experience to tell, too. Any hobby has its 'off' people. Tell me what your hobbies are, and I'm sure I can kick an unsavory stereotype at you; it will be at least as true as the ones about gamers...
I've actually got the original Dead Ale Wives skit on one of my Dr. Demento CDs to boot... Supposedly, the Wives did a follow-up skit on the Dr. D Show involving the DM fudging dice rolls...
Those who complain about affect & effect on
So rather than having a turducken this Thanksgiving, have a nerdorkeek! Be sure to leave out the pencil-necks though...
Those who complain about affect & effect on
I find this post to be very humorous.
Someone who is stereotyping the whole D&D crowd from a website who's tagline "News for Nerds...."
Nerd!
Mookid77
There are indeed lots of folks who play Roleplaying Games that are socially..."special", but I would wager that the vast majority of RPG gamers are socially adept, bathe, and have no problem with the fairer sex.
I wish I could quote you a study here, but I don't have one available. I can only talk from my personal experience.
Among my own circle of gaming friends, nearly every one of them has a girlfriend. Many of the girlfriends game with us. I am happily in a circle of gamers that includes half a dozen women. This is not typical, from what I understand, but it is becoming less rare as the hobby regains popularity thanks to the D&D revival phenomenon. Within the group there is a married couple, an engaged couple (myself and my SO, actually), and a couple that has been together for almost 6 years.
We get together twice a week in two groups of four, with another bunch of folks that I haven't had the chance to game with yet getting together on another night during the week. Everyone shows up bathed, clothed, and no one stares at the women when we game. Of the group, I'm the only one who you'd have to worry about lifting dead weight if I were to fall unconcious. Everyone else in the group is of normal human proportions.
Again, I don't have data so I'm not sure of the general trends.
I do know your odd, cut and pasted reply to this story is a pretty shallow look at a diverse group of people who have a penchant for storytelling.
Supposedly, the Wives did a follow-up skit on the Dr. D Show involving the DM fudging dice rolls...
...which you can check out by going to rpgmp3.com's download section. Both the original and the follow-up are availiable in the "Random Audio Ramblings" catagory.
In the relationship area, the group is 3 couples and one single guy (me) who's single because I like my toys (Cars, computers, bikes, and paintball) and the ability to play with them freely more than I like relationships.
Is that what you've been telling people?
The poor guy just upgraded his bandwidth to 17 GB / month.
Say bebye to those bits quickly because they'll be gone in a few minutes.
ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
And they've only talked about snacks and food. Sounds like a D&D Session to me! Plus they're English. The only thing to dissuade me from verifying its authenticity is the fact that there appears to be a female player :)
Ok.. Having written that it's now 6 minutes in and they're still talking about snacks. All my doubts have been allayed
Graham: Galstaff, you have entered the door to the North, you are now by yourself standing in a dark room. The pungent smell of mildew emanates from the wet dungeon walls
2: WHERE ARE THE CHEETOS?!?!
Graham: They're right next to you
Galstaff: I cast a spell
2: Where's the mountain dew?
Graham: In the fridge, DUH!
Galstaff: I wanna cast a spell!
2: CAN I HAVE A MOUNTAIN DEW?!?!
Graham: Yes, you can have a mountain dew just go get it
Galstaff: I can cast any of these right, on the list?
Graham: Yes, any of the first level ones
2: I'M GOING TO GET A SODA, ANYONE WANT ONE?!?! HEY GRAHAM I'M NOT IN THE ROOM RIGHT?
Graham: What room?
Galstaff: I want to cast MAGIC MISSILE
2: THE ROOM WHERE HE'S CASTING ALL THESE SPELLS FROM!
Graham: He hasn't cast anything yet
Galstaff: I am though if you'd listen- I'm casting MAGIC MISSILE.
Graham: Why are you casting magic missile? There's nothing to attack here.
Galstaff: I... I'm attacking the darkness!
