Play-by-Twitter 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
January 6, 2015 1:45 PM Subscribe
Play-by-Twitter 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
I am going to attempt to run an AD&D campaign played over Twitter. The project is currently in the planning/incubating/looking-for-players phase.
The basic idea is to run a small party through some fast-paced dungeon crawling adventures, played out 140 characters at a time through the exchange of public Twitter posts. Play will be constant and ongoing, not scheduled to any particular time. We will be using the first edition rulebooks with adaptations as necessary to make this work over the chosen medium.
I'm hoping to start confirming players over the next few days and get the game rolling sometime next week.
Potential players, quiet spectators, and MST3K-style hecklers are welcome to follow and see how this works out.
I am going to attempt to run an AD&D campaign played over Twitter. The project is currently in the planning/incubating/looking-for-players phase.
The basic idea is to run a small party through some fast-paced dungeon crawling adventures, played out 140 characters at a time through the exchange of public Twitter posts. Play will be constant and ongoing, not scheduled to any particular time. We will be using the first edition rulebooks with adaptations as necessary to make this work over the chosen medium.
I'm hoping to start confirming players over the next few days and get the game rolling sometime next week.
Potential players, quiet spectators, and MST3K-style hecklers are welcome to follow and see how this works out.
Role: dungeon master
cortex! Roll up a character and get in on this!
We've got two players confirmed so far, possibly a third. Once I have three character sheets ready to go I'll keep player applications open for a couple more days and then we'll start things off.
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:34 AM on January 7, 2015
We've got two players confirmed so far, possibly a third. Once I have three character sheets ready to go I'll keep player applications open for a couple more days and then we'll start things off.
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:34 AM on January 7, 2015
No experience of D&D past playing Neverwinter Nights and Planescape: Torment (videoganes, that is), but I enjoy watching people play so I'll be following this!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:40 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:40 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
Prize bull, I will be all up in this. Do you have a preferred character generator that you recommend using?
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:35 PM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:35 PM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
No, I've just been advising people to roll up a level 1 character in accordance with the rules in the Player's Handbook. Rolling a few sets of ability stats, picking one set and assigning them to fit the race or class you want is perfectly OK, and if there's an online character generator out there you'd like to use, go for it.
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:05 PM on January 7, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:05 PM on January 7, 2015
Oh yeah I didn't even think about that. I'll have to set about finding myself a 1st edition Player's Handbook - luckily I think I know just the place!
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:14 PM on January 7, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:14 PM on January 7, 2015
What an experience - I haven't made a character to 1.0 specs in forever. And it stirred a lot of memories: actually rolling dice for primary stats instead of a point buy, having to look up multiple tables to get all the adjustments to a score, having to jump to the DMG for things like saving throws. And what an incredibly simplified equipment list compared to current day tabletop RPGs!
This is going to be awesome. Let's attack the darkness!
posted by nubs at 5:03 PM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is going to be awesome. Let's attack the darkness!
posted by nubs at 5:03 PM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have only been able to find one online character generator for 1st edition, and make no claims as to the accuracy of it:
1st edition character generator
For the rest, it seems the character sheets out there are all pdfs. I may, if bored, attempt to create an excel sheet for 1st generation characters...
posted by nubs at 6:01 PM on January 7, 2015
1st edition character generator
For the rest, it seems the character sheets out there are all pdfs. I may, if bored, attempt to create an excel sheet for 1st generation characters...
posted by nubs at 6:01 PM on January 7, 2015
Will do! At this point we have three characters rolled and 2-3 others in the hopper. After ignignokt, anybody who wants to play will have to be on a standby list.
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:22 PM on January 7, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:22 PM on January 7, 2015
Whew! Just DMed. A couple years ago, I saw a group OD&D playing over Google Hangout, but sadly, even just sitting on a video conference for three hours a week was too much commitment. This sounds just about right!
posted by ignignokt at 8:14 PM on January 7, 2015
posted by ignignokt at 8:14 PM on January 7, 2015
I haven't made a character to 1.0 specs in forever.
I literally never had! I think by the time I got my hands on any D&D materials, it was the early/mid 90s and AD&D 2nd Edition was in full swing, and so that was always my standard impression of the books and systems; I played a couple games (and even DMed one, badly) on 2E in high school and have played a few times since then on various later releases, but the really classic stuff has just been a foggy impression up to now.
And boy is that 1E PHB a mess. It's wonderful and terrible. I am wholly unconvinced that I actually rolled my character right, but by god I did what I could. I was sort of sweating whether I would even be able to make any legal character out of the stats I rolled; Darren is barely charming enough to not be stuck as an Assassin, which he didn't have the other stats for, and racial requirements clashed with other stats, so human magic-user it is.
It's weirdly liberating to take a straight 3d6 * 6 approach. I can already feel my dude's personality straining against the stress and contradiction of his low, strange stat distribution.
posted by cortex at 8:28 AM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I literally never had! I think by the time I got my hands on any D&D materials, it was the early/mid 90s and AD&D 2nd Edition was in full swing, and so that was always my standard impression of the books and systems; I played a couple games (and even DMed one, badly) on 2E in high school and have played a few times since then on various later releases, but the really classic stuff has just been a foggy impression up to now.
And boy is that 1E PHB a mess. It's wonderful and terrible. I am wholly unconvinced that I actually rolled my character right, but by god I did what I could. I was sort of sweating whether I would even be able to make any legal character out of the stats I rolled; Darren is barely charming enough to not be stuck as an Assassin, which he didn't have the other stats for, and racial requirements clashed with other stats, so human magic-user it is.
It's weirdly liberating to take a straight 3d6 * 6 approach. I can already feel my dude's personality straining against the stress and contradiction of his low, strange stat distribution.
posted by cortex at 8:28 AM on January 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also here's @DarrenTheOgre because if I tweet this much about him and D&D from my main account half my followers are going to bail and the other half are gonna strangle me. Also I am very excited.
posted by cortex at 10:42 AM on January 8, 2015
posted by cortex at 10:42 AM on January 8, 2015
I love this party already.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:46 AM on January 8, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:46 AM on January 8, 2015
We've got a party of six right now, and I want to hold it there until I have a better idea of how manageable this is going to be once the actual game starts going. But by all means, please roll up and submit a character; if anyone drops out or if I feel like we can handle more people we can have additional players join the campaign.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:21 AM on January 8, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:21 AM on January 8, 2015
So this is fun as all get-out but I'm wondering if there might be a better way for me to keep track of what's going on and who's doing what and where? I'm just using the bog-standard Android Twitter app at the moment, and am not much of a Twitterite to begin with - any tips?
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:54 PM on January 8, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:54 PM on January 8, 2015
I'd never rolled a 1E character before either, and when I played 2E decades ago I'm not sure we used saving throws or movement rates or anything like that, so putting @Chumsalt's sheet together last night was an interesting exercise!
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:59 PM on January 8, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:59 PM on January 8, 2015
So, yeah, turbid dahlia and cortex's characters started talking and we're basically roleplaying the prologue to the adventure now. I'm dropping DM descriptive stuff where appropriate and responding to @'s on the fly and I'll recap the significant events periodically.
Making a Twitter list seems to be helpful, you can put the players and DM on the list and just view that feed. If you're lost on where/what a particular player is doing you can always check their specific Twitter page.
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:00 PM on January 8, 2015
Making a Twitter list seems to be helpful, you can put the players and DM on the list and just view that feed. If you're lost on where/what a particular player is doing you can always check their specific Twitter page.
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:00 PM on January 8, 2015
Ok that seems to have worked pretty well, thanks for the tip! What do you recommend we do when we are at work like I now sadly am?
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:11 PM on January 8, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:11 PM on January 8, 2015
The plan is for characters to sort of go on autopilot if there's a lot happening but their players aren't available. If there's a lot of players who aren't really around, the DMing will slow down until things pick up. We can also have parties separate ("well, Gwindle seems to have passed out drunk. Let's go explore the spike pit while he sleeps it off") or whatever works best.
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:28 PM on January 8, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:28 PM on January 8, 2015
I'm interested but I'm terrible at doing things. Could I maybe play some sentient NPCs for you?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:37 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:37 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
fffm, follow us on Twitter (ha! I said that non-ironically!) and @ me when you feel like jumping in, and we can probably work you into some random encounters. That could be fun.
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:19 AM on January 9, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:19 AM on January 9, 2015
Having the characters have their own accounts separate from the players is I think pretty much essential for any sanity to exist.
Is it possible to have a twitter account for every NPC? That would be super cool.
If you can figure out how to work in bit part players I would quite enjoy that.
Actually I have a thought on that, I'll DM you in a bit and see if you like it.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:51 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is it possible to have a twitter account for every NPC? That would be super cool.
If you can figure out how to work in bit part players I would quite enjoy that.
Actually I have a thought on that, I'll DM you in a bit and see if you like it.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:51 AM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Having special guest NPCs played by MeFites is too good an idea to pass up.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:16 AM on January 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:16 AM on January 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I might just split off a twitter account just for this - I intend to use the @ValarOtaku account for other things at some point, so it might be a good idea.
