Hello everyone and welcome to Realms of High Adventure!

First off, introductions are in order. My name is Shane and I will be your DM for this game. I have been playing one version or another of D&D on-and-off since 1984 when I was first introduced to D&D during the summer vacation between 6th and 7th grade. I have played many different RPGs over the years, but always come back to D&D type games as fantasy captures my imagination more than any other genre. I am knowledgeable about and enjoy all editions of D&D, but tend to prefer less rules crunchy flavors of the game.

That is part of the reason I wanted to run a Basic D&D game, which I have never done in PbP. Well, that and the fact this was the first RPG I owned (not the first I played though...that honor goes to 1st edition) and it holds a special place in my heart, even though I barely played it. Everyone wanted to play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons back then.

I am 44 years old, married and have two kids (ages 9 and 8). I am coming up on 20 years in the United States Air Force and currently stationed in Hawaii. Aside from RPGs, I enjoy playing guitar and ukulele, riding bicycles, camping, body boarding, hiking and reading children's literature. Yes. Children's literature!

Ay any rate, just wanted to take the opportunity to get to know each of you while we set up characters and get ready to launch this game.

Thanks,

Shane
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:06, Sun 11 Sept 2016.

In reply to DM Pawn (msg # 1):

Well met, adventurers, Game Master!  I'm playing Aldara, your adventuring party's Magic-User.

I got into RPGs when I was, ohh, eleven?  My sister, a friend of mine, and I embarked on an ill-fated adventure with the Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition beginner's set, and hoo boy did our lives change!  Of course, as we got older, Real Life began to happen, and after a while I turned to play-by-post games.  The first one I got into was a Labyrinth Lord game that taught me to love playing Clerics, and after that I began to take a liking to the less-crunchy stuff, like our GM mentioned.

I'm from the Midwest, but grew up in Florida, and now live in another state.  I've got more Florida in me than any other state, though, and whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, well, that depends on how many Florida Man and Florida Woman stories you've read!  Right now, I'm twenty-seven years old, and currently a second-shift janitor.  When I'm not throwing funny-looking dice and pretending to be something fantastic, I'm "writing!", playing Hearthstone, or doing readings for people.  I collect clocks with Audrey Hepburn on them, love the Highlander franchise, and also like Scooby-Doo.  The only other thing I have to say for myself, is that I always have some decaffeinated coffee in my apartment, and love cats and appreciate spiders.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:16, Sun 11 Sept 2016.

Been playing about as long as Shane and started with the red basic book and actually still have the dice (now heavily worn) that came with the boxed set.  Played a number of different games and genres throughout the years including Classic Traveller and Lords of Creation.

I enjoy games that are more than just hack and slash that allow characters to go off the rails to do what they think is right rather than what they're "supposed" to be doing.  I also prefer to avoid the metagaming and keep the game in character.

Currently living in Central New York but I've lived as far west as Fort Huachuca Arizona with some time working on a dude ranch in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming and a real life job in Boulder, Colorado.

I've been looking for a game where 1st level characters are realistically "1st level" and not really all that heroic, yet.

In reply to Aldara (msg # 2):

Florida Man and Florida Woman are no joke! They get into the craziest chicanery and skullduggery.

Second shift, that's usually ~3pm to 11pm, right? We call them swing shifts in the Air Force (AF). I tried my best to avoid that shift and usually volunteered to work mid shifts (11pm to 7am) to get off of swings. I worked about 5 years straight of mids in my early AF years just to avoid the dreaded swings.

Wow! Clocks with Audrey Hepburn?! I did not even know such a thing existed (Google just revealed how in-the-dark I am about such things...)

At any rate, welcome to the game!

In reply to Eoni Daflin (msg # 3):

The dice I had from that Mentzer Basic set turned up missing over the years, but I remember them well. The powder blue soft plastic d20 got so worn out and rounded it would roll and roll and roll and roll...right off the table nearly every time. :)

This game will be a little more structured than an open sandbox, mainly because the structured short adventure format works a little better than the latter. In my face to face games I generally let the players decide what we will be doing on any given night, but need a little more structure in PbP. I am a flexible DM though and roll with whatever the players want to do. There is no "right" way to approach the challenges (roleplay, puzzle, combat, problem solving, etc.) I throw at you, so I think (hope) you will enjoy this adventure.  Admittedly, this game will start out as a bit of a "railroad" to get straight to the fun.