(LAUGHTER FROM ALL)
Graham: Fine, fine... you attack the darkness. There's an elf in front of you
4: WHOA! That's me right?
Graham: He's wearing a brown tunic, and he has gray hair and blue eyes
4: No I don't, I have gray eyes
Graham: Let me see that sheet
4: Well it says I have... well it says I have blue but I decided I want gray eyes
Graham: Whatever... Okay, you guys can talk to each other now if you want
Galstaff: Hello
4: Hello
Galstaff: I am Galstaff, sorcerer of light!
4: Then how come you had to cast magic missile?
(LAUGHTER FROM ALL)
Graham: You guys are being attacked
2: DO I SEE THAT HAPPENING?!?!
Graham: No, you're outside by the Tavern
2: COOL, I GET DRUNK
Graham: Sigh... there are seven ogres surrounding you
Galstaff: How could they surround us? I had Mordenkainen's Magical Watchdog cast
Graham: No you didn't!
2: I'M GETTING DRUNK, ARE THERE ANY GIRLS THERE?
Galstaff: I totally did! You asked me if I wanted any equipment before this adventure and I said no, but I need material components for all of my spells, so I cast Mordenkaiden's Faithful Watchdog.
Graham: But you never actually cast it
2: ROLL THE DICE TO SEE IF I'M GETTING DRUNK!
Graham: Arghhhh... yeah, you are
2: ARE THERE ANY GIRLS THERE?
Graham: Yeah...
Galstaff: I did though- I completely said when you asked me...
Graham: NO YOU DIDN'T. You didn't actually say that you were casting the spell so now there's Ogres okay?
2: OGRES? MAN, I'VE GOT AN OGRE-SLAYING KNIFE, IT'S GOT A +9 AGAINST OGRES!
Graham: YOU'RE NOT THERE! You're getting drunk!
2: OKAY, BUT IF THERE ARE ANY GIRLS THERE I WANT TO DO THEM!
I followed the link and was dumbstruck. 800+ pages?! Every monster in the manual??!
I'm so not going to buy it (a hundred bucks, c'mon get real) but I have to admit, I'm curious.
No, it's what one of the women I game with figured out about me. They've tried to set me up with friends of theirs a few times and I've turned it down. Massive Peter Pan complex or whatever, but I'm happy. I'll go with it.
Massive Peter Pan complex or whatever, but I'm happy. I'll go with it.
Until puberty hits...
Head of Vecna and Eric vs. The Gazeebo ;)
a polar bear is a rectangular bear after a coordinate change.
Uh, I've seen pictures of geeks with their girlfriends. And "fairer sex" is not how I would describe most of them. Besides, geek guys with geek girlfriends are not any less geeky. Trust me; I've met plenty of MIT women. They aren't the same as women anywhere else.
Mark Steuer recounts this tale:
Many years ago (back when we all were still playing D & D), I ran a game where I pitted two groups against each other.
Several members of Group One came up with the idea of luring Group Two into a trap. You remember the Hand of Vecna and the Eye of Vecna that were artifacts in the old D&D world where if you cut off your hand (or your eye) and replaced it with the Hand of Vecna (or the Eye) you'd get new awesome powers? Well, Group One thought up The Head of Vecna.
Group One spread rumors all over the countryside (even paying Bards to spread the word about this artifact rumored to exist nearby). They even went so far as to get a real head and place it under some weak traps to help with the illusion. Unfortunately, they forgot to let ALL the members of their group in on the secret plan (I suspect it was because they didn't want the Druid to get caught and tell the enemy about this trap of theirs, or maybe because they didn't want him messing with things).
The Druid in group One heard about this new artifact and went off in search of it himself (I believe to help prove himself to the party members...) Well, after much trial and tribulation, he found it; deactivated (or set off) all the traps; and took his "prize" off into the woods for examination. He discovered that it did not radiate magic (a well known trait of artifacts) and smiled gleefully.