In a little bit I'll try to do a round up of the twitter accounts involved and post them here so we all know who is who in thezoo dungeon.
posted by nubs at 10:00 AM on January 9, 2015
In a little bit I'll try to do a round up of the twitter accounts involved and post them here so we all know who is who in the
posted by nubs at 10:00 AM on January 9, 2015
Right now, the dedicated accounts are:
@1stEdDM (me!)
@grabathor (ignignokt)
@DarrenTheOgre (cortex)
@Chumsalt (turbid dahlia)
@GThrar (JamesD)
@ValarOtaku, as you say, may be switched out soon and @griph continues to court madness by using his main Twitter account.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:18 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
@1stEdDM (me!)
@grabathor (ignignokt)
@DarrenTheOgre (cortex)
@Chumsalt (turbid dahlia)
@GThrar (JamesD)
@ValarOtaku, as you say, may be switched out soon and @griph continues to court madness by using his main Twitter account.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:18 AM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]
And @ValarOtaku is now @UtterOtaku. And we are more or less fully underway at this point.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:16 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:16 PM on January 9, 2015
So I guess I'm old by Internet reckoning and barely understand Twitter. How would I read this? There has to be some sort of tool or method that would simplify it, right?
Or would I have to create a separate twitter account and follow all accounts posted here?
posted by ODiV at 12:47 PM on January 9, 2015
Or would I have to create a separate twitter account and follow all accounts posted here?
posted by ODiV at 12:47 PM on January 9, 2015
Easiest way would probably be to put the dedicated accounts listed above in a Twitter list, which you can read in its own separate feed. I don't know if that picks up reply-@ crosstalk between the players, so you might need to check individual accounts to catch everything, but I'm retweeting and recapping significant in-game tweets on my account.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:52 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:52 PM on January 9, 2015
It'd be neat if there's some way to create like a daily auto-storify digest too, but I have no idea whether there's non-crappy tools to pull something like that off.
posted by cortex at 12:58 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 12:58 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Here is a list you could follow. It's public I believe so you should be able to see it.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:23 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:23 PM on January 9, 2015
Thanks! So scroll until I can't anymore and then read from the bottom?
posted by ODiV at 1:28 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by ODiV at 1:28 PM on January 9, 2015
Yup.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:41 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:41 PM on January 9, 2015
Detailed recaps in blog format is something I'm considering.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:53 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:53 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've never used Storify, but how far back can it scrape? If nothing else, this exercise is going to get me far more engaged in using various social media.
posted by nubs at 1:57 PM on January 9, 2015
posted by nubs at 1:57 PM on January 9, 2015
Storify doesn't scrape, or at least it doesn't automatically pull stuff in. It makes you manually add entries.
Storify's API is not very well-maintained (no way to update a story without reposting every single element), so I started one manually:
MF1: The Village of Guffin
I'll try to update it daily. And if anyone else is interest in doing so, I'm happy to hand over the keys!
posted by ignignokt at 7:22 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Storify's API is not very well-maintained (no way to update a story without reposting every single element), so I started one manually:
MF1: The Village of Guffin
I'll try to update it daily. And if anyone else is interest in doing so, I'm happy to hand over the keys!
posted by ignignokt at 7:22 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Alright, there's an offical blog now. I'll be posting recaps of each in-game day (the first such recap will go up later today).
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:46 AM on January 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:46 AM on January 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
Just want to take a moment here to acknowledge all of the tremendous work prize bull octorok is doing - establishing the campaign setting, blogging about it, helping us keep track of things, and trying very hard to keep six people who are randomly available working towards some kind of target (of which we are randomly able to aim towards). Plus he's well over 500 tweets just getting us to the area where the dungeon crawl might start - so I'm thinking "fast-paced dungeon crawling adventures" objective of this project might have changed, though I think everyone is having fun. And if I'm a little too busy on the Twitter feed, let me know, I don't want to be the guy dominating the table.
posted by nubs at 11:01 AM on January 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by nubs at 11:01 AM on January 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Thanks, nubs! I have wanted to run a 1st edition campaign since I was twelve basically so this is very much a labor of love for me and it's been great fun. The characters -- you guys -- are awesome. And yes, the objective has shifted a little, but you guys WILL be getting into that dungeon soon, I swear.
No worries about hogging the feed, the idea has always been for everybody to participate to the best extent they can. And on that note...
When things are hopping, we usually have 2-4 players active out of a party of 6. Some players are more consistently active than others, but that's OK. At this level of activity I'm thinking we could probably take more players on, so I just want to say again that if anyone still wants to get in on this, shoot me a message.
Oh, and there's two game days of updates on the blog, now, along with documents and maps and character sheets.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:34 AM on January 12, 2015
No worries about hogging the feed, the idea has always been for everybody to participate to the best extent they can. And on that note...
When things are hopping, we usually have 2-4 players active out of a party of 6. Some players are more consistently active than others, but that's OK. At this level of activity I'm thinking we could probably take more players on, so I just want to say again that if anyone still wants to get in on this, shoot me a message.
Oh, and there's two game days of updates on the blog, now, along with documents and maps and character sheets.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:34 AM on January 12, 2015
so I'm thinking "fast-paced dungeon crawling adventures" objective of this project might have changed
I have been feeling like we've be doing a pretty good job of instead pursuing an objective of "improvising NPC party dialogue for a particularly unepic Bioware RPG".
posted by cortex at 11:35 AM on January 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
I have been feeling like we've be doing a pretty good job of instead pursuing an objective of "improvising NPC party dialogue for a particularly unepic Bioware RPG".
posted by cortex at 11:35 AM on January 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
I had a lot of fun playing the ill fated goblin Throkgoggle.
Thanks prize bull octorok.
Also great work behind the scenes making sure I knew where to head so that I would get killed at just the right time.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:00 PM on January 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Thanks prize bull octorok.
Also great work behind the scenes making sure I knew where to head so that I would get killed at just the right time.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:00 PM on January 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Throkgoggle made me feel for the goblins, man. Nice work!
posted by ignignokt at 1:49 PM on January 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ignignokt at 1:49 PM on January 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have wanted to run a 1st edition campaign since I was twelve basically so this is very much a labor of love for me and it's been great fun.
Interesting! I played and DM'd a lot of 1st ed back in the day (yeah, I was a small geeky teenage boy). So this is a big stroll down amnesia lane for me; so you've never run 1st ed before, cortex has never played it, I'm curious about the general experience level of the group as a whole wrt 1st ed...
And yes, the objective has shifted a little, but you guys WILL be getting into that dungeon soon, I swear.
No worries! I'm laughing because I know how the PCs will always, always go sideways from what the DM expects to happen.
posted by nubs at 1:56 PM on January 12, 2015
Interesting! I played and DM'd a lot of 1st ed back in the day (yeah, I was a small geeky teenage boy). So this is a big stroll down amnesia lane for me; so you've never run 1st ed before, cortex has never played it, I'm curious about the general experience level of the group as a whole wrt 1st ed...
And yes, the objective has shifted a little, but you guys WILL be getting into that dungeon soon, I swear.
No worries! I'm laughing because I know how the PCs will always, always go sideways from what the DM expects to happen.
posted by nubs at 1:56 PM on January 12, 2015
Just want to echo the sentiment that you are doing a brilliant job, prize bull. I am sorry that Chumsalt's attendance is so flaky but I hope you can tolerate it as I am having a great time. Also the blog is fabbo!
*goat scream*
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:25 PM on January 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
*goat scream*
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:25 PM on January 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you could add me to the hopper, I'd be happy to mulch through with some fertile roleplaying. This is a great project, and the best use of the Twitterverse I've seen in a while. Keep up the great gaming!
posted by eisenkrote at 7:23 AM on January 13, 2015
posted by eisenkrote at 7:23 AM on January 13, 2015
eisenkrote, we just lost a party member under mysterious circumstances, so there would be room for another player. I just posted some information about new player applications on the blog, check it out and roll up a character if you'd like to join in.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:03 AM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:03 AM on January 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm doing a roleplaying!
Seriously this is awesome. It combines many of my favourite things - internet, RPGs, and making gimmick Twitter accounts.
Also, Mark the Guard, absolute perfect avatar. Spot on. I mentally read all your tweets in David Mitchell's voice.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:38 PM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Seriously this is awesome. It combines many of my favourite things - internet, RPGs, and making gimmick Twitter accounts.
Also, Mark the Guard, absolute perfect avatar. Spot on. I mentally read all your tweets in David Mitchell's voice.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:38 PM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Two of the characters met a demonic being from the outer planes last night, sealed inside a wizard's tomb. I thought their interactions with it might make a good Storify for anyone who wants to see how this game's been going.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:28 PM on January 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:28 PM on January 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
This is wonderful.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:29 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Literaryhero at 3:29 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Never played a minute of tabletop RPGs in my life so I wasn't sure I'd do justice to prize bull octorok's awesome backstory, but roleplaying an ancient, insane, hallucinating, rambling ghost has been super fun.