Is there a local language that all of us should have or will it be just Common?

And just to make clear for those of us having more recently used other systems, 0 hit points or less is time to make a new character?

 Hail and well met.
 My name is Bernie, I live in south western Ohio, and have been a gamer longer then I care to remember.

 Back in 1977, yes, there where Dinosaurs roaming around my neigh hood, I had a friend tell me about a new game, Dungeons and Dragons. I thought it was the most stupid thing I had ever heard of. I wanted to play Avalon Hill’s Gettysburg or some such. He convinced me to try it, kicking and screaming. But once I played, I was hooked, and here we are today, a middle aged man that likes to pretend he is other people likes to kills things and take their stuff. In the real world, that would get you locked up. Ha..HA

 On a personal note, I am proud to announce I have a granddaughter, a four month old cutie I am a proud grandpa.   Hold crap! I am a grandpa… Gets depressed, and asks for his prune juice and rocker.

 P.S. I think I am funny, but my wife will tell you, I am the only one that does. :)

Common will suffice. There is probably a more formal name for it, but such things are only discussed by serious linguistics sages. :)

Yes. 0 hit points = dead :(

I am ambivalent on the "hard-coreness" of this particular rule. We can play it by the book or use another option, e.g.,

The common unconscious at 0, bleed out 1 per round, dead at -10.

Variant of the above where as soon as a character reaches 0 or less hit points, they make Death saving throws each round. Accumulating 3 fails = permanent death. Accumulating 3 successes = stablized but unconscious

Up for discussion either way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:54, Sun 11 Sept 2016.

In reply to Marklin (msg # 7):

Welcome Bernie. My wife is originally from Dayton, OH, which I think qualifies as southwestern Ohio.

I played quite a bit of AH's Panzerblitz and Panzer Leader when I was younger. I really enjoyed both of those games.

Congrats on your granddaughter by the way and welcome to the game.

Shane

Hello everyone.

I started playing 1st edition in the early '80s; by the time Unearthed Arcana came out we had "graduated" to other games, including the original version of Runequest and Rolemaster, although we continued playing AD&D as well (sans UA, the existence of which we denied).

I was "out of gaming" for a long time after college, but started on RPoL when my youngest son graduated from high school.  This has forced me to dabble in 2d Edition, just to expand my opportunities.  I haven't gotten much further (although I have played other games here and there).

I never did much with Basic; we proceeded straight to 1st edition, so I will (as I have already) spend much time looking around for a rule for something, only to discover that there is no such rule in Basic.  I beg for everyone's indulgence whilst I work such silliness out of my system. :)

I live in Kansas City, and I have the kind of job/life where I often have more time to post during work hours than I do on weekends.

In reply to Sarah (msg # 10):

Hello Sarah. Good to be playing with you again!

My friends and I graduated to Rolemaster in 1988 and that was pretty much the end of AD&D for us. The critical hit/fumble charts and the mechanical complexity of the game appealed to our sense of wanting the game to be "realistic". Loved that game.

Looking back on it though, there is no way I would play that game again!

***

Speaking of posting times, it would be helpful for me to know when you guys will typically find free time to post. I am on Hawaii time (GMT -10) and can generally only post Monday-Friday in the evenings (cannot post at work), which is going to be super late for most of our U.S. based players. Weekends are a little bit more open for me, depending on what I have going on with the family.

I usually figure out the player's posting rhythm after a couple of weeks and can gauge when everyone has had an opportunity to post, but figured I would ask up front.

Thanks,

Shane

 I am EST, I can post daily most times, perhaps more then once depending on events of the day.

Question: when do you see the game starting?

~ September 14th (will likely be the 15th for most of you, due to my timezone being much later than everyone else and my usual posting times). This is assuming everyone has their character sheets squared away, etc.

 Herr GM, are we using the basic or advanced  Labyrinth Lord rules?

Basic. You may use either Basic Labyrinth Lord, Moldvay Basic or Mentzer Basic, whatever you have access to.

Thank you.... Can Marklin have a pet Dragon? ;)

That's a good question about the dragon.  When I used to play way back when, we subdued dragons and had "A-Team" like scenarios where we had time to prep a village for defense before being attacked.  And of course all of our traps worked as designed.

I'm EST and can post daily in the morning evening, and sometimes in the afternoon.

Greetings, all.

