Old School DM / New to RollD20 - Starting up game

Ok it seems that distance is the biggest game killer out there so I am seeking game relief here :) Me: I am old school DM that has played most versions off and on with various styles.  Game: This go around I am trying to pick between Pathfinder, D&D 3.5 and playtesting DND-next. Maybe we can discuss pros and cons and decide. Style: I am not rules HEAVY but maybe rules medium. I don't want to spend all night arguing about spell area of effect. If that really bugs you then I am not the DM for you. I love corrections after game and will learn from mistakes but in the game, we just roll with it.If 100% role-play with no dice involved = 0 and 100% combat(and counting squares) = 10 then I guess I come in around 7.  Themes: I generally like games around the PG-13 rating without dark topics focusing on child abuse, drug like addictions, sexual themes etc. Of course I bet I can find a bit of those things in most of the old school adventures technically speaking but they didn't seem to revolve around them.  Goal? I would like to game regularly where we can get around the virtual table and have an adventure. I want to set things up, and take part so that we all get opportunities to: do some cool stuff, say some good lines, save the day(or thwart some heroes), take part in an overall storyline, makes some great friends and great arch enemies, laugh a lot.  Cool past gaming moment? At the end battle, one of my friends was playing his first game ever as a ranger when he rolled a natural 20 to shoot a pirate captain that was holding a hostage as a shield...just awesome! Un-Cool past gaming moment? My 12th level wizard rolled a 4 for a saving throw versus poison in "Against the Giants" adventures in 1982 and I died...which sucked.  When? I am on US Eastern time and looking for a weekly game. Monday through Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoon/evenings are good, maybe a Saturday for special event or climatic ending session. So what are you waiting for?  Let's get a game going.  Lead on Adventurer, Your Quest Awaits! Charles

This seems like fun, I'd be happy to join in. I'm free every day except Tuesday and Wednesday. I am also on US Eastern time. I have played Pathfinder, DnD 3.5 and 4.0 I've played for a few years so I'm a semi-experienced player. Anyways I would love to get in on this.

Sounds good to me. I'm only interested in D&D Next and earlier in the week for play time. I'm participating in another D&D Next game over the weekend but it has a lot of players to play on a first-come first-serve basis. So I would enjoy something a bit more reliable as well. However, because I do have another game, put me low on the totem pole for influencing the game and game time. Others may not want D&D Next so I understand.

William,  Glad to hear from you! I thought maybe we would start "simple" and the first adventure will be somewhat straightforward but that will let me get the kinks out of this process.  I had a good time with FantasyGrounds in the past so I am not totally new to virtual tabletops but as my playtesting just revealed I have some things to learn. (Couldn't get the player to be able to move their token, lol!) If you are interested I would love to hear from you about your character idea/background.  Thanks! Charles

Charles H. said: I had a good time with FantasyGrounds in the past so I am not totally new to virtual tabletops but as my playtesting just revealed I have some things to learn. (Couldn't get the player to be able to move their token, lol!) Did you figure out that you have to go into edit on the token and assign the token to the player?

MetroKnight... thanks so much for replying. And yes I figured out my issue. I guess I had to do that from within the campaign. My player did not show up inside the googlehangout/roll20 plugin when I looked in the edit settings of the token.(Mac-Safari)

This sounds fantastic. I'm available to play weekly during any of the times listed. I'm looking for a long-term group that enjoys role playing and doesn't sweat the small stuff. My goal is to have fun and go on great adventures with a group of cool people. I have many ideas for characters and I'm happy to fill any role. I read that Pathfinder allows for more open and versatile role playing than D&D, which sounds attractive, but I'll be happy with the DM's decision. You can add me on Skype anytime. My ID is s.wightman. I'm also willing to buy "packs" from the Marketplace to make the sessions extra fun.

Hey Kevin,  Thanks to you as well! I am going to dig through some adventure material and compare versions ASAP to decide. I may end up picking something familiar for this game so I can learn the roll20/googlehangout tools.  I will post very soon about the rule system, and some campaign details so people can make a solid choice about the game thanks! Charles

Sounds like fun, I should be free for most of the times you provided. I personally would like to play DnD: Next, just because its new.