I don't know if D&D-via-Twitter has been done before, but the ability for 3rd parties to play NPCs seems to really add to the atmosphere without requiring much extra work from the DM (although pbo has done an excellent job filling me in on how the wraith should react).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:23 PM on January 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
I don't know if D&D-via-Twitter has been done before, but the ability for 3rd parties to play NPCs seems to really add to the atmosphere without requiring much extra work from the DM (although pbo has done an excellent job filling me in on how the wraith should react).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:23 PM on January 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yep this whole thing is just brilliant. We could easily have dozens of Mefites providing colour to a whole universe! Hard for pbo to keep track of, but still!
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:26 PM on January 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:26 PM on January 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I really need to sort out Chumsalt's character sheet though, and get the PHB onto my phone so that I'm making things a bit easier for the DM.
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:28 PM on January 19, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:28 PM on January 19, 2015
I storified Mark_the_Guard who's basically a one man D&D narrative.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:11 AM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:11 AM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
The NPCs are a trip. EndsOfInvention has been brilliant as the wraith and Mark the Guard just keeps getting better and better (I did not know who Mark was for the longest time, he just started tweeting one day. Spoiler, it's turbid dahlia).
I said this already but it bears repeating, the players (and NPCs) are why this experiment is working, and who makes it entertaining. They're on the cusp of completing their first dungeon crawl with all the win conditions more or less checked off, and if they're up for it we will keep going with this.
I don't know if D&D-via-Twitter has been done before
In my perfunctory research before starting this project I found one account that announced it was going to be playing D&D-via-Twitter, and then as far as I can tell, never did. But I think we're finding out that it's totally a viable concept, and it'd be super swell if it caught on. And just to throw out another reminder, we are still taking new players and there are no particular scheduling/availability requirements.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:18 AM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I said this already but it bears repeating, the players (and NPCs) are why this experiment is working, and who makes it entertaining. They're on the cusp of completing their first dungeon crawl with all the win conditions more or less checked off, and if they're up for it we will keep going with this.
I don't know if D&D-via-Twitter has been done before
In my perfunctory research before starting this project I found one account that announced it was going to be playing D&D-via-Twitter, and then as far as I can tell, never did. But I think we're finding out that it's totally a viable concept, and it'd be super swell if it caught on. And just to throw out another reminder, we are still taking new players and there are no particular scheduling/availability requirements.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:18 AM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mark The Guard is a pitch-perfect Peep Show tribute. I can also imagine the "Wait, are WE the baddies?" Mitchell & Webb sketch with a couple of NPCs realising they're not the player characters ("Have you ever noticed how we've both got the exact same basic equipment, and neither of us has a surname? We're just '...The Guard'").
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:32 AM on January 20, 2015
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:32 AM on January 20, 2015
It's been a very interesting experience, and just to disagree a bit with prize bull octorok:
the players (and NPCs) are why this experiment is working, and who makes it entertaining.
The DM most definitely needs to be added to that.
Some observations:
-1st Ed is probably ideal for this; the character creation process is simple (once you've remembered/figured out how to parse the often confusing layout of the PHB and the multiple tables you need to understand anything), and we're not dealing with multitudes of skills and abilities that require a lot of paperwork, memory and a grid map to fully utilize in combat - because:
-The asynchronous nature of the game is a little strange; it's tough at times as the player because you can wind up being the sole decision maker for the entire group or come back to the game after some downtime and discover the plot has moved forwards by leaps and bounds, and things have happened that maybe could've been avoided with some more minds at the table. But the simple nature of 1st Ed means characters can auto-pilot to a certain degree (at least at early levels). In that way, it is reminiscent of many 1st Ed games I used to play as a young lad - not everyone could make it, and everyone seemed to take turns making decisions for the group or other characters (or, in fact, played two or three characters so that we had a party of six when we only had a DM plus two people interested).
-It's allowed for a lot of creativity outside of the DM/players, which is awesome.
-Beyond the wonder that is Mark_the_Guard, we also now have @smidgeodice, which means I no longer have to carry my dice with me when I leave the house;
-I'm impressed we're about to leave the tomb having thoroughly desecrated it, but without any treasure past a +1 dagger. That's some fine tomb robbin', there.
posted by nubs at 9:41 AM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
the players (and NPCs) are why this experiment is working, and who makes it entertaining.
The DM most definitely needs to be added to that.
Some observations:
-1st Ed is probably ideal for this; the character creation process is simple (once you've remembered/figured out how to parse the often confusing layout of the PHB and the multiple tables you need to understand anything), and we're not dealing with multitudes of skills and abilities that require a lot of paperwork, memory and a grid map to fully utilize in combat - because:
-The asynchronous nature of the game is a little strange; it's tough at times as the player because you can wind up being the sole decision maker for the entire group or come back to the game after some downtime and discover the plot has moved forwards by leaps and bounds, and things have happened that maybe could've been avoided with some more minds at the table. But the simple nature of 1st Ed means characters can auto-pilot to a certain degree (at least at early levels). In that way, it is reminiscent of many 1st Ed games I used to play as a young lad - not everyone could make it, and everyone seemed to take turns making decisions for the group or other characters (or, in fact, played two or three characters so that we had a party of six when we only had a DM plus two people interested).
-It's allowed for a lot of creativity outside of the DM/players, which is awesome.
-Beyond the wonder that is Mark_the_Guard, we also now have @smidgeodice, which means I no longer have to carry my dice with me when I leave the house;
-I'm impressed we're about to leave the tomb having thoroughly desecrated it, but without any treasure past a +1 dagger. That's some fine tomb robbin', there.
posted by nubs at 9:41 AM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Thanks, nubs. And that's a well-deserved shoutout to @smidgeodice as well, which I believe was crafted by MeFi's Own ignignokt (aka Grabathor).
I like first edition. I think it lends itself well to this kind of format, which requires a good deal of flexibility on the players' and DM's part. And anyway most of what I know about later editions is what I heard on Nerd Poker, which sounded like World of Warcraft to me with all the special attacks, point inflation, fanservice races (dragonborn gmafb) etc. I was SO HAPPY when they switched to 2nd edition. The key to making it work is taking snapshots of key tables etc and indexing them myself on my phone, because god knows looking things up in those rulebooks is a nightmare.
The asynchronicity is the biggest challenge/drawback, but I think everybody has handled it really well. Party leadership shifts to whoever's available to make decisions, everybody just rolls with it and makes the best of it, and we keep things moving and it more or less works out. I try to keep the #RECAP tweets consistent so people can catch up on the important stuff quickly.
I feel like I have basically taken you guys by the back of the neck and physically pointed your heads in the direction the good treasure is located several times, to no avail, but hey that's okay, I think at the end of the day the party is going to learn that the real treasure in Chalmaber's tomb was FRIENDSHIP. At least until you start fighting over who gets to keep the +1 dagger.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:02 AM on January 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I like first edition. I think it lends itself well to this kind of format, which requires a good deal of flexibility on the players' and DM's part. And anyway most of what I know about later editions is what I heard on Nerd Poker, which sounded like World of Warcraft to me with all the special attacks, point inflation, fanservice races (dragonborn gmafb) etc. I was SO HAPPY when they switched to 2nd edition. The key to making it work is taking snapshots of key tables etc and indexing them myself on my phone, because god knows looking things up in those rulebooks is a nightmare.
The asynchronicity is the biggest challenge/drawback, but I think everybody has handled it really well. Party leadership shifts to whoever's available to make decisions, everybody just rolls with it and makes the best of it, and we keep things moving and it more or less works out. I try to keep the #RECAP tweets consistent so people can catch up on the important stuff quickly.
I feel like I have basically taken you guys by the back of the neck and physically pointed your heads in the direction the good treasure is located several times, to no avail, but hey that's okay, I think at the end of the day the party is going to learn that the real treasure in Chalmaber's tomb was FRIENDSHIP. At least until you start fighting over who gets to keep the +1 dagger.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:02 AM on January 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I feel like I have basically taken you guys by the back of the neck and physically pointed your heads in the direction the good treasure is located several times, to no avail,
I'm sure you have (in fact, I seem to recall getting one of those hints somewhere along the way, but by the time I had caught up reading, the group had moved on and we were somewhere else). We aren't exactly the brightest bunch of tomb robbers, which is part of the fun. We're a bumbling, somewhat incompetent adventuring troop that succeeds despite itself!
posted by nubs at 10:15 AM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm sure you have (in fact, I seem to recall getting one of those hints somewhere along the way, but by the time I had caught up reading, the group had moved on and we were somewhere else). We aren't exactly the brightest bunch of tomb robbers, which is part of the fun. We're a bumbling, somewhat incompetent adventuring troop that succeeds despite itself!
posted by nubs at 10:15 AM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
and anyway most of what I know about later editions is what I heard on Nerd Poker, which sounded like World of Warcraft to me with all the special attacks, point inflation, fanservice races (dragonborn gmafb) etc
I'm learning, as I get a bit older and some wisdom (which Utter will never have) that the system needs to match with what style of game you are playing. If you want something epic and are aiming for the grand high fantasy type of thing, the later editions of D&D or Pathfinder work well. If you want something grittier, tighter, less epic in scope and perhaps a bit more in keeping with this quote from Perdido Street Station:
1st edition requires play to be mucky - because there aren't many rules for anything besides combat, everything else is improvised and things are made up on the fly, so there's a creativity there, along with an edge in terms of the closeness to death. What I kinda see happening over time is that more and more players were adding formal layers to the game (supplements) and the drive for a more epic, high fantasy feel drove the version changes.
