d20 RPG Table for Random forum encounters

[Fushigi]

By Monte Cook, Internet Message Board Wandering Monster Table.

 

[Mercutio]

I don't know if I'm a bigger geek for immediately identifying the term "d20", knowing who Monte Cook is and what he's written, or the fact that I've been to his site more than once.

 

[CougTek]

What is the deep meaning of "d20"? Haven't found an answer on the linked site.

If it's D&D related, I figure it stands for a dice with 20 faces.

 

[CougTek]

Green Slime : Like the phosphorescent fungi, this poster is always around. However, it does present a threat, because it spreads. This poster feels the need to respond to every message.

Reminds me someone who used to roam at SR, can't say for sure, but...

Crusading Ogre. This encounter is dangerous because of the creature's ability to bowl over others. The crusading ogre's got an agenda and will barge into any discussion, no matter how unrelated, to turn it into a diatribe about that agenda. Politics, religion, operating systems -- the agendas of the crusading ogres are many and varied.

The Giver!

Hydra. This monster creates multiple identities for itself, and then pretends to be multiple people at once to gang up on a single poster, or so that it can agree with itself and look smart.

Tony, obviously. Gary doesn't pretend to be several different folks, unlike Tea and Tannin.

Archangels. These powerful beings are also known as moderators, or mods. When they use their power wisely, they keep things moving smoothly. Without them, the other monsters would make it too dangerous to even visit message boards.

Doug

Chaos Beast. This creature posts nonsensical posts just to get attention. Not really all that different from a troll, really, although its easier to resist.

It's fubar on a bad day

Phosphorescent Fungi. Not really a danger or evil, it's just always around. This is the poster who never seems to be offline.

Honold (who is also an undead slayer)

Champion. This guy chooses a thing or a person to champion.

Greg and his SCSI fetish...

Nemesis. The opposite of a champion in many respects, the nemesis chooses one thing or person to hate and never misses an opportunity to let you know what he hates, and also why.

Me (Boards with only dual VRM, Microsoft, oil companies, capitalism, Bush and refering to me as a Canadian)

Disappointed Harpy. A variant harpy, this poster says something positive, but makes it clear that he doesn't really want to be doing so. "This actually didn't suck," he'll write, or he'll point out that something isn't as terrible as the other things of its kind.

Mercutio (also a Wizened Sage)

Ravid. This entertaining, very rare poster brings life to many discussions with a delightful sense of humor or an intriguing outlook.

Flagreen when he's not possesed by The Giver. Gary could fit here too. Some others too.

Veteran. This poster has been around a long time and has been active all that time. Everyone comes to know (and usually respect) him.

Too many to name. I'll mention Buck since I haven't anywhere above.

Otyugh. Everything this guy posts is a waste.

PeeWee

 

[LunarMist]

Green Slime : Like the phosphorescent fungi, this poster is always around. However, it does present a threat, because it spreads. This poster feels the need to respond to every message.

Reminds me someone who used to roam at SR, can't say for sure, but...

I think the term Veteran is more appropriate.

 

[Mercutio]

I believe CougTech is referring to ktech in this case, who I don't think broke the 5k barrier like some did pre-MBF, but certainly got to 3000 awfully fast in the weeks just after.

Really, Coug, I am clinically depressed. Seeing things as "sucking less" than other things is just about as postive as I get. Wizened Sage I'd take issue with as well, I don't think it's any more appropriate for me than many of the others here.

d20 does in fact refer to the 20-sided die used in Dungeons and Dragrons, but also to the fact that the generic ruleset is essentially open - almost anyone can produce a game or supplement compatible with Dungeons and Dragons; publications made by outside parties fall under the "d20 System" banner.

Man, now I want to play some Neverwinter Nights...

 

[Fushigi]

I'm not sure when the d20 system itself became the default reference. I played the original D&D and AD&D while TSR owned the system, mostly skipped 2nd edition, and just a few months of 3rd edition; the campaign I'm in now has more or less finished migrating to 3.5. Somewhere between 1st & 3rd edition, TSR was bought by Wizards of the Coast (the 'Magic the Gathering', etc. folks), which has since been bought by Hasbro.

As Merc implied, d20 is really a gaming framework. A standard set of rules, or at least suggestions, for how things should interact, progress over time, etc. You still use dice with anywhere from 4-20 sides, maybe more, but the attck/defense systems are based on a 20-sider. 3rd & 3.5 editions (unsure about 2nd) generally use a map for gameplay while with the originals it was optional and not used very often. Miniatures represent characters, monsters, and surroundings. My friend, who is the DM for our campaign, has spent quite a bit on gaming supplies.

 

[mubs]

For Merc (or anybody for that matter) to become a Wizened Sage, they'll have to grow a long white beard first. That applies to members of the fairer sex too.

 

[CougTek]

That makes Mark our only wizened sage.

 

[Mercutio]

My brothers (5 and 7 years older) both played AD&D. I learned when I was five years old or so, mostly because there weren't many kids in the town where I grew up. I remember getting the rulebooks taken away from me when I was in kindergarten, because the woman who was supposed to be teaching kids how to read got all upset by the big, red demon on the cover (I still remember my father rather forcefully explaining to the woman that the fact that I could read and comprehend the stuff inside exempted me from anything else that might be going on in a kindergarten classroom).

I was the little mutant who actually remember(s) all the rules, tables etc, so I was handy to keep around, even if I didn't really get to play.

I got made DM for their games by the time I was eight. Being DM is a lot of work, and neither of them wanted to do it.

