For the Hor...er...Group!

First things first...

The first gaming session at Laura and I's new place was a rousing success. Thank you all for partaking. I hope to see more of you here next time.

Now, on to business...

Epic has officially been shelved due to problems and time. Thus we are in the market for a new game to take its place. A historical game set in 1850s California as well as a Forgotten Realms game have been put forward by Jordan as possibilities. Concerns have been expressed so i'm going to do something a little different.

Ideas for games have always been put forward and either shot down or accepted by the group. To streamline this system i'd like to get everyone's honest preferences down on paper so that potential DMs can know whether or not their games will be well received or not by the group. I don't want these preferences to be guidelines for all future games. I'd like to think we as a group can be flexable and can step outside our own preferences and try something new every once in a while.

If someone has a game idea they can look at each persons preferences and either conform their idea as best they can to match the group or they can work on the people that would dislike the idea to see if they can't bring them around.

If people don't feel that this is the right thing to do please let me know. Even if everyone else disagrees with this i'd like to at least state my own preferences for the record.

System: 3.5
Worlds: Core or any DM created world based on core. Others are fine as long as the majority of the group knows the worlds background.
Books: All core, expansion, and 3rd party books with DM permission on select portions of others.
Starting Level: 4+ but I can work happily with any level.

A Change of Venues

Laura and I got the keys to our new home today and we'll start moving in seriously tomorrow. So you can say bye bye to our apartment and hello to a new two floor condo just three blocks from our former place. Once we have everything set up i'll be sure to get as many of you guys over there as I can for a good old game of DnD.

Hope those of you that had finals did well. Welcome to summer...

The Problem at Hand

I believe we identified two issues that may make or break our current Epic campaign. The primary issue is that at our current power levels when one or two people go missing our party is put way off balance and we can no longer deal with some opponents or issues as well as we could. This was demonstrated quite clearly with our last fight where we lost all three Kobolds to two well placed blasts of sonic energy. Patrick had not expected this and felt that, had we had Paul with us, we could have taken care of it much quicker and with a lower loss of life. Even if we had lost all three Kobolds they would have been brought back in moments.

The secondary issue builds off the first. Character power levels are uneven and some people feel that they can no longer offer much of anything to the party when in or out of combat compared to other characters. Of particular note is Jordan's Dragon Shaman which can no longer provide any real benefit in combat. To some extent this is based on the relative abilities of each class involved and could be solved by reclassing.(In Jordan's case from Dragon Shaman to Marshal which are close enough in style to not be too improbable.)

There is opposition to simply abandoning our Epic game so some sort of solution must be found. Of the two issues i've outlined the first is an availability issue and thus difficult to resolve due to real life issues. The second is the more fixable one but the possible fixes are varied and will often not resolve the problem fully.

The easiest thing that can be done in my opinion is to allow Jordan to reclass his character into a Marshal. This would allow him to be more involved in combat while keeping true to his origional character idea.

The next up from that would be to allow gestalt for all characters. Adding a second class tree to each character would broaden each individuals ability and would help make up for any absent players. It wouldn't be true gestalt as our characters didn't start as gestalt. If we assume feats and, for the most part, skills and HP are fixed then the only thing gestalt would really add are saves and class abilities. It is a complex bit of work and since total character reworks are not something Patrick seems comfortable with it probably isn't a possibility.

Any solutions beyond these two however seem to be to difficult, to time consuming, or would not be as easy to work in story wise.

What are everyones' thoughts on this subject. I know we just went over it but we've had two nights to sleep on it now and I'd like to reopen the discussion.

New Campaign Possibilities

This seems somehow fitting as a first post for this reactivated blog...a discussion on possible options for a new campaign. The Kobolds and Craven, along with Craven's wife, discussed various options over a happy hour dinner this evening.(should we use pseudonyms here or is everyone comfortable using their names on the web?) We came up with two solid options which may interest players, all of which would start at relatively low levels(1-6 being most likely).