I wasn't really worried since he was alone and I knew that there was no way he could CUT HIS OWN HEAD OFF. Alas I was mistaken as the Druid promptly summoned some carnivorous apes and instructed them to use his own scimitar and cut his head off (and of course quickly replacing it with the Head of Vecna...)
Some time later, Group one decided to find the Druid and to check on the trap. They found the headless body (and the two heads) and realized that they had erred in their plan (besides laughing at the character who had played the Druid)...The Head of Vecna still had BOTH eyes! They corrected this mistake and reset their traps and the Head for it's real intended victims...
Group Two, by this time, had heard of the powerful artifact and decided that it bore investigating since, if true, they could use it to destroy Group One. After much trial and tribulation, they found the resting place of The Head of Vecna! The were particularly impressed with the cunning traps surrounding the site (one almost missed his save against the weakest poison known to man). They recovered the Head and made off to a safe area.
Group Two actually CAME TO BLOWS (several rounds of fighting) against each other argueing over WHO WOULD GET THEIR HEAD CUT OFF! Several greedy players had to be hurt and restrained before it was decided who would be the recipient of the great powers bestowed by the Head... The magician was selected and one of them promptly cut his head off. As the player was lifting The Head of Vecna to emplace it on it's new body, another argument broke out and they spent several minutes shouting and yelling. Then, finally, they put the Head onto the character.
Well, of course, the Head simply fell off the lifeless body. All members of Group Two began yelling and screaming at each other (and at me) and then, on their own, decided that they had let too much time pass between cutting off the head of a hopeful recipient and put the Head of Vecna onto the body.
SO THEY DID IT AGAIN!... [killing another PC]
In closing, it should be said that I never even cracked a smile as all this was going on. After the second PC was slaughtered, I had to give in (my side was hurting)...
And Group Two blamed ME for all of that...
So let that be a warning to you - don't let your head get cut off unless you really know what you're doing.
by Richard Aronson [aronson@sierratel.com]
In the early seventies, Ed Whitchurch ran "his game", and one of the participants was Eric Sorenson. Eric plays something like a computer. When he games, he methodically considers each possibility before choosing his preferred option. If given time, he will invariably pick the optimal solution. It has been known to take weeks. He is otherwise, in all respects, a superior gamer.
Eric was playing a Neutral Paladin in Ed's game. He was on some lord's lands when the following exchange occurred:
ED: You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you see a gazebo.
ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it?
ED: [pause] It's white, Eric.
ERIC: How far away is it?
ED: About 50 yards.
ERIC: How big is it?
ED: [pause] It's about 30 ft across, 15 ft high, with a pointed top.
ERIC: I use my sword to detect good on it.
ED: It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo.
ERIC: [pause] I call out to it.
ED: It won't answer. It's a gazebo.
ERIC: [pause] I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it respond in any way?
ED: No, Eric, it's a gazebo!
ERIC: I shoot it with my bow. [roll to hit] What happened?
ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.
ERIC: [pause] Wasn't it wounded?
ED: OF COURSE NOT, ERIC! IT'S A GAZEBO!
ERIC: [whimper] But that was a +3 arrow!
ED: It's a gazebo, Eric, a GAZEBO! If you really want to try to destroy it, you could try to chop it with an axe, I suppose, or you could try to burn it, but I don't know why anybody would even try. It's a @#$%!! gazebo!
ERIC: [long pause. He has no axe or fire spells.] I run away.
ED: [thoroughly frustrated] It's too late. You've awakened the gazebo. It catches you and eats you.
ERIC: [reaching for his dice] Maybe I'll roll up a fire-using mage so I can avenge my Paladin.
At this point, the increasingly amused fellow party members restored a modicum of order by explaining to Eric what a gazebo is. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. It could have been worse; at least the gazebo wasn't on a grassy gnoll. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. A little vocabulary is a dangerous thing.
The above is Copyright © 1989 by Richard Aronson. Reprinted with permission. The author grants permission to reprint as long as all copyright notices remain with the text.