Born and raised in Arizona, I live and work not far from Ft. Huachuca, Tombstone, and the Mexican border, and must confess that though I have traveled often on the west coast I have yet to go east of El Paso! Ohio? There be dragons! ;-)

I started gaming in the early 1980’s as a player with the Mentzer edition, and like Shane, I moved to AD&D in rather short order.

Recently I ran a game of Basic D&D using the Moldvay edition (the original dice are candy-red, soft, and very edge-worn) and was reminded: a) of what an excellent job T.M. did distilling the scattered brilliance of OD&D into something actually game-able; and b) of the beautiful conciseness of the Basic ruleset.

More recent still I have been playing Mouse Guard [2E] which is a simplification of the Burning Wheel game engine. It’s been a struggle to wrap this grognard’s mind around such a different gaming paradigm, but definitely worth the effort. It’s not a replacement for the old school games, just scratches a similar itch.

I am mostly GMT -7 — As non-Navajo Arizona does not recognize daylight savings, my effective timezone swings between Mountain Standard in the winter and Pacific Daylight in the summer.

I cannot post at work, but try to post something well-considered daily (including weekends), usually in the very early morning, or late evening/night.

For what it’s worth I think character death at 0 HP is very much in keeping with the clarity, simplicity, and deadliness of old school D&D. Our DM’s house rule of max hit points at 1st level is ample concession to modernity in my humble opinion.

I look forward to gaming with all of you.

— Alec

P.S. Congrats on the birth of your granddaughter, Bernie, and do not lament the passing years. There was a time no doubt when simply living to see one’s grandchildren would have been a remarkable feat in itself. May you live to see many more!

In reply to Yhus the Musing (msg # 18):

Welcome to the game Alec!

I love the desert southwest. We spent 3 1/2 years living in southern New Mexico (Alamogordo) and I really enjoyed my time there. My wife missed the green but we could always drive 30 minutes and be in the high alpine forest, which were lush, green and cool.

I think the powder blue dice I remember were from the Expert set now that you mention the red dice.

I've always wanted to check out Mouse Guard as I enjoyed the Redwall book by Brian Jacques. I do play Mice and Mystics (dungeon crawler board game) with my wife and kids though, so that kind of scratches my little mousies itch.

:)

I think my character is all set to start.  Let me know if you see anything odd.

In reply to Eoni Daflin (msg # 20):

Character looks good to me.

Whoa - I better get with the program. I just logged in and found I already have some serious catching up to do!!!

I will be playing Valthur, the short stubborn one.

Just got back in town. Excited to play. Will get character details filled in tomorrow.

In reply to Valthur Ironhelm (msg # 22):

No. You're fine. Nothing has happened in the game yet. We're still setting up characters and getting to know one another.

Game won't start for a couple of days yet, so there is still plenty of time to get your character squared away, etc.

I am also very conscious of the "New Game" effect, whereby posting is fast and furious at the outset until it settles into a more predictable groove. I do my best to ensure it doesn't move along too quickly at the outset, because this can be difficult to keep up with.

Pacific Standard Time, here.  Most likely to post between around 00:50 and 05:30, with Saturdays, Sundays, and most holidays being "hot" times.  Sooner or later, I'll get hours that don't require me to live like a vampire.

Wunnerful meeting you all!

EDIT: Also, on the topic of player character deaths...



I like either, but here's a possible variant for the softer rule.
-You could make the "dead" number equal to the die you roll for your class.  -6 for Clerics and Elves, -8 for Dwarves and Fighters, -4 for Halflings and Magic-Users and Thieves.  I guess you could pad or trim the number by the Constitution bonus or penalty?  So a Fighter with a Constitution of 17 would be dead at -10, while one with a Constitution of 11 would be dead at -8.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:42, Mon 12 Sept 2016.

It would be nice to have an unconscious and dying window to add urgency to a fallen comrade's plight.

-10 seems a bit much as it exceeds the character's original hit points so Aldara's resolution or the 3 Death saves sound good.

We would also need to house rule on how another character can stop the bleeding.  An action to stop the bleeding and another round to secure a bandage?  If they don't have a bandage then they just have to maintain pressure until someone arrives with a bandage.  And, of course, magical healing automatically stops bleeding.

Also, if there are no objections, I'd like to claim Rose for Eoni's speech.

Anything that increases the chances of me and my d4 hp surviving is good with me. :)

But if it's not to be, then that's good to.  My character is well-suited for hiding in the back anyhow.

And if we're claiming speech colors, I would like to put in a bid for blue