But the great thing is that we can go back and forth and find different ways of playing that suit the game, the mood, and the group.
posted by nubs at 12:15 PM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm learning, as I get a bit older and some wisdom (which Utter will never have) that the system needs to match with what style of game you are playing. If you want something epic and are aiming for the grand high fantasy type of thing, the later editions of D&D or Pathfinder work well. If you want something grittier, tighter, less epic in scope and perhaps a bit more in keeping with this quote from Perdido Street Station:
They were immediately and absolutely recognizable as adventurers; rogues who wandered the Ragamoll and the Cymek and Fellid and probably the whole of Bas-Lag. They were hardy and dangerous, lawless, stribbed of allegiance or morality, living off their wits, stealing and killing, hiring themselves out to whoever and whatever came. They were inspired by dubious virtues. A few performed useful services: research, cartography, and the like. Most were nothing but tomb raiders. They were scum who died violent deaths, hanging on to a certain cachet among the impressionable through their undeniable bravery and their occasionally impressive exploits.Then 1st and 2nd edition are great. Not that you can't do epic high fantasy with them, or gritty with the other systems, but the choice of game engine does have impact on the world and its feel.
1st edition requires play to be mucky - because there aren't many rules for anything besides combat, everything else is improvised and things are made up on the fly, so there's a creativity there, along with an edge in terms of the closeness to death. What I kinda see happening over time is that more and more players were adding formal layers to the game (supplements) and the drive for a more epic, high fantasy feel drove the version changes.
But the great thing is that we can go back and forth and find different ways of playing that suit the game, the mood, and the group.
posted by nubs at 12:15 PM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
So yesterday the party completed its first adventure and, in the B plot, crashed a gnomish demon-cult potluck. This has really turned out better than I expected. I don't know that Darren the Ogre will be continuing on with us, which is a shame because he was a great character, but we've still got five players and I'm hoping to bring more people in.
One thing I wish I'd known about at the outset: the OSRIC system has a free-to-download rulebook and should be fully compatible with the first edition AD&D rules we're using. The information appears to be laid out more concisely than in the original TSR books, too. I'd advise anyone interested in this who isn't already familiar with first edition AD&D to check OSRIC out.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:07 PM on January 22, 2015
One thing I wish I'd known about at the outset: the OSRIC system has a free-to-download rulebook and should be fully compatible with the first edition AD&D rules we're using. The information appears to be laid out more concisely than in the original TSR books, too. I'd advise anyone interested in this who isn't already familiar with first edition AD&D to check OSRIC out.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:07 PM on January 22, 2015
Yeah, Darren should probably wander off and do some ogre stuff by himself for a while; I was having a very good time with it but have gotten awfully distracted by a bunch of other stuff and so haven't been keeping up. I appreciate you not dumping him on some spikes after a couple days, very sporting.
Maybe he'll catch back up at some point, with a new pushups record to show off.
posted by cortex at 10:28 PM on January 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Maybe he'll catch back up at some point, with a new pushups record to show off.
posted by cortex at 10:28 PM on January 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Cortex, I say that @DarrentheOgre is welcome back anytime. And I'm not attempting Utter diplomacy there.
posted by nubs at 8:12 AM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by nubs at 8:12 AM on January 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Favourite moments so far:
- "You rotate the octopus, to no effect"
- Grabathor's "honourable fight to the death" with a captured hobgoblin.
- Chumsalt's new hat.
- Exciting seasonal sandwiches.
- That one time where they survived the tomb/skellingtons/traps/wraith then nearly got eaten by birds.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:18 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
- "You rotate the octopus, to no effect"
- Grabathor's "honourable fight to the death" with a captured hobgoblin.
- Chumsalt's new hat.
- Exciting seasonal sandwiches.
- That one time where they survived the tomb/skellingtons/traps/wraith then nearly got eaten by birds.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:18 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think my favorite moment so far was when Gnaurm fell into the spike pit and managed to not get seriously hurt, then Grabathor tried to pull him out with a rope, failed his strength check, fell in and impaled himself.
I also loved it when Darren casually, in passing, referred to the Shocking Grasp spell as "Ogre Grasp." He will be missed. Not least because his having a Sleep spell was probably the only thing that kept the party from wiping to those birds.
Another thing I've really enjoyed DMing is the religious intrigue subplot that Chumsalt is basically responsible for creating; he took an unexpected interest in a minor background character and things just kind of snowballed.
Anyway, current developments in the campaign: we added a new player, the first one so far from the outside world of Twitter and not an internal MeFi recruit, and the party is about to attempt to bring justice to an insane wizard in a hobgoblin-surrounded fortress and it's full of awesome treasure that they probably won't find and there are lots of things in there that could legit kill them. It's a great time to tune in!
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:07 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I also loved it when Darren casually, in passing, referred to the Shocking Grasp spell as "Ogre Grasp." He will be missed. Not least because his having a Sleep spell was probably the only thing that kept the party from wiping to those birds.
Another thing I've really enjoyed DMing is the religious intrigue subplot that Chumsalt is basically responsible for creating; he took an unexpected interest in a minor background character and things just kind of snowballed.
Anyway, current developments in the campaign: we added a new player, the first one so far from the outside world of Twitter and not an internal MeFi recruit, and the party is about to attempt to bring justice to an insane wizard in a hobgoblin-surrounded fortress and it's full of awesome treasure that they probably won't find and there are lots of things in there that could legit kill them. It's a great time to tune in!
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:07 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm starting to think of this group like the Detective Columbos of the gaming world. No one thinks they are capable of anything, they're rough around the edges (and all the way to the centre) and somehow, they keep managing...
Which probably means it's time for a few of us to get killed.
posted by nubs at 11:22 AM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Which probably means it's time for a few of us to get killed.
posted by nubs at 11:22 AM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Chumsalt, you are legit my favourite character now. He's hilarious and has an awesome hat. Secretly Maaghk the Hobgoblin thought the hat was kind of cool and probably would have stolen it if he hadn't been cruelly cut down (eventually! Ha!).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:16 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:16 PM on January 27, 2015
I also like Grabathor's in depth* mining references and anecdotes.
*mining pun
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:30 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
*mining pun
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:30 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
it if he hadn't been cruelly cut down (eventually! Ha!).
Eat warhammer!
Seriously, it's a lot of fun having you pop in with these NPCs and I hope you continue and maybe some other folks do too.
posted by nubs at 5:47 PM on January 27, 2015
Eat warhammer!
Seriously, it's a lot of fun having you pop in with these NPCs and I hope you continue and maybe some other folks do too.
posted by nubs at 5:47 PM on January 27, 2015
Chumsalt wanted to try some pirate insult sparring but was sadly denied the opportunity. Next time!
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:25 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:25 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
If it wasn't related to my project I'd totally post Mark the Guard as an FPP in his own right. He's brilliant and just keeps getting better.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:33 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:33 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
pirate insult sparring
"i gonna 'it yoo wiv me spade!"
"How appropriate, you fight like a farmer!"
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:05 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
"i gonna 'it yoo wiv me spade!"
"How appropriate, you fight like a farmer!"
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:05 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Maaghk the 'obgoblin's dialect makes everything he says awesome. Sords!
I gotta say about the campaign overall:
- It is quite the bonkers twist that I am playing D&D now as a grown-up with a baby. I wrote off the possibility a decade ago. Hooray for Twitter and prize bull octorok.
- pbo is an excellent DM. He's fair, he's tough, he world-builds. He is also mind-boggingly high-availability! pbo, if this is wearing you out, please back off, rather than burn out.
- Everyone's a very good role-player, including the NPCs, of course. Everyone's funny; everyone's good-natured and mature. I couldn't ask for a better group.
- I planned to play Grabathor like Jimmy Wichard from King of the Hill + disgraced corporate drone. In practice, there's a ton of situations in which the answer to WWJWD? is "I have no idea." But it turns out to be an exciting rudderlessness.
- Gwindle is particularly interesting in that he's much subtler than the rest of the characters, but also incredibly consistent in speech and manner. He's kind of the Inspectah Deck of the group.
- I miss the very convenient Greek Fire oil from the 2E PHB.
- Where is everyone? Based on meta-talk I've heard about meals, I think we span a lot of time zones, and it's kind of amazing that we form playing quorums regularly.
- The async nature of the game makes decision making a little harder. You don't know if anyone's going to respond to a proposal, so after you pitch something, you have to do this awkward wait. It's no big deal once you get used to it.
- That said, this made me wonder how the game would go if it were in Slack? Slack is a service that gives groups private chat rooms via a polished app. (I guess you can think of it as friendly IRC.) The main advantage would be that you could see exactly who's online and ready to react. The disadvantage is that it's no longer easily accessible to the public, which is a neat aspect of the game. Still, worth considering for a different async D&D campaign.
posted by ignignokt at 7:21 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
I gotta say about the campaign overall:
- It is quite the bonkers twist that I am playing D&D now as a grown-up with a baby. I wrote off the possibility a decade ago. Hooray for Twitter and prize bull octorok.