The game broke up when my oldest brother went off to Northwestern. I kept buying the sourcebooks until I finished high school, just out of my own interest.

My all-time favorite RPG - possibly because it's SO completely twisted - is West End Games' Paranoia. I really got into the spirit of that one.
I also liked "Call of Cthulhu", but it was too hard to maintain the proper atmosphere to play more than a few sessions. Plus, I gave myself nightmares.

 

[CougTek]

I remember getting the rulebooks taken away from me when I was in kindergarten, because the woman who was supposed to be teaching kids how to read got all upset by the big, red demon on the cover...

I think I still have that book, somewhere in a forgotten box. I thought it dated from the very early heighties, but you were more than five years old by 1981. My memory must be bad. I know I was a lot older than 5 when I've had it.

 

[blakerwry]

i dont exactly remember what the cover of my AD&D book looked like.. thought it had a horse being ridden... the cover was predomanently tan or brown...

I was in 6th grade going into 7th at the time... guess that made me 11-12 years old.. early 90's

 

[CougTek]

Player's rulebook, second edition. Around 1992 IIRC.

 

[Mercutio]

Actually Coug, I was born December 10, 1975. I have pretty decent recollection back as far as 1978 or so.

The original AD&D Players Handbook was released in 1979. The original DMG was released sometime in '80. I remember my brother being PO'd that he'd had to wait to actually find out how to play "Advanced" Dungeons and Dragons (at that point, there were the $10 boxed sets with the Basic and Expert rulesets for Dungeons and Dragons, which took characters up to 12th level... he thought at the time that AD&D was the continuation of the boxed sets).

The original Player's Handbook has a picture of some adventurers robbing a tomb with a large, orange Demon Idol in the middle of it.
The original DMG depicted a red Devil of some sort (Pit Fiend, Efreet), with a scantily-clad female in its grasp. There were other adventurers about, and as you turned the book over it was very clear that they were all in a Hell-like plane.
The original Monster Manual depicted a cross-section of land, sky, and underground, and various beasties above and beneath.
The original Fiend Folio had a marvelous picture of a Githyanki on it. I recall being disappointed when it was released, since many of the monsters came from modules we already had.
The original Dieties and Demigods is a big collector's item because TSR used characters from Michael Moorcock's "Elric" books and Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. The cover art features a battle between clerics and their dieties under an otherworldly purple sky (I always did like Erol Otis's work. No idea where he went...)
The Monster Manual 2 was the first hardcover printed in a "modern" style, with the AD&D logo that's probably familiar to someone of Blake's age, and that was used by things like the Gold Box games. It depicted a Hill Giant on its cover and again consisted primarily of creatures found in late 1st-edition modules.
Dieties and Demigods was re-titled Legends and Lore for its later printings. Odin and Slepnir (the 6 legged horse) featured on the cover. I was *crushed* by that one, thinking it a whole new book...
Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures came next, then the very interesting Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival Guides, then a hardcover for the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. I believe the last 1st edition book introduced was the Manual of the Planes.

And then the accursed Second Edition when everything went to hell.
The source materials were cool as hell, but TSR stopped making the 32-page adventure modules I liked to actually use.

The "S" series modules were my favorites. Lots of traps. Lots of good atmosphere. Hard as hell to replay with the same people, so we never did. First thing I did, when I got Neverwinter Nights was to download the player-created versions of White Plume Mountain and Tomb of Horrors.

 

[timwhit]

I don't know anything about D&D, but a lot of the monster names are very similar to those in Heroes of Might and Magic. Can someone explain the correlation to me?

 

[Mercutio]

I know the first Might and Magic came out in 1986 or 87, for the AppleII and PC, at least. It was one of a number of similar games (Bard's Tale, Dragon Wars) that sought to capture a pen-and-paper feel. The designer (John van Canegehm, or something like that) undoubtedly played Dungeons and Dragons.
The first Heros of Might and Magic (which I've never played) took place in a game world designed for the RPG (the 3rd one, IIRC). And thus a tenuous connection was born.

 

[timwhit]

You should give it a try. I never played the first Heroes of might and magic, but I played the second and third ones a ton. The fourth sucked big time as far as I'm concerned. Quit working 90 hour weeks and play some games Merc.

P.S. I still have a copy of HOMM3 if you are interested.

 

[timwhit]

Merc, aren't you awake later than usual? I normally don't see any posts from you after 1am or so CST (or is it daylight time now? damn farmers)

 

[Mercutio]

I'm up late waiting for Windows 2003 to finish installing on a troubled PC.

 

[timwhit]

Sounds like a blast, I love watching Windows install.

 

[Mercutio]

I #$%#-ing hate not having a ghost image of something.

 

[blakerwry]

guess now's your chance.


I got the free 180 day trial of 2k3... anybody know how the trial runs out? I installed it for a bit then went back to XP.. does this mean my trial is currently running down? would a simple re-install set my time back to 180 days?

I read through this microsoft page but didn't see answers to my specific questions.


I see that the trial is supposedly able to be activated 4 times (or atleast can be activated on 4 different computers) So I'd assume that I could potentially use the trial upto 2 years....

 

[Mercutio]

Your free trial is running out. It's from date of install.
If you - any of you - need more trial copies - I've got them.
I'm not aware of any activation limit with the trial copies. My students all use the same number over and over. We haven't had a problem yet.

 

[CougTek]

I got the free 180 day trial of 2k3... anybody know how the trial runs out?

:rofl:

 

[Fushigi]

Apparently, the d20 system goes back a really long time.