Charles H. said: William,  Glad to hear from you! I thought maybe we would start "simple" and the first adventure will be somewhat straightforward but that will let me get the kinks out of this process.  I had a good time with FantasyGrounds in the past so I am not totally new to virtual tabletops but as my playtesting just revealed I have some things to learn. (Couldn't get the player to be able to move their token, lol!) If you are interested I would love to hear from you about your character idea/background.  Thanks! Charles Hi Charles. First off let me just say feel free to call me Will, that's what I usually go by. Starting out with something simple is a great idea. I've never played on a system like roll20, I play in real life. As for a character idea/background that depends on whether we are playing Pathfinder or DnD. I do like making characters though so I can come up with an almost limitless list of ideas. Because of that I can adapt to a wide variety of scenarios and make a character for just about any kind of group whether you need a silent tank who kills everything in his way to a witty rouge who can talk/bluff his way in or out of trouble and everything in between. If you have specific ideas feel free to contact me on skype. My skype name is william.diana92. I hope to hear from you. Will

I wouldn't mind to play a little dnd next,  let me know if  spots open up.

Hello Charles (and everyone else), I'm looking to join a pathfinder campaign with a friend. A laid back weekly session sounds great. Having only been playing for a few weeks and my friend not having any experience at all, we're both quite nooby. The both of us are from the east coast and free past 7pm on Mon/Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat. Let me know, as we'd like to join you! 

I've been curious about trying D&D Next and just recently signed up for the playtest, so I'd like to toss my hat in as well if that is the system you end up deciding to play. I'm on the west coast, but I have a fairly flexible schedule and I can do just about any time on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, and Saturdays are negotiable. 

id love to get into something ive had experience with 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 and im up for anything but its going to have to be on weekends im a full time college student

ill join

Hello I would like to join also I consider myself new since I have not played in a very long time and am new to roll20

Ok guys, lots of interest in DNDnext here. Hmmm. I will have an update soon about the direction and plan for this game. please check back on the this thread regularly today.  thanks! Charles 

Salutatuins. New to roll20. new to D&D. Want to play 4E. I know the basics, so no worries.  Will love to play.

Ok guys I am getting some things together. Does anyone have good suggestion for campaign materials? I need PDF or Ebooks and maps that i can easily drop into Roll20.... I have been looking around but I dont see anything of descent quality and I am hesitant to choose Forgotten Realms because most people are too familiar with the details there.&nbsp; also I will trying to get this group to have some kind of common connection and/or goal so we do not have a huge conflict of interest right off the bat. <a href="http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplateQuestionnaire.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplateQuestionnaire.pdf</a> <a href="http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplate.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplate.pdf</a>

oh and my Skype name is elbregan

Well, i guess we may as well start coming up with positions in the group Generally I'm most comfortable in the Buffer/Debuffer or the&nbsp;Distraction&nbsp;roles (so pretty much anything with a high charisma) (I have PDFs for all the settings i have listed) As for settings you could use Dragonlance, Kingdoms of Kalamar, Calimport, or a lesser used plane. I don't know anything about any of these settings beyond the basic idea. (all of these are D&amp;D 3.0 based) Dragonlance: I believe this is called a public setting, since any author can (with permission) write for it (i think its at about 120 books or so). It's about as generically high&nbsp;fantasy&nbsp;as you can get. Kingdoms of Kalamar: A constantly warring country that has the campaign focus on large scale battles and seige Calimport: A single,&nbsp;Arabian&nbsp;nights themed city. There's also plenty of pathfinder adventure paths, their all based in Galoria but go into great detail of small areas of it. Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness, Legacy of Fire, Council of Thieves, Serpent's Skull, Carrion Crown, and Jade Regent Or you could go generically and use Cityscape, Frostburn, Stormwrack, or Sandstorm

I'd definitely be interested in a D&amp;D Next game. I'm a long time gamer, I like a good mix of strategy and roleplay, and I hate rules lawyering. I'm flexible when it comes to party role, and I can whip up a character background when you decide on a setting (I like tying my characters background into the game world). I'm Eastern Time, and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays aren't good for me. Let me know if there is a place for me.

