After our first D&D session I saw one of my friends from the group (one of the experienced players). He had overheard me telling our DM that I had a blast. He asked me what I liked the most about it. Funny thing,... I had a hard time answering him. It may have been because we had barely scratched the surface. It may have been because most of us hardly had a clue what we were doing. I basically mentioned a couple quick elements of the game that were fun but I knew it wasn't a complete answer. Throughout the rest of the night and since, I have pondered the question.
I wondered if I merely liked the fact that the game had happened at all. I knew I liked the fact that I had friends sitting around the table doing anything as a group. It's a group of guys that I really enjoy the company of. I liked that we managed to find some combat, established a small quest for the next session and started some role playing in the process. Even after all this, I still didn't have a good answer for my friend on what I liked the best about it, but I had my suspicions.
After two get togethers, I think I may actually be able to answer him and it is not as simple as "combat" or "adventuring/exploring" etc.
What do I really like the best about D&D right now?
I love the fact that the adventure is it’s own fluid entity. It’s not a completely set-in-stone narrative that we are just drifting through like a video game. Now, I know what you’re thinking… It is since the DM has designed the story, setting, quests, adventures, NPCs and monsters etc. I’ll even agree that you have a point but so far, the adventure feels more like something that is unfolding for all of us including the DM. Even though he has done the set up, there are 6 more minds driving the story and contributing actions. Add the fact that we are all at the whim of the dice, it really feels like none of us, not even the DM, has any real control over what happens. It’s a very strange, but interesting concept for me to get my head around and I couldn’t be happier about that.
Of course, you may just be saying "Well duh! That's what a role playing game is" but hey, I am a noob so... :)
Happy Gaming
-TND
Monday, December 7, 2015
2nd Session wrap up
Another session is in the books and my enthusiasm hasn't waned at all. I would have been surprised if it had of course. I was not nervous heading into this week like I had been about the first session which was cool. I hosted the first session and started everyone off with a shot of whiskey to celebrate the kick off of the campaign (and keep things loose) and it must have worked since the host this week did the same asking if that would be a tradition for us. Everyone seemed to like that idea so we have that going for us :)
Right from the start, it seemed like everyone was getting up to speed and into character quickly. No one has put on an accent but they started using the mannerisms, speech patterns and actions that their character's race, background and personalities would dictate. It was really fun to see that develop and increase over the course of the day.
There was some quick RP at the start to pick up where we left off after the last session. Our first battle was over. We were getting some heat from the local guard (who we were drinking with earlier in the night) for killing what now looked like halflings but were goblins when we killed them. We took care of that misunderstanding with a 20 from one of the party that was dealing with the guards. We couldn't do much more that night. None of us could do anything about the fire that the bad guys had started so we dispersed agreeing to meet back at the pub in the morning for our first full mission/adventure to get to the brewery to restock the pub of the "good stuff" since their last delivery failed thanks to a broken cart (part of a story hook for my character that caught my ear and got me to drunkenly agree to the job to continue the party the next night) After week one and thinking about that set up, it seemed slightly reminiscent of an episode of Titansgrave but I won't go back and watch it until we are done to see for sure.
Once on the road for our mission, closing in on the cart that we bought supplies to fix, we heard a call for help. When we cleared a hill in the road, we saw two humans down with arrows sticking out of them. I rushed forward (major trigger for my character) with our cleric close behind and made my first newbie mistake... Figuring my character would instantly try to save them, I burned one of my two spell slots on cure wounds instead of just checking them first. Big surprise, it was a trap. Goblins! Battle number 2 of our short career. You can see the map left. (our DM forgot his battle map so I improvised those as he was setting up. The clear plastic is the cart we needed to fix. the D6s were the bad guys. The other dice and minis were us. The big dopey wooden player piece is me. I had an extra piece and some sharpies so I figure that'll do until I can find a good mini. More goblins would come out of the woods but we made fairly quick work of them except for 2 that tried to bug out. I managed to capture one of them and interrogate it which revealed a little side quest that we are still in the middle of. It is one of the DMs favorite quests from back in the day and it seems fun so far. After burning through a protective thorny barrier (getting charmed and losing a couple weapons), we found some kind of goblin home/area in the woods that's kind of psychedelic with two big mushrooms that you definitely shouldn't try to jump through a window of as our barbarian tried... It didn't go well but it was funny. We killed a couple giant spiders and our cleric was almost taken out and that is where we ended for the day.
This post is going on a little too long so I'll just say, it was a fun day. We're still getting used to this whole thing but if we keep going at the pace we are, we should all be truly down rabbit hole soon and I'm real interested to see how that goes. I'm looking forward to everyone getting more involved, less tentative. Most of all, I'm really looking forward to learning everyone's back stories. We've kept them close to the vest so we'll have some things to figure out via RP and to allow some people that wanted to develop them as we figure out what the heck we're doing.
