Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and other non-FF group roleplaying

[CharlesX]

Couldn't find a particular thread for this, neither am I sure where this would go.

Bought a basic D&D manual growing up and thought it was great - played the heck out of their solo game - but never played even one session with other people (never got beyond choose your own adventure style games with other people). I thought similar things about the less-well-known Maelstrom, which was a bit technical for my liking but heavily atmospheric. I enjoyed the kids' D&D show but have only heard bad things about the D&D films.

   If anything my relationship about D&D and other RPGs is defined more by what I don't know about them than what I do - I know the campaigns can be long but I don't know how long, I don't know how common it is for mid-level parties to be killed (which I imagine would be irritating). From what I've read higher-level (30+?) characters would have their own castles, and find even dragons unchallenging, which might make for a boring game.

   Of course the more casual gamer can always opt for a group which prefers a shorter (more risky?) campaign, or another RPG game (my friend likes the Paranoia universe, which is a dangerous one).

[nathanh]

The question on lethality is heavily dependent on edition, as well as playstyle. First edition D&D is by all accounts very lethal; I only played a little but that seemed also my experience (I remember the starter adventure I had contained advice for how to react to character being killed in the first combat!). The lethality has dropped off in every edition since, and in the current one (5th), it seems pretty hard to kill entire parties unless you specifically go out of your way to. Also, D&D culture has changed a lot, and deaths even of individual characters tend to be unpopular, let alone TPKs.

For campaign length, there are some campaigns that go on for years, but I suspect most will fizzle out before then. I played a few campaigns about 20 years ago where we probably played maybe 15-20 sessions before running out of steam. The game I am playing in now is at 8 sessions and should have plenty of life left; it's quite hard though when everyone has a busy job and life to play frequently.

I don't think that many people get to particularly high levels. I think the highest we ever got to was about level 8.

[Pete Byrdie]

I played a little 1st edition D&D but mostly AD&D 2e. The campaigns were long and we struggled to get everyone together consistently. Death's were common, and many newer players of D&D 5e won't remember dragging another player's corpse around to get him resurrected. I don't know how common that was but we did it a fair bit. I started learning fifth edition and have been doing research in the online community, and sure enough many older players are whinging that players characters are superheroes now days. Certainly, the emphasis seems to be on story and character back stories these days and that's fine. I'd rather play an FF that was easy but had a better story than one in which I was just dodging instant deaths and facing near impossible enemies, for example. However, I swear some of our three hour sessions were composed almost entirely of two big dust-ups with interminable dice rolling, which could be a drag. I don't think that's changed. You don't feel you've achieved much when you look back at your Sunday evening and think all you've achieved is littering bodies across two locations in a dungeon, forest, city or wherever.

There seems to be a trend these days for watching people play D&D. I've tried it. It sucks.

The D&D movies are all rubbish, with the third probably being the best. I have zero enthusiasm for next year's movie, so hopefully my low expectations will mean I'm pleasantly surprised. If you get a chance and haven't already done so, watch The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

[CharlesX]

Nov 27, 2022 17:16:22 GMT Pete Byrdie said:

I played a little 1st edition D&D but mostly AD&D 2e. The campaigns were long and we struggled to get everyone together consistently. Death's were common, and many newer players of D&D 5e won't remember dragging another player's corpse around to get him resurrected. I don't know how common that was but we did it a fair bit. I started learning fifth edition and have been doing research in the online community, and sure enough many older players are whinging that players characters are superheroes now days. Certainly, the emphasis seems to be on story and character back stories these days and that's fine. I'd rather play an FF that was easy but had a better story than one in which I was just dodging instant deaths and facing near impossible enemies, for example. However, I swear some of our three hour sessions were composed almost entirely of two big dust-ups with interminable dice rolling, which could be a drag. I don't think that's changed. You don't feel you've achieved much when you look back at your Sunday evening and think all you've achieved is littering bodies across two locations in a dungeon, forest, city or wherever.

There seems to be a trend these days for watching people play D&D. I've tried it. It sucks.

The D&D movies are all rubbish, with the third probably being the best. I have zero enthusiasm for next year's movie, so hopefully my low expectations will mean I'm pleasantly surprised. If you get a chance and haven't already done so, watch The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

While previous D&D movies have been either very poor or poor, this year's 'D&D Honor Among Thieves' (just quoting the US spelling, folks) got about 90% positive reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes and I'm thinking might well be worth a watch. Doesn't mean it's good ofc, critics were wrong about Ghostbusters: Answer The Call and The Simpsons Movie.*

[daredevil123]

I liked Honor Among Thieves. It's a bit silly with a formulaic story but the characters are amusing and it captures the fun, fast-paced spirit of playing the game.

[kieran]

I liked it too but then I also like The Simpsons Movie

[Pete Byrdie]

Yeah, I didn't have much hope for the new D&D movie but it turns out people like this one. I don't go to the flicks anymore but I'll check it out on streaming when I can. The trailers looked fun.

[CharlesX]

May 13, 2023 23:58:52 GMT kieran said:

I liked it too but then I also like The Simpsons Movie

ot like i said before but I get why you might like The Simpsons Movie if you don't mind the later Simpsons episodes, it plays like one of the better Simpsons episodes from Season 14+. I catch myself laughing at some humour in Ghostbusters: Answer The Call but it feels forced (like Ghostbusters Afterlife is good but too fan service).

   Returning to subject I've no idea if the new D&D film is really good like reviewers suggest but the first three were deservedly mauled by critics and audiences, so even if it's 'average' it will leave the originals standing.

[kieran]

May 14, 2023 17:57:53 GMT CharlesX said:

May 13, 2023 23:58:52 GMT kieran said:

I liked it too but then I also like The Simpsons Movie

ot like i said before but I get why you might like The Simpsons Movie if you don't mind the later Simpsons episodes, it plays like one of the better Simpsons episodes from Season 14+. I catch myself laughing at some humour in Ghostbusters: Answer The Call but it feels forced (like Ghostbusters Afterlife is good but too fan service).

   Returning to subject I've no idea if the new D&D film is really good like reviewers suggest but the first three were deservedly mauled by critics and audiences, so even if it's 'average' it will leave the originals standing.

Ah didn't realise Answer the Call was the Lady Ghostbusters - I really liked that too. Maybe I'm too easily pleased...

[CharlesX]

Got round to seeing D&D Honor Among Thieves - it's really good. Absolutely leaves previous D&D films standing (not the cartoon, which is also awesome), but the story, acting, plot, effects, comedy, pacing, faithfulness to D&D, are all spot on. If I had to say a criticism some people might find it cheesy, but some people might find the Lord Of The Rings too long or Spirited Away too foreign (strongly recommend seeing those if you haven't already).

   As a counter-argument, I'd recommend reading or seeing Tales Of Earthsea if you'd like some darker fantasy.