- pbo is an excellent DM. He's fair, he's tough, he world-builds. He is also mind-boggingly high-availability! pbo, if this is wearing you out, please back off, rather than burn out.
- Everyone's a very good role-player, including the NPCs, of course. Everyone's funny; everyone's good-natured and mature. I couldn't ask for a better group.
- I planned to play Grabathor like Jimmy Wichard from King of the Hill + disgraced corporate drone. In practice, there's a ton of situations in which the answer to WWJWD? is "I have no idea." But it turns out to be an exciting rudderlessness.
- Gwindle is particularly interesting in that he's much subtler than the rest of the characters, but also incredibly consistent in speech and manner. He's kind of the Inspectah Deck of the group.
- I miss the very convenient Greek Fire oil from the 2E PHB.
- Where is everyone? Based on meta-talk I've heard about meals, I think we span a lot of time zones, and it's kind of amazing that we form playing quorums regularly.
- The async nature of the game makes decision making a little harder. You don't know if anyone's going to respond to a proposal, so after you pitch something, you have to do this awkward wait. It's no big deal once you get used to it.
- That said, this made me wonder how the game would go if it were in Slack? Slack is a service that gives groups private chat rooms via a polished app. (I guess you can think of it as friendly IRC.) The main advantage would be that you could see exactly who's online and ready to react. The disadvantage is that it's no longer easily accessible to the public, which is a neat aspect of the game. Still, worth considering for a different async D&D campaign.
posted by ignignokt at 7:21 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
- Where is everyone? Based on meta-talk I've heard about meals, I think we span a lot of time zones, and it's kind of amazing that we form playing quorums regularly.
I'm in Western Canada, Mountain Time Zone. I think pbo is in the Pacific Time Zone, I believe turbid is in Australia, and I sense that we have some Eastern time zone stuff going on as well. Part of the reason for my current high availability is my employment situation at the moment.
pbo is an excellent DM. He's fair, he's tough, he world-builds. He is also mind-boggingly high-availability! pbo, if this is wearing you out, please back off, rather than burn out.
Seconding this - unbelievable availability, and he's fair and I think has adapted the rules rather well to handle the asynchronous nature of the game, as well as doing what he can to protect us from ourselves at times...not that he's coddling us, but rather letting this rather odd group of bumbling adventurers get into and kinda out of trouble. I think it's some great examples of following the lead of the players and "Yes, you can do that, but..." DMing.
Gwindle is particularly interesting in that he's much subtler than the rest of the characters, but also incredibly consistent in speech and manner.
Yeah, I have to say I haven't found the voice of Utter yet. Which is bugging me. I've tried playing him as somewhat amoral, but that will cause friction in the group as we clearly have some folks with strong ethics (and I have a personal aversion to in-group conflict, generally). And acting like a superior elf just feels crappy. I think part of the reason is that my long history with 1st Ed as a teen was essentially more about roll-playing rather than role-playing, and I'm just back in that habit of problem analysis and solution finding, rather than trying to be the character. I didn't really get into role-playing until 2nd Ed and that was late high school/university.
- It is quite the bonkers twist that I am playing D&D now as a grown-up with a baby. I wrote off the possibility a decade ago.
I had written it off as well, as my old groups all got into their careers and marriages and life. And then two years ago I said to my wife that I wanted to look at gaming again, and she said go for it, and I found a group that plays online using FGII...it works great because my kids are at that age where someone needs to be in the house, but they don't need someone to provide entertainment/be the monitor, so I can have a game session going, the kids can be around, and my wife can also go do something or be out of the house. The tools available now make gaming a lot more flexible...though I think I will always prefer sitting down at the table with the group.
The async nature of the game makes decision making a little harder. You don't know if anyone's going to respond to a proposal, so after you pitch something, you have to do this awkward wait. It's no big deal once you get used to it.
I think I'm finding this the hardest part of the game, honestly. I love building a plan/doing some consensus building, and there have been a few times where it's just me making a decision for everyone...it feels kinda weird.
posted by nubs at 7:57 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm in Western Canada, Mountain Time Zone. I think pbo is in the Pacific Time Zone, I believe turbid is in Australia, and I sense that we have some Eastern time zone stuff going on as well. Part of the reason for my current high availability is my employment situation at the moment.
pbo is an excellent DM. He's fair, he's tough, he world-builds. He is also mind-boggingly high-availability! pbo, if this is wearing you out, please back off, rather than burn out.
Seconding this - unbelievable availability, and he's fair and I think has adapted the rules rather well to handle the asynchronous nature of the game, as well as doing what he can to protect us from ourselves at times...not that he's coddling us, but rather letting this rather odd group of bumbling adventurers get into and kinda out of trouble. I think it's some great examples of following the lead of the players and "Yes, you can do that, but..." DMing.
Gwindle is particularly interesting in that he's much subtler than the rest of the characters, but also incredibly consistent in speech and manner.
Yeah, I have to say I haven't found the voice of Utter yet. Which is bugging me. I've tried playing him as somewhat amoral, but that will cause friction in the group as we clearly have some folks with strong ethics (and I have a personal aversion to in-group conflict, generally). And acting like a superior elf just feels crappy. I think part of the reason is that my long history with 1st Ed as a teen was essentially more about roll-playing rather than role-playing, and I'm just back in that habit of problem analysis and solution finding, rather than trying to be the character. I didn't really get into role-playing until 2nd Ed and that was late high school/university.
- It is quite the bonkers twist that I am playing D&D now as a grown-up with a baby. I wrote off the possibility a decade ago.
I had written it off as well, as my old groups all got into their careers and marriages and life. And then two years ago I said to my wife that I wanted to look at gaming again, and she said go for it, and I found a group that plays online using FGII...it works great because my kids are at that age where someone needs to be in the house, but they don't need someone to provide entertainment/be the monitor, so I can have a game session going, the kids can be around, and my wife can also go do something or be out of the house. The tools available now make gaming a lot more flexible...though I think I will always prefer sitting down at the table with the group.
The async nature of the game makes decision making a little harder. You don't know if anyone's going to respond to a proposal, so after you pitch something, you have to do this awkward wait. It's no big deal once you get used to it.
I think I'm finding this the hardest part of the game, honestly. I love building a plan/doing some consensus building, and there have been a few times where it's just me making a decision for everyone...it feels kinda weird.
posted by nubs at 7:57 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
- pbo is an excellent DM. He's fair, he's tough, he world-builds. He is also mind-boggingly high-availability! pbo, if this is wearing you out, please back off, rather than burn out.
Hah. I was pretty concerned at the outset that 1) nobody would sign up to play, 2) whoever did sign up to play would wander off after a few hours, and 3) playing on Twitter would be just too much of a goddamn hassle to keep going with. And I was wrong on all counts! But I do feel highly motivated to be as responsive as I can and keep things going and not leave anybody hanging for too long, lest things fall apart. So I keep everything on my phone. All the books, all the maps, all the character sheets, everything. I was at a taco stand in Santa Barbara when you guys finally busted into Chalmaber's final resting place, and it was quite a wow-technology-is-amazing moment to be able to DM that on the spot without missing a beat. It's a perfect arrangement for me, because sitting down at a table at a regularly scheduled time would be difficult for me the way my life is set up, but frequent random phone availability is totally in my wheelhouse.
And I'm also motivated to keep it going because this is a really amazing group of players, I mean this is the kind of game I wanted to run, but wasn't running, when I was a teenager, and like you guys, more or less gave up on ever getting to run when I got older. It might be a good idea for me to take a little time to recharge after the current story arc wraps up (advance dungeon planning is really the hardest part), but this has been a really great experience for me and I feel like it's worth investing the time and effort to make it gel.
- That said, this made me wonder how the game would go if it were in Slack?
There is no question that this could potentially run smoother on a different platform, but the germ of the idea was to have it on Twitter because a) so many people are spending their online time there anyway and b) it's public, which allows for magic like Mark the Guard and the enemy NPCs to happen. But yeah, having it live and always "on" causes asynchronicity issues. Occasionally the group is on the cusp of a big reveal and I have to kind of stall until more people show up to be there for it. It's not always a drawback, though, it's led to stuff like Faust with Skinny Pete and Badger and it lets everybody in the party take turns at leading the group instead of just the loudest/most experienced player.
Yeah, I have to say I haven't found the voice of Utter yet.
I for my part have enjoyed how Utter's theoretical commitment to the idea of diplomacy rarely gets in the way of him being quick to try and shank anybody.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:29 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hah. I was pretty concerned at the outset that 1) nobody would sign up to play, 2) whoever did sign up to play would wander off after a few hours, and 3) playing on Twitter would be just too much of a goddamn hassle to keep going with. And I was wrong on all counts! But I do feel highly motivated to be as responsive as I can and keep things going and not leave anybody hanging for too long, lest things fall apart. So I keep everything on my phone. All the books, all the maps, all the character sheets, everything. I was at a taco stand in Santa Barbara when you guys finally busted into Chalmaber's final resting place, and it was quite a wow-technology-is-amazing moment to be able to DM that on the spot without missing a beat. It's a perfect arrangement for me, because sitting down at a table at a regularly scheduled time would be difficult for me the way my life is set up, but frequent random phone availability is totally in my wheelhouse.