-TND
Right from the start, it seemed like everyone was getting up to speed and into character quickly. No one has put on an accent but they started using the mannerisms, speech patterns and actions that their character's race, background and personalities would dictate. It was really fun to see that develop and increase over the course of the day.
There was some quick RP at the start to pick up where we left off after the last session. Our first battle was over. We were getting some heat from the local guard (who we were drinking with earlier in the night) for killing what now looked like halflings but were goblins when we killed them. We took care of that misunderstanding with a 20 from one of the party that was dealing with the guards. We couldn't do much more that night. None of us could do anything about the fire that the bad guys had started so we dispersed agreeing to meet back at the pub in the morning for our first full mission/adventure to get to the brewery to restock the pub of the "good stuff" since their last delivery failed thanks to a broken cart (part of a story hook for my character that caught my ear and got me to drunkenly agree to the job to continue the party the next night) After week one and thinking about that set up, it seemed slightly reminiscent of an episode of Titansgrave but I won't go back and watch it until we are done to see for sure.
 |
| Battle Time! |
This post is going on a little too long so I'll just say, it was a fun day. We're still getting used to this whole thing but if we keep going at the pace we are, we should all be truly down rabbit hole soon and I'm real interested to see how that goes. I'm looking forward to everyone getting more involved, less tentative. Most of all, I'm really looking forward to learning everyone's back stories. We've kept them close to the vest so we'll have some things to figure out via RP and to allow some people that wanted to develop them as we figure out what the heck we're doing.
-TND
Sunday, November 15, 2015
1st session wrap up...
We went to a tavern. (Big surprise). Got into some trouble. Killed some bad guys... etc. I really dug it. The DM was setting me up for a side quest but wasn't exactly sure of what he was going for, or how to wrangle the other in so I drunkenly stumbled out the door for the night rather than forcing a scenario. In real life, I really had to pee so I missed what happened in the tavern after that. Did the Ranger that happened to be from the same region as me add people to our little side quest (no word of a lie, he picked the same Illuskan heritage as me)? is it going to be 2 more sessions before we all hook up?
All and all it was very chill first night. Our characters were finished in about an hour and a half then off to the tavern. I want to play again tomorrow. I want to know everything our DM had planned for us. Who were those two big drunk guys at the bar? Damn it what is going happen next?!!!!
Anyway,
Here is my character. His (current) name is Carric Galanodel. Human Druid (level one)
I was pretty much ineffective in combat today but, level two, once I get some beast shapes, look out!
p.s. I "borrowed" the wild boar art from someone. Please, if you manage to find this, let me know and I will credit you. It was just too perfect to not use. The Character was designed on Heroforge.com. Very cool site.
And as always,
Happy Gaming!
-The New Druid
All and all it was very chill first night. Our characters were finished in about an hour and a half then off to the tavern. I want to play again tomorrow. I want to know everything our DM had planned for us. Who were those two big drunk guys at the bar? Damn it what is going happen next?!!!!
Anyway,
Here is my character. His (current) name is Carric Galanodel. Human Druid (level one)
I was pretty much ineffective in combat today but, level two, once I get some beast shapes, look out!
p.s. I "borrowed" the wild boar art from someone. Please, if you manage to find this, let me know and I will credit you. It was just too perfect to not use. The Character was designed on Heroforge.com. Very cool site.
And as always,
Happy Gaming!
-The New Druid
Today is the day.
Well, here it is. The day is at hand. In a little over five hours, we will be rolling out our characters and hopefully heading out on our first adventure! As far as i can tell, everyone in the group has been working on their characters' classes, race, and backgrounds etc. it has even come out that there will be another illuskan human besides me. Will there already be a twist?
It's kind of funny to be in this position at my age. I feel excited for this but also really anxious. I really don't know how this will go. I'm anxious about how I will do. How far will I dive into my character? Will I use a voice? Will anyone else? I'm also a little surprised that I'm feeling a little self conscious about all this. The good thing is, I am good friends with all but one of the players and I'm not the only noob so even if I trip up, I know it will will just be funny and not be judged. That is bonus of hanging out with curlers (the sport). They tend to be a real kind and unjudging lot.
Happy gaming from the 44 year old soon to be new role player!
