I really, really wish I knew people that would want to play DnD

[gamer.tv]

I've been watching Puffin Forest for the past few days and I'm starting to really want to try out DnD.  The good news, I have a friend that definitely used to play it.  The bad news is he lives an hour away and has a young child so it more likely a write off. 

 

Is it something that I could GM and play as a 2 player experience (to learn the ropes) and then just venture out and try and find 'like minded people'. 

 

 

...I would also love to be involved in a retro game club (to indulge in multiplayer)

[DemonEyesJason]

http://dnd.wizards.com/playevents/organized-play

 

Check for local stores in your area using Wizard's search function.  That's the best way to find a place to start with their Adventurer's League.

[Chris-]

I would advise against playing with only a GM and one character; most of the fun with D&D comes from playing off of other characters in situations, and you'd lose that in essentially a solo campaign.

 

Also, I'd advise you to check out some of the non-d20 based games as well, like Dungeon World. D&D can be fun, but it can also be an insane slog with how many rules you have to constantly look up and internalize. Other systems can be more forgiving and freeing in that regard.

[Kal-El814]

Here's a post I made a month or so back about Blades in the Dark.

 

On 7/13/2018 at 10:17 PM, Kal-El814 said:

Check out Blades in the Dark.

 

It's a D6 based tabletop RPG about being a group of scoundrels in a haunted, "whalepunk," city in the vein of Dishonored. I'd not played many tabletop RPGs before and had certainly never GM'd one. But a bunch of my buddies went to a cabin this winter and I GM'd. The time just flew by, it was great.

 

The system does a great job of letting the GM and the players make the fiction as they go. The book has a general framework, setting, district maps, some prebaked rivalries and suggested scores. But part of why we liked it so much is that we sorta played it like we were making up the world as we went within the author's framework. The players decided to be a gang of drug pushers, so they got to decide how their drug worked, why it was better than what was currently available, how they could keep their sources exclusive, etc. So unlike something more traditional like DnD, where your characters have explicit hitpoints, enemies have explicit skills, it's a lot more conversational.

 

On most scores you also just jump right into the first conflict. So if the players in our game were gonna go to a local den, kick people out, and take over their turf, we'd roll for engagement based on their advantages / disadvantages, and the outcome of that roll would dictate where we start. A great roll could establish, "okay you have a guy on the inside who can vouch for you and your tight with the Gondoliers, so we'll assume there was no trouble getting to or into the spot." Where a crap roll would be more like, "Okay, you're tight with the Gondoliers so they can get you close, but the ferryman was out late last night and is coming off his high, so he's drawing attention to the boat by being bragging about something going down to anyone you pass on the river. And your man inside is going to want a cut of the score for selling out his current employer."

 

You also just pick a load before you go, light / normal / heavy, and you can "spawn" items mid-score based on your need provided you don't exceed your load. You don't have to say, "I'm going to bring my pistols and my bone charm," beforehand. If shit gets spooky, you can say, "good thing I brought my bone charm," tick it off, and you're good. You can also flash back when you run into trouble, which helps avoid analysis paralysis pre-mission. Take some stress when you run into a guard, flash back, and roleplay how you bribed him or kidnapped his kid for leverage before the score.

 

Dunno how your comment turned into a novella on Blades... I guess I miss playing!

[The def star]

I play DnD on Saturdays with a group of friends over Skype. We use DnDbeyond.com to keep track of our character stats and Roll20.com is where we play. My friend who is in Baltimore at the moment is out GM and I play with friends who live in LA and Orange county. It's actually quite fun even though we aren't in the same room 

[gamer.tv]

21 hours ago, DemonEyesJason said:

http://dnd.wizards.com/playevents/organized-play

 

Check for local stores in your area using Wizard's search function.  That's the best way to find a place to start with their Adventurer's League.

 

Thanks for this, it's brought up a shop about 2 miles from my house!

 

17 hours ago, The def star said:

I play DnD on Saturdays with a group of friends over Skype. We use DnDbeyond.com to keep track of our character stats and Roll20.com is where we play. My friend who is in Baltimore at the moment is out GM and I play with friends who live in LA and Orange county. It's actually quite fun even though we aren't in the same room 

 

This is a decent idea to try out.  At least once I'm up to speed.  I think next pay day I'll pick up the Player Guide, look through it and see if the desire is still strong. 

[Jason]

20 hours ago, Chris- said:

I would advise against playing with only a GM and one character; most of the fun with D&D comes from playing off of other characters in situations, and you'd lose that in essentially a solo campaign.

 

Even two players isn't really enough...one GM and three players is probably the minimum for it to be worthwhile, right?

 

And the Skype idea is far preferable to playing with too few players.

[Keyser_Soze]

5 hours ago, gamer.tv said:

Thanks for this, it's brought up a shop about 2 miles from my house!

 

Miles you say?