And I'm also motivated to keep it going because this is a really amazing group of players, I mean this is the kind of game I wanted to run, but wasn't running, when I was a teenager, and like you guys, more or less gave up on ever getting to run when I got older. It might be a good idea for me to take a little time to recharge after the current story arc wraps up (advance dungeon planning is really the hardest part), but this has been a really great experience for me and I feel like it's worth investing the time and effort to make it gel.
- That said, this made me wonder how the game would go if it were in Slack?
There is no question that this could potentially run smoother on a different platform, but the germ of the idea was to have it on Twitter because a) so many people are spending their online time there anyway and b) it's public, which allows for magic like Mark the Guard and the enemy NPCs to happen. But yeah, having it live and always "on" causes asynchronicity issues. Occasionally the group is on the cusp of a big reveal and I have to kind of stall until more people show up to be there for it. It's not always a drawback, though, it's led to stuff like Faust with Skinny Pete and Badger and it lets everybody in the party take turns at leading the group instead of just the loudest/most experienced player.
Yeah, I have to say I haven't found the voice of Utter yet.
I for my part have enjoyed how Utter's theoretical commitment to the idea of diplomacy rarely gets in the way of him being quick to try and shank anybody.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:29 PM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
The best part about this game apart from everything everyone mentions above is that I haven't lost any d20's from pegging them over buildings.
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:54 PM on January 28, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:54 PM on January 28, 2015
The "character" of this party is genuinely fun and hilarious. They keep bumbling into situations but somehow scraping through. The wizard fight going on is really exciting, the recent "break" feels like a Game of Thrones cliffhanger.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:32 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:32 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
So it seems we may have inspired another game - someone is planning on trying a D&D 5e by Twitter.
posted by nubs at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by nubs at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
I am stoked at this development. I'm totally gonna play.
(Nice job killing that 9th level magic-user everybody, have fun trying to escape his fortress)
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:32 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
(Nice job killing that 9th level magic-user everybody, have fun trying to escape his fortress)
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:32 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh god now Chumsalt is gas and has to be fanned around. And Gwindle almost got killed by some sort of allergy spell?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:27 AM on January 30, 2015
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:27 AM on January 30, 2015
So the party met all the victory conditions, bluffed the hobgoblins to a clear path out of the fortress, then went back to search the wizard's room and found an iron box that basically screamed, "TRAPPED." They verified it was trapped but didn't make their disable trap rolls. So of course they come up with some Rube Goldberg idea to set off the trap, then the halfling rushes in and opens it, and of course it's double trapped so he and everybody with him get a poison cloud blast to the face.
The party has some unidentified potions on hand, so naturally they just start pouring them randomly into the poisoned characters' throats. One of them is a Potion of Gaseous Form, so now the half-orc is a gas.
They did manage to save the halfling by jury-rigging a high-pressure neti pot kind of device out of an empty potion vial and a Create Water spell, which blasted out the deadly crystals the poison gas had formed in his sinuses.
Now they are trying to waft the half-orc down to the basement to look for an escape tunnel they're not sure even exists, because now the rest of the hobgoblins are back and they're surrounded.
This is what you're missing out on if you're not following the campaign, folks!
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:29 AM on January 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
The party has some unidentified potions on hand, so naturally they just start pouring them randomly into the poisoned characters' throats. One of them is a Potion of Gaseous Form, so now the half-orc is a gas.
They did manage to save the halfling by jury-rigging a high-pressure neti pot kind of device out of an empty potion vial and a Create Water spell, which blasted out the deadly crystals the poison gas had formed in his sinuses.
Now they are trying to waft the half-orc down to the basement to look for an escape tunnel they're not sure even exists, because now the rest of the hobgoblins are back and they're surrounded.
This is what you're missing out on if you're not following the campaign, folks!
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:29 AM on January 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
Plus the first successful use of Utter Diplomacy in the game!
posted by nubs at 1:29 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by nubs at 1:29 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
The players were accepted into the Adventurer's Guild! I made a Storify of the initiation ceremony.
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:55 PM on February 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:55 PM on February 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ok, so I've been somewhat obsessively following along on Twitter. Is there currently room for another player?
It's been years since I've played D&D and I'm sort of a Twitter noob, but this looks like a lot of fun.
Are there other channels through which I should "apply" to be a player? Or do I just go ahead and roll up a character?
posted by rbellon at 10:00 AM on February 3, 2015
It's been years since I've played D&D and I'm sort of a Twitter noob, but this looks like a lot of fun.
Are there other channels through which I should "apply" to be a player? Or do I just go ahead and roll up a character?
posted by rbellon at 10:00 AM on February 3, 2015
Yes, we can fit in more players. Read this blog post for info about the application process, such as it is.
Basically, yeah, you just roll a new character (start at level 3 for parity with the rest of the party), send me a copy of the character sheet, and let me know when you're ready to jump in. Having a dedicated Twitter account for your character is not mandatory but it is highly recommended.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:18 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Basically, yeah, you just roll a new character (start at level 3 for parity with the rest of the party), send me a copy of the character sheet, and let me know when you're ready to jump in. Having a dedicated Twitter account for your character is not mandatory but it is highly recommended.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:18 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, a dedicated character account goes beyond highly recommended in my view - it's not only easier for you to manage the game that way, it's way easier on everyone else in the game to not have the game feed plugged up by the other Twitter activities of the players.
I'm still thinking about trying to whip up a 1st ED character sheet somehow in Google spreadsheets or the like, because it seems to be either handwritten or PDF editing at the moment, neither of which I enjoy.
posted by nubs at 10:36 AM on February 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm still thinking about trying to whip up a 1st ED character sheet somehow in Google spreadsheets or the like, because it seems to be either handwritten or PDF editing at the moment, neither of which I enjoy.
posted by nubs at 10:36 AM on February 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
Ok, cool. Will roll up a character tomorrow and send along. And yeah - a dedicated twitter handle seems a necessity to me. The only twitter name I currently have is linked to my business anyway, so I'd have some seriously confused clients if I were to use that.
posted by rbellon at 12:47 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rbellon at 12:47 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm still thinking about trying to whip up a 1st ED character sheet somehow in Google spreadsheets or the like, because it seems to be either handwritten or PDF editing at the moment, neither of which I enjoy.
This is what I did. I then export into PDF and make it into a PNG to post on twitter.
I also have a formula to roll dice in it because I'm super lazy and all my dice are currently in moving boxes.
posted by winna at 5:15 PM on February 4, 2015
This is what I did. I then export into PDF and make it into a PNG to post on twitter.
I also have a formula to roll dice in it because I'm super lazy and all my dice are currently in moving boxes.
posted by winna at 5:15 PM on February 4, 2015
Mark is an NPC interacting with other NPCs to the point that he is on the very cusp of interacting with actual PCs, of which I am also one. It's going to get to the point where I'm flicking back and forth between accounts in Fenix/Tweetdeck and sending tweets back and forth to...myself. I don't know what's real any more. Was this your intention PBO?
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:25 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:25 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
There's a cool Chrome extension that lets you switch between Twitter accounts really easily, if that helps.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:06 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:06 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Slightly off topic, but is this the most active projects thread ever?
posted by Literaryhero at 4:25 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Literaryhero at 4:25 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ah, thanks EoI, I mean Tweetdeck on my PC and Fenix on my phone. Both work great for flicking between twurt accounts.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:12 AM on February 5, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:12 AM on February 5, 2015
I don't know what's real any more. Was this your intention PBO?
Of course. Didn't you see Mazes & Monsters? Or read that one Chick tract?
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:01 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Of course. Didn't you see Mazes & Monsters? Or read that one Chick tract?
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:01 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
*Poke* Do Projects threads not close after 30 days?
Cool. Well then! This is the one month anniversary of the First Edition AD&D Game On Twitter That I Should Have Thought Of A Pithier Name For. Some statistics:
Tweets from DM: 4,061
Total players: 10, 8 currently in game
Followers: 110
Special guest NPCs: 7
Dungeons crawled: 2, on their way to third
Blog posts: 22
Additional play-by-Twitter D&D games inspired: 1
This has gone quite a bit better than I expected! I will be sticking with this for as long as there are players interested in continuing with the campaign, it's been tons of fun and a perfect receptacle for my creative impulses and phone-fidgeting compulsions. I've got a big-picture story arc shaping up and if the party levels high enough they'll be running through some of my favorite adventures from Dungeon Magazine and maybe a few classic modules too. Thank you, everybody, who has been playing, contributing, following, commenting, etc. I don't think this would have gone anywhere without MetaFilter.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:02 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
Cool. Well then! This is the one month anniversary of the First Edition AD&D Game On Twitter That I Should Have Thought Of A Pithier Name For. Some statistics:
Tweets from DM: 4,061
Total players: 10, 8 currently in game
Followers: 110
Special guest NPCs: 7
Dungeons crawled: 2, on their way to third
Blog posts: 22
Additional play-by-Twitter D&D games inspired: 1
This has gone quite a bit better than I expected! I will be sticking with this for as long as there are players interested in continuing with the campaign, it's been tons of fun and a perfect receptacle for my creative impulses and phone-fidgeting compulsions. I've got a big-picture story arc shaping up and if the party levels high enough they'll be running through some of my favorite adventures from Dungeon Magazine and maybe a few classic modules too. Thank you, everybody, who has been playing, contributing, following, commenting, etc. I don't think this would have gone anywhere without MetaFilter.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:02 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
High five! Again, I greatly appreciate you crafting a game just for us.