-The New Druid
It's kind of funny to be in this position at my age. I feel excited for this but also really anxious. I really don't know how this will go. I'm anxious about how I will do. How far will I dive into my character? Will I use a voice? Will anyone else? I'm also a little surprised that I'm feeling a little self conscious about all this. The good thing is, I am good friends with all but one of the players and I'm not the only noob so even if I trip up, I know it will will just be funny and not be judged. That is bonus of hanging out with curlers (the sport). They tend to be a real kind and unjudging lot.
Happy gaming from the 44 year old soon to be new role player!
-The New Druid
Thursday, November 12, 2015
D.I.Y. Dice Trays
So you need/want a dice tray. You could buy one, there are a lot of nice ones out there some reasonable, some pricey, but if you're like me, you like to make things (if you can) that you will get a lot of use out of. These 2 trays were made with the help of the internet. Both are fairly easy and the process can be done pretty quickly. If you can handle a pair of scissors with enough precision to (probably) not cut off your fingers, you'll be able to handle these!
This one was really easy using a Ferrero Rocher box straight out of a link from the great Geek & Sundry: http://geekandsundry.com/diy-make-your-own-1-dice-tray/
It's a great fast option, and you get chocolates out of the deal which is a bonus.
There are a couple slight differences in mine. I used craft foam like they did but I also used a felt level on top of that foam. The other difference on mine is I used adhesive backed foam and and felt. They are basically peel and stick just like stickers. They were slightly more money but I didn't have to buy glue. One key while doing this is to only peel and fold back part of the backing (no more than half). Use the side that still has the backing to line up the foam or felt then lower the side with the exposed adhesive. Once the material is locked in place, you can lift the other side and peel the rest of the backing off, press and you're done.
This is the one I made for my upcoming D&D campaign. Again, not an original design or concept. I got the idea from a video from Dawn at Roll 4 Initiative (embedded below). She takes you through the steps clearly and easily. Again I used adhesive backed foam and felt just like the 1st one. The only other differences are I bought a different (bigger) frame and as you can see, I didn't felt the sides. I also chose to stain and varnish mine which added some extra prep time. If you are wondering, that was an actual role. Not the first one but I had to make sure I could roll a 20 in that box before I use it for real ;)
Any questions? If so hit me up in the comments. Have you made your own and have any tips or links? By all means leave them as well!
Happy Gaming!
-The New Druid
This one was really easy using a Ferrero Rocher box straight out of a link from the great Geek & Sundry: http://geekandsundry.com/diy-make-your-own-1-dice-tray/
It's a great fast option, and you get chocolates out of the deal which is a bonus.
There are a couple slight differences in mine. I used craft foam like they did but I also used a felt level on top of that foam. The other difference on mine is I used adhesive backed foam and and felt. They are basically peel and stick just like stickers. They were slightly more money but I didn't have to buy glue. One key while doing this is to only peel and fold back part of the backing (no more than half). Use the side that still has the backing to line up the foam or felt then lower the side with the exposed adhesive. Once the material is locked in place, you can lift the other side and peel the rest of the backing off, press and you're done.
This is the one I made for my upcoming D&D campaign. Again, not an original design or concept. I got the idea from a video from Dawn at Roll 4 Initiative (embedded below). She takes you through the steps clearly and easily. Again I used adhesive backed foam and felt just like the 1st one. The only other differences are I bought a different (bigger) frame and as you can see, I didn't felt the sides. I also chose to stain and varnish mine which added some extra prep time. If you are wondering, that was an actual role. Not the first one but I had to make sure I could roll a 20 in that box before I use it for real ;)
Any questions? If so hit me up in the comments. Have you made your own and have any tips or links? By all means leave them as well!
Happy Gaming!
-The New Druid
Monday, November 9, 2015
Thank You Critical Role!
I have a short story for you all (that I hope you will find interesting). A couple months ago I was on about a two+ hour car ride to an adventure for myself (Heading to meet up with my Brother and his friends for a 5k obstacle course race through the woods in western Mass). Along the way, as it tends to do on longer drives, my mind started wandering. I had found Critical Role a little before, binge watched and caught up. Inspired by the show, I started daydreaming about a back story for a potential D&D character. This was interesting to me since I only played one, maybe 2 games of D&D ever with my Brother's group about 25+ years ago. I had fun but some of the role playing aspect was a little "weird" to me (being an overly self-conscious teen and all). I brushed off the activity and figured I tried it and was all set.
My daydreaming continued for about half the ride until I stopped off at a rest area that just happened to have a small farmer's market set up off of the right side of the parking lot. It's not something that I'd usually be distracted by but I went to check it out and ended up buying something. As soon as I was back on the road, my mind started going again. I had two possible character traits of this new character that I couldn't decide on so I split one off and applied it to a second potential character. This continued for my entire ride back home the following day. This alone would be enough for me to feel like I should thank you guys because it was like I got an extra 4-5 hours of entertainment out of watching your show. However...