Ok folks, I have several names in the hat at this point. I am going to try and provide more details ASAP. If my game isn't a good match for you then I would rather recognize that as early as possible to avoid wasting your time and causing anyone frustration. So here goes... SYSTEM: This game will use the current DNDnext rules (March Version). We will need to make sure the characters do not have opposites objectives and motivations.&nbsp; <a href="http://dndplaytest.wizards.com/account" rel="nofollow">http://dndplaytest.wizards.com/account</a> GROUP TEMPLATE:&nbsp; I am going to request the group template be used to try and bring the group together.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplateQuestionnaire.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplateQuestionnaire.pdf</a> <a href="http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplate.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/wp-content/uploads/resources/2_GroupTemplate.pdf</a> Characters: We will be using the 27 point buy OR the 4d6(take highest 3) from the DNDnext rules. Don't fret about &nbsp;a low score here or there, I have seen some of the best gaming moments come from someone have a terrible score or flaw. I tried a quick set of scores and got 11,11,15,10,9,15&nbsp; Character sheet form fillable here&nbsp; DNDnext Form Fillable Character Sheet TOOLS: Roll20, Google-hangout with voice and video required.&nbsp; Time: Still to be determined but it is looking like early in the week games starting around 7pm eastern US time(GMT-4) with special events on a Saturday or long weekend(Memorial Day game anyone?)&nbsp; Length: &nbsp;I want to try about 3 sessions that are 3 hours each and then see how things are going.&nbsp; Content/Theme is describe above in the original post. This will not be hardcore battle encounter playtesting of DNDnext. It will not be power balance testing either. I guess power gamers may think my approach is very "hippy-like". Please understand I have full time job and regular life so I am doing this in spare time for fun. I do not know these rules like the back of my hand. We will hopefully learn them together. I enforce one rule similar to WIll Wheaton's rule and that is "Don't be a JERK" . If you are then you will excused from the game. If you have an awesome character build in mind and you want to use this game to max out some damage dealing without any regard for the story then again&nbsp;this is not the game for you.&nbsp; Character Introduction: &nbsp;I know you probably don't want to. But if you can't give a 1 minute description of your character how can you expect me to describe stuff all night.&nbsp; Campaign: After looking around I am unable to find enough maps and history to get something else together quickly so it looks like this will be in the Forgotten Realms. Please let know your knowledge level and familiarity of this material when we make characters. This is not by the book FR. I am just using the material to do some work for us so we don't have to answer questions of geography and history. Keep in mind anything from our start game forward may change in FR according to our game. You will not see any of iconic characters such as Elminster and Drizzt. I am just using the campaign as our sandbox.&nbsp; What I am trying to say is: I am not the best DM out there, I do not have a thousand voices and accents to role-play&nbsp;the NPCs, I do not know all the character abilities off the top of my head, and I WILL change anything about the monsters or the adventure if I feel it better suits the story for us. I have not balanced all these encounters so that you are guaranteed victory. You WILL need to know when to fight and when to run and regroup. &nbsp;But I am fair, consistent and ready to help us all to tell a interactive story together. I enjoy seeing the party accomplish character defining goals, and get chances to pull off amazing stunts of daring and maybe even get in a cool one-liner or two. (When blinded by magical darkness and fighting a Drow priestess the justice ranger strikes a deadly blow and says, "Justice is blind you evil witch!") You will not see everything happening behind the GM screen. If you think you were supposed to hit and I say you didn't then take that as something that has a reason. Maybe they are things in play your character isn't aware of. Basically I am asking you all to trust me that things will work toward a goal. I will trust you in game and will work any thing I can into the story from your background. If you are from an orphanage/school you may see you old&nbsp;headmaster at the pub and have your chance at a scathing retort or revenge. If we all work together we can have a great time and a lot of laughs along the way. If I have not scared you away yet... then either skype me or message me for a character creation session meeting. This will give us a chance to chat and make your character. I will be posting the starting story details on our campaign page at obsidian portal soon.&nbsp; Party - I think we should try 4 or 5 players to start. If things go very smooth we can talk about adding another. I guess I will speak with players on a first come first serve basis and if we are not a good match then I will move to the next person. So far the list I have is: William D. Kevin H. Winter M. Tyler B. Jabari F. John S. Matt A. Marcus S. Knut E. Mass Hawk Tate David M. - possibly playing Monk Ken W. And finally the GAME! It’s a dark rainy fall night. You hear the sound of creaking wagon wheels as your cart bumps and slushes down the muddy road. The wagon is cramped and no matter how much you try ignore them your fellow travelers are getting bothersome. &nbsp; First, of all there is Thomas and Ophelia. After introducing themselves and announcing loudly their very secret plan of eloping to the city, this young couple just can’t seem to stop their giggling and tickling and snickering and they snuggle and kiss for miles. &nbsp; Then there is the farmer and his apparent five year old son Danny. You know he is five years old because Danny announces this information publicly about every five minutes. He also wants to see what is inside your pockets. His father roughly states “Sit down and be quiet or Old RedEye will get you!”&nbsp; and Danny seems to calm down for a bit. The father apologizes and says the boy is so annoying he must be cursed and he is taking him to the city to see a priest. &nbsp; Eight people are crammed in this wagon and it looks to be a long boring night...until? Thanks! Charles(Elbregan on Skype)