1) A Harry Turtledove style game which involves a standard DnD world gripped in the throws of world war suddenly finding itself faced with an invasion from off planet by technologically superior beings. The waring factions are forced to forget their grudges and work together to rid their world of these invaders.

2) An airship-centric campaign based on a cold war style of world with the PCs as part of a crew of undercover information gatherers/saboteurs/assassins/pirates/warriors working for one side or the other. This provides a lot of action, adventure, and roleplaying which should be able to pull everyone in to some degree.

The first would involve some of the alternate rules for non-renaissance period weaponry available in the DMG. The second is already more developed due to the fact that Jordan has a good chunk of an airship campaign preplanned. Thoughts or ideas are welcome. If these don't interest you please suggest something else and we'll take a serious look at it.

New Blood

I've decided to restart this blog once again. Its been nearly 8 months since its been used and once again I feel the need to use this as a collection point for my game groups new and old. I've gone through and cleaned up the place. I've deleted most of the old posts since they're way out of date. I've also added a bit to the useful links on the right.

To my Gresham game group I hope you'll continue to use this as a way to stay in contact and hopefully at some point get together for a game or a drink or both.

To my Downtown game group I hope to provide a place where we can post our ideas, game times, availability, etc in one easy to search location instead of pouring through emails like we have been.

Been Too Long

Its been too long since I last talked to you all. I doubt you check this blog anymore then I do but since I can't seem to find email addresses at the moment this will have to do. Wanted to know what you all were up to, what you were doing game wise, etc. Also thought i'd share the one picture we got of the group from the wedding. Yeah its 7 months late but hey...we just got our pictures so...
I'll try to find your emails so I can get in contact with you all properly. Check you later.

By Way of Introduction

The stone steps down from the street lead to an inconspicious heavy metal door set into the basement wall of the building above you. The sign posted above the lintel proclaims that "The Poisoned Arrow" is indeed open for business. The door whispers open and you enter the tomb like tavern. Low ceilings, low light, stone pillars, and deep alcoves pervade here. Considering the regular clientele the dim conditions are probably a blessing. More than one glint eyed glance and half drawn dagger can be seen as you thread your way up to the bar. The gnome working the bar seems to almost blend into the cool shadows behind the counter. Only his steel gray eyes seem to stand out as you take a seat. They twinkle like moonlight on a silvered blade as they survey you. A glass of something, you have no idea what...though judging by the vapors rolling off it its probably strong, appears beside your elbow. The gnome leans in close, exposing a veritable array of small weapons stored about his person, and gives you a wintery tight lipped smile. "A word of caution," he says in a low monotone. "Don't disturb the peace and pay your tab. Anything else is fair game." He turns to move farther down the bar but cants his head back for one last word. "Oh and don't bother the Rakshasa at table four, he's had a rough day."

Welcome to Dungeon Delving for Dummies. I started this blog primarily as a way to post ideas, stories, and questions about RPGs, usually DnD, both for my enjoyment and for the benefit and enjoyment of my friends and fellow gamers. I don't pretend to be an expert on the subject. I've barely played traditional RPGs for more then five years. I do however have enough of an interest in the subject to want to share what I know and learn more. Feel free to comment and contribute. In time I hope to add some of my friends to this blog's contributors.

A few quick words on the links in the upper right corner. The first three of these are priceless in terms of game help. d20srd.org is the best 3.5 core game reference site i've found. It has everything a player needs for any game but core only games benefit the most. The DnD Community Forum is the official game discussion board for the WotC game. If you've got a question about the game this is the place to go. The CO Resource Collection is a gold mine of links to just about every Character Op thread on the Wizards site as well as many other locations. If you're making a character and want him or her built right this is the place to go to make sure you get everything you can out of em. The fourth link is to perhaps the most priceless and most well known story in DnD history...that of The Dread Gazebo. If you know the game you can't help but laugh.

I'm always watching for new links.