A few weeks ago, I remembered and wanted to use what I bought at the farmer's market and went to my fridge. I couldn't help but laugh at the label.
I still can't believe that I hadn't noticed it before. Especially since the NPC Gilmore has been one of my favorites from the show and is one that started opening my eyes to the truly creative world of RPGs.
That label, the fact that I obsessed over these two characters on and after that trip, the fact that the trip was to hang out with my Brother who tried to bring me into the game all those years ago pretty much made it like all the stars were lining up to point me in the right direction. Even someone as sometimes oblivious as me could see that this was a sign for me to give D&D an honest try so I immediately reached out to my tabletop gaming group.
The payoff to all of this, is at the age of 44, I am less than a week a way from kicking off my first campaign with some real good friends. I REALLY can't wait and I owe it all to a group of friends/adventurers that I stumbled across while on the web.
So, thanks for going out on a limb, putting yourselves out there, and proving me a fool. The creativity, fun and camaraderie you all have has shown me I was wrong to shun the experience all those years ago and I'm sure I'll be eternally grateful.
May you all never roll a 1 (unless it's really funny)
Andy (The New Druid)
My daydreaming continued for about half the ride until I stopped off at a rest area that just happened to have a small farmer's market set up off of the right side of the parking lot. It's not something that I'd usually be distracted by but I went to check it out and ended up buying something. As soon as I was back on the road, my mind started going again. I had two possible character traits of this new character that I couldn't decide on so I split one off and applied it to a second potential character. This continued for my entire ride back home the following day. This alone would be enough for me to feel like I should thank you guys because it was like I got an extra 4-5 hours of entertainment out of watching your show. However...
A few weeks ago, I remembered and wanted to use what I bought at the farmer's market and went to my fridge. I couldn't help but laugh at the label.
That label, the fact that I obsessed over these two characters on and after that trip, the fact that the trip was to hang out with my Brother who tried to bring me into the game all those years ago pretty much made it like all the stars were lining up to point me in the right direction. Even someone as sometimes oblivious as me could see that this was a sign for me to give D&D an honest try so I immediately reached out to my tabletop gaming group.
The payoff to all of this, is at the age of 44, I am less than a week a way from kicking off my first campaign with some real good friends. I REALLY can't wait and I owe it all to a group of friends/adventurers that I stumbled across while on the web.
So, thanks for going out on a limb, putting yourselves out there, and proving me a fool. The creativity, fun and camaraderie you all have has shown me I was wrong to shun the experience all those years ago and I'm sure I'll be eternally grateful.
May you all never roll a 1 (unless it's really funny)
Andy (The New Druid)
Welcome
So, who is The New Druid and what is this blog?
I'll give you the basics. I'm in my mid forties, family man and a revived gamer. Growing up I would play board games heavily with my parents, friends and brother. Recently, I have gotten back into tabletop gaming and realized that I really like the themes that modern board games offer. The interaction and the story telling replacing the simple roll and move mechanics that I grew up with (Dark Tower and Stop Thief being two exceptions to that rule). The more theme and story telling, the better as far as I'm concerned. This got me thinking. Maybe it was time for me to re-evaluate my opinions on role playing games, specifically D&D.
That brings us to this blog... What is it about? Well, it's simple. It will be about my journey back into a game, and world that I only took part in once or twice a long time ago and then dismissed.
I'll talk about steps that I've taken to get back into D&D, interesting things I come across while learning about my new hobby and post things that serve as inspiration. I may also post some stories and incidents that I find noteworthy, cool or funny from my campaign.
I will probably also post other tabletop game related material from time to time.
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again!
Happy Gaming!
-The New Druid
I'll give you the basics. I'm in my mid forties, family man and a revived gamer. Growing up I would play board games heavily with my parents, friends and brother. Recently, I have gotten back into tabletop gaming and realized that I really like the themes that modern board games offer. The interaction and the story telling replacing the simple roll and move mechanics that I grew up with (Dark Tower and Stop Thief being two exceptions to that rule). The more theme and story telling, the better as far as I'm concerned. This got me thinking. Maybe it was time for me to re-evaluate my opinions on role playing games, specifically D&D.
That brings us to this blog... What is it about? Well, it's simple. It will be about my journey back into a game, and world that I only took part in once or twice a long time ago and then dismissed.
I'll talk about steps that I've taken to get back into D&D, interesting things I come across while learning about my new hobby and post things that serve as inspiration. I may also post some stories and incidents that I find noteworthy, cool or funny from my campaign.
I will probably also post other tabletop game related material from time to time.
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again!
Happy Gaming!
-The New Druid
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