Recent gold moments:
- Winnpernickel going through every permutation of three characters with formal "mistress so-and-so master whoever" introductions.
- Carde Beasts!
Who is everyone, BTW? Optional roll call:
@grabathor: @deathmtn, ignignokt on MeFi
@utterotaku: @valarotaku, nubs on MeFi
@chumsalt: ?, turbid dahlia on MeFi
Not sure about everyone else!
posted by ignignokt at 9:29 AM on February 8, 2015
Recent gold moments:
- Winnpernickel going through every permutation of three characters with formal "mistress so-and-so master whoever" introductions.
- Carde Beasts!
Who is everyone, BTW? Optional roll call:
@grabathor: @deathmtn, ignignokt on MeFi
@utterotaku: @valarotaku, nubs on MeFi
@chumsalt: ?, turbid dahlia on MeFi
Not sure about everyone else!
posted by ignignokt at 9:29 AM on February 8, 2015
My only other twurt account is @mark_the_guard. I don't have a proper one for myself as a human being.
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:32 PM on February 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:32 PM on February 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
@ErynHebrook - rbellon on MeFi (and rebellion on Mefightclub)
posted by rbellon at 5:00 PM on February 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rbellon at 5:00 PM on February 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Fantastic work with Mark the Guard, BTW! Pratchett-worthy. Are you also Ella the Greeter?
posted by ignignokt at 7:33 PM on February 8, 2015
posted by ignignokt at 7:33 PM on February 8, 2015
No, and I'd really like to know who that is!
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:09 PM on February 8, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:09 PM on February 8, 2015
Wait, you're NOT Ella the Greeter?! Ha, with the back and forth I didn't think it could be anyone else.
My regular account is @NotInventedHere, and so far I have NPCed (in order of appearance):
@Chalmaber - ancient, insane wraith, haunting tomb beneath the Barrows.
@Maahgk_the_Hob - spade-wielding hobgoblin outside Vytor's fortress (deceased).
@carde_beast_pro - 9 year old Carde Beast champion of Guffin.
@Alaglossa - mysterious rot-worshipping Druid of Treebrane.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:28 AM on February 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
My regular account is @NotInventedHere, and so far I have NPCed (in order of appearance):
@Chalmaber - ancient, insane wraith, haunting tomb beneath the Barrows.
@Maahgk_the_Hob - spade-wielding hobgoblin outside Vytor's fortress (deceased).
@carde_beast_pro - 9 year old Carde Beast champion of Guffin.
@Alaglossa - mysterious rot-worshipping Druid of Treebrane.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:28 AM on February 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
Wait, if I am actually playing a non-player character, does that character become a player character? When is an NPC not an NPC? When it's a third-party on Twitter playing the part of a non-player character? (TPOTPTPOANPC for short)
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:35 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:35 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Aha! I assumed that @carde_beast_pro was also turbid dahlia! So many twists in this meta-MetaFilter-spawned Twitter game! Excellent TPOTPTPOANPCing.
posted by ignignokt at 6:16 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ignignokt at 6:16 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh my god, I thought Ella was turbid dahlia too. Who is Ella??
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:18 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:18 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Regarding earlier question over longest Projects thread, longest I've found so far with a clunky Google search method is 101 comments.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:04 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:04 AM on February 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yep, I can confirm that this is the longest projects thread. The one EndsOfInvention found is next at 101. Third place goes to Metafilter Podcast Transcripts at 63 comments.
posted by pb at 9:09 AM on February 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by pb at 9:09 AM on February 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
[picks up phone]
[dials]
MA
MA WE DID IT
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:10 AM on February 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
[dials]
MA
MA WE DID IT
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:10 AM on February 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Critical hit!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:45 AM on February 10, 2015
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:45 AM on February 10, 2015
"Why did you come to bed so late?"
"I was roleplaying a magic sword on Twitter"
"..."
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:27 PM on February 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
"I was roleplaying a magic sword on Twitter"
"..."
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:27 PM on February 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
@Daemonrazor went from halfassed idea from me to brilliant execution by EndsOfInvention in, like, an hour.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:56 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:56 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's pretty fun to playing an actual almost-PC character now, rather than the various background characters who don't directly interact. I get the RPing without the hassle of the admin. Having an insight into the DM's world is fascinating too - when the party found the sword, I had to wait until someone decided to actually wield me before I could introduce myself. But the party, being as they are, spent a while discussing who had custody of a +1 dagger and nearly discarded the sword completely. It was hilarious. The DM practically had to say "hey why doesn't someone try PICKING UP THE MAGIC SWORD *cough*".
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:06 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:06 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I tipped them off by messaging the new party member to remind her that hey, you guys have a Wand of Magic Detection, on the basis that it was reasonable to remind her because she wasn't there when the party found that thing, which in itself was a HERE NOW YOU GUYS CAN IDENTIFY MAGICAL ITEMS EASY freebie.
In every dungeon so far there has been some pretty cool stuff that the party has skipped blithely past without a second thought. All the "looted" goodies from Chalmaber's treasure room? Those were the suspicious lumps in the hallway full of deadly black mold! The previous looters carried them in there and died! The party poked at the lumps, found a halfling skull and an expensive box of ointments, and then never gave it another look. Oh well, the gnome cult you guys instructed to move in there will be enjoying all that swag now.
Of course, sometimes the obliviousness can be a lifesaver. Not exploring the west tower in the Fortress of Narzod saved the party from having to deal with something really nasty.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:04 PM on February 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
In every dungeon so far there has been some pretty cool stuff that the party has skipped blithely past without a second thought. All the "looted" goodies from Chalmaber's treasure room? Those were the suspicious lumps in the hallway full of deadly black mold! The previous looters carried them in there and died! The party poked at the lumps, found a halfling skull and an expensive box of ointments, and then never gave it another look. Oh well, the gnome cult you guys instructed to move in there will be enjoying all that swag now.
Of course, sometimes the obliviousness can be a lifesaver. Not exploring the west tower in the Fortress of Narzod saved the party from having to deal with something really nasty.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:04 PM on February 11, 2015 [3 favorites]
That's odd, EndsOfInvention. I was planning on doing almost exactly the same thing, but playing as a gold piece. (see @OneGoldCoin) but then work/life got crazy busy and I didn't manage to keep up with the game.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:32 PM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:32 PM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is still going! Recent highlights:
* The party met a small colony of peaceful, friendly mushroom people. Due to a misunderstanding, the mushroom people released hallucinogenic spores on the party as a measure of self-defense. The few members who did not proceed to trip balls retaliated by going nuclear with their deadliest magical item (a 5d6 fireball bead on a Necklace of Missiles)
* The party executed yet another group of tied-up prisoners
* Did I mention that most members of the party self-identify as being of "good" alignment?
* Our newest, non-MeFite party member has made me have to make all sorts of determinations about housing prices, average civilian wages, and marriage equality in the campaign setting
* Two party members, MeFi's own Grabathor and Eryn, bought a boat, presumably for boat parties, idk
* Sadly, elven thief Utter is leaving us due to increased real-life demands. Utter was with us from the very beginning and I am very grateful for his early enthusiasm for this project. It's no coincidence that two of the scenes I went to the trouble of Storifying featured Utter; he was freaking hilarious. If you haven't already, please enjoy Utter and Gwindle attempting to negotiate with an imprisoned demonic entity, and Utter's internal dialogue during the weird Adventurer's Guild initiation ceremony. Good luck on your new ventures, nubs, and know that you are welcome back anytime.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:39 PM on February 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
* The party met a small colony of peaceful, friendly mushroom people. Due to a misunderstanding, the mushroom people released hallucinogenic spores on the party as a measure of self-defense. The few members who did not proceed to trip balls retaliated by going nuclear with their deadliest magical item (a 5d6 fireball bead on a Necklace of Missiles)
* The party executed yet another group of tied-up prisoners
* Did I mention that most members of the party self-identify as being of "good" alignment?
* Our newest, non-MeFite party member has made me have to make all sorts of determinations about housing prices, average civilian wages, and marriage equality in the campaign setting
* Two party members, MeFi's own Grabathor and Eryn, bought a boat, presumably for boat parties, idk
* Sadly, elven thief Utter is leaving us due to increased real-life demands. Utter was with us from the very beginning and I am very grateful for his early enthusiasm for this project. It's no coincidence that two of the scenes I went to the trouble of Storifying featured Utter; he was freaking hilarious. If you haven't already, please enjoy Utter and Gwindle attempting to negotiate with an imprisoned demonic entity, and Utter's internal dialogue during the weird Adventurer's Guild initiation ceremony. Good luck on your new ventures, nubs, and know that you are welcome back anytime.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:39 PM on February 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm really sad to be going; I hope to come back soon, once I have my feet under me in the new job. It's a lot of fun!
posted by nubs at 6:02 PM on February 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by nubs at 6:02 PM on February 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Oh god, Chumsalt Wilderness Investigations. So good. So, so good.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:03 AM on February 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:03 AM on February 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Two months later, we're still doing this.
Was very sad to see Chumsalt bow out. CWI was the latest in a long line of great ideas he's brought to the campaign. He got into a theological debate with a passing background character that inadvertently led to the development of a gnomish Juiblex cult; his subsequent misguided suspicion of that background character led to several completely unplanned and very entertaining (for me, at least) sequences wherein he attempted to hire a spy, and crashed the funeral of a beloved paladin dressed in the robes and scarab mask of the mad wizard the party had just killed. And of course, he brought us the concept of candlegoats, which I'm sorry we never implemented in an actual dungeon. Between Chumsalt and Mark the Guard, turbid dahlia has contributed enormously to this project and it would not have been the same without him.
Of the original party, only Grabathor remains. But we have five other players, and the party just defeated a bone devil that I was really sure would be able to perma-kill at least one of them. Ah well. I'm thinking about running them through a classic module next.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:24 AM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
Was very sad to see Chumsalt bow out. CWI was the latest in a long line of great ideas he's brought to the campaign. He got into a theological debate with a passing background character that inadvertently led to the development of a gnomish Juiblex cult; his subsequent misguided suspicion of that background character led to several completely unplanned and very entertaining (for me, at least) sequences wherein he attempted to hire a spy, and crashed the funeral of a beloved paladin dressed in the robes and scarab mask of the mad wizard the party had just killed. And of course, he brought us the concept of candlegoats, which I'm sorry we never implemented in an actual dungeon. Between Chumsalt and Mark the Guard, turbid dahlia has contributed enormously to this project and it would not have been the same without him.
Of the original party, only Grabathor remains. But we have five other players, and the party just defeated a bone devil that I was really sure would be able to perma-kill at least one of them. Ah well. I'm thinking about running them through a classic module next.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:24 AM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
Thanks for all the epic funtimes PBO, it really hit a spot somewhere inside me that had long been neglected. You're doing a helluva job And I thoroughly recommend your services.
posted by turbid dahlia at 12:52 PM on March 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 12:52 PM on March 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Three months in. Currently running five players through a classic TSR tournament module. No original party members left; no Mefites left in the party.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:48 PM on April 6, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:48 PM on April 6, 2015
Aww, that's a shame about the Mefites, but it's good to hear the adventure continues - I hope you're still having fun with it, PBO.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:49 AM on April 9, 2015
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:49 AM on April 9, 2015
To be fair, my NPCing on Twitter got me interested enough to join PBO's campaign on the GamersPlane.com forums.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:33 AM on April 9, 2015
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:33 AM on April 9, 2015
I still peek in from time to time, but so much has happened that I'm often at sea with regards to what's going on. Glad to hear it is still fun, and I think it is fascinating that all the players are from elsewhere than here - it shows how the idea has grown. And isn't there at least one other play by Twitter campaign going now as well?
posted by nubs at 8:09 AM on April 9, 2015
posted by nubs at 8:09 AM on April 9, 2015
Running the module is a nice change of pace, it's much less behind-the-scenes work for me. I went with The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan -- shh, don't tell the players.
There was a 5th edition campaign going, but so far it doesn't look like it's continuing past the first adventure. I do believe we inspired a Dungeon World campaign that's still running, though.
Was very pleased to drag EndsOfInvention over to Gamers Plane, it's a great site for PbP and I really hope to see it grow. The admin is a good dude and I like how easy the site is to use -- much as I respect what Roll20 is doing, that place is daunting as hell.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:09 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
There was a 5th edition campaign going, but so far it doesn't look like it's continuing past the first adventure. I do believe we inspired a Dungeon World campaign that's still running, though.
Was very pleased to drag EndsOfInvention over to Gamers Plane, it's a great site for PbP and I really hope to see it grow. The admin is a good dude and I like how easy the site is to use -- much as I respect what Roll20 is doing, that place is daunting as hell.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:09 AM on April 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Four months in. Module adventure has slowed to a crawl due to IRL obligations, but the project is still going!
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:49 PM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:49 PM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
Amazing work pbo!
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:14 AM on May 7, 2015
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:14 AM on May 7, 2015
Ill be honest and say this fell off my radar, but I am happy as hell to see it pop back up in my recent activitY. Yay!
posted by Literaryhero at 3:42 AM on May 7, 2015
posted by Literaryhero at 3:42 AM on May 7, 2015
Update:
The game has kind of stalled out due to IRL stuff interfering with my ability to keep up with it, and the players being kind of mired in the module dungeon chasing around a giant slug with delusions of godhood who absconded with the body of a dead PC. But, I just gave the players a nudge, so we'll see what happens. The great conspiracy of the Guffin Adventurer's Guild may yet one day be revealed!
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:56 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
The game has kind of stalled out due to IRL stuff interfering with my ability to keep up with it, and the players being kind of mired in the module dungeon chasing around a giant slug with delusions of godhood who absconded with the body of a dead PC. But, I just gave the players a nudge, so we'll see what happens. The great conspiracy of the Guffin Adventurer's Guild may yet one day be revealed!
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:56 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was wondering how this was going just the other day!
Instead of a nudge for the players, I suggest a shanking. But that's Utter's solution to everything.
chasing around a giant slug with delusions of godhood who absconded with the body of a dead PC
The fact that I can read that sentence and nod with understanding makes me think I've spent way, way too much time playing D&D.
posted by nubs at 11:24 AM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Instead of a nudge for the players, I suggest a shanking. But that's Utter's solution to everything.
chasing around a giant slug with delusions of godhood who absconded with the body of a dead PC
The fact that I can read that sentence and nod with understanding makes me think I've spent way, way too much time playing D&D.
posted by nubs at 11:24 AM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
What is dead may never die! Despite various long hiatuses, the official status of the campaign is "still going!" However, we will be undergoing a soft reboot because trying to run a published module really fucked things up.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:34 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:34 AM on April 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Update: the gang used two Wishes to wrap up a dangling subplot and teleport back home. We are now shuffling uncertainly towards the Epic Final Chapter of the 1st Edition AD&D Twitter Saga.
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:56 AM on August 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:56 AM on August 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Now that you've done a ton of online 1E and 5E DMing, what do you think about their respective suitabilities for this kind of game?
posted by ignignokt at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2016
posted by ignignokt at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2016
5E is, hands down, a zillion times easier to DM on the fly. There is so much less looking things up on tables and that is such a momentum killer when you are, say, trying to run an encounter while in line at a food truck and don't have a DM screen sitting in front of your face. I do prefer the simpler, less powerful character class abilities of 1E, though.
I can't remember if I already plugged it in this thread or if it's even set to be viewable to non-members but the 5E game, which unlike the Twitter game still contains Mefite players, is here and I will just say again that GamersPlane is an absolutely fantastic host for pbp RPGs.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:53 AM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't remember if I already plugged it in this thread or if it's even set to be viewable to non-members but the 5E game, which unlike the Twitter game still contains Mefite players, is here and I will just say again that GamersPlane is an absolutely fantastic host for pbp RPGs.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:53 AM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes! Gamersplane is great and PBO continues to be a great DM. I got 4 friends together a couple of months back and we played our first ever in-person D&D (their first ever D&D full stop) with me DMing - I was inspired to initiate it by the fun I had with PBO's Twitter and GP games.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:57 PM on August 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:57 PM on August 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
The campaign is nearly at an end. The two (?) remaining players have reached the scene of what will probably be the final encounter. Unfortunately, Stranger Things really stole the thunder of my big reveal.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:05 PM on December 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:05 PM on December 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
No one was more surprised than I when Eleven went toe-to-toe in that classroom with Darren the Ogre during the finale.
posted by cortex at 1:23 PM on December 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by cortex at 1:23 PM on December 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
One week shy of its two year anniversary, the campaign is over, the final blog post is up. Turns out the Adventurer's Guild was a front for a Demogorgon cult and the party was actually helping to break the seals that were keeping him at bay all this time! The Guild leader who drops this exposition bomb on the players then transforms into a Type IV demon for the final boss fight.
Thanks to all the mefites who got involved in the game and to cortex and the rest of the mods for letting me put this up in Projects when it was still in the planning stages! I couldn't have done this without MetaFilter.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:42 AM on December 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
Thanks to all the mefites who got involved in the game and to cortex and the rest of the mods for letting me put this up in Projects when it was still in the planning stages! I couldn't have done this without MetaFilter.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:42 AM on December 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
Turns out the Adventurer's Guild was a front for a Demogorgon cult and the party was actually helping to break the seals that were keeping him at bay all this time!
I knew they were part of the cult! Ever since that initiation ritual...
posted by nubs at 12:44 PM on December 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
I knew they were part of the cult! Ever since that initiation ritual...
posted by nubs at 12:44 PM on December 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
Totally called that twist but, you know, no-one ever listens to a magic sword.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:21 PM on December 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:21 PM on December 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
« Older She Looks Like Sunday Comics: Watching The Brenda ... | Global Voices - News About Jap... Newer »
posted by cortex at 7:18 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]