i sent you a message on skype charles i would be looking forward to playing a dwarven&nbsp;cleric i would most likely be playing it for the healer role&nbsp;

I wanted to play a Tiefling warlock. Only to find out Tieflings and warlocks haven't been included yet. And you can't spam magic. XO Maybe play a human fighter/ranger/barbarian. ~.~

Idk i like that you cant spam spells it makes you think more&nbsp;tactically&nbsp;about when to use your spells its a refreshing callback to 3.5&nbsp;

Hello all,&nbsp; Ok I have made skype contact and had character creations with some of the players listed here. We will use this to determine a good group that fits well. Please skype or PM if you are still interested in this game so we can schedule i character rolling session. After we do this for each person I will post the list of the party players and we can schedule a first game! &nbsp;This is a list of the players yet to roll: William D. -- rolling session TBD Jabari F. --- no contact Matt A. -- some contact Knut E. --- no contact Tate ----some contact Thanks! Charles

when do you want a copy of our&nbsp;character&nbsp;sheet beacuse i have finished mine whenever you want it&nbsp;

Hey there everyone. I am interested in watching this game and possibly listening in on it was I am new to this site and dndnext concept, would there be a problem with this?

@Marcus I sent you a skype message about your question. @Kel - I think we are going to try to get things rolling with the first and second sessions. After that I will put it to party vote about spectators since it is a decision that should include them.&nbsp; Thanks! Charles

Just an outsider looking in post here. If you want&nbsp;spectators&nbsp;but not affecting the game, have you thought about live streaming the game? I know the devs use Xsplit / &nbsp;Twitchtv.com for their streaming but I found a version open source program that functions very similar to Xsplit. It is called&nbsp; FFsplit &nbsp;but it is only for Window based computers. I think they are working on other OS versions but it is something you can look into so you can have you spectators and your game.

Hehe thanks Metroknight, I may be speaking out of line for the group but I don't think we are ready for primetime yet :)

Lol i stream games on twitch (the other games i play like LoL and neverwinter) so i can stream if needed

so just let me know if you want to me to stream the game for specs and i will

I have a monk and barbarian ready to go :)&nbsp; Not sure which one I'm going to choose...leaning towards the barbarian.

lol im playing monk so barb would be good so that we have a bit of diversity in the group

It looks like you are all full up, but if you end up with a spot, or decide to host another game, let me know.&nbsp; Mon-Thurs at 7 PM EST is basically ideal for me.&nbsp; Have dabbled in 3.5E and 4E (one of the oddities that prefer 4E), and just signed up for Next.&nbsp; Good luck if you are full!

Yeah am0n I actually have too many at this point so everyone that has responded will not get into the game. I will keep you in mind and work through a "wait list" if anyone drops out though.&nbsp;

Sounds good.&nbsp; Have fun!

OK guys I know some of you are looking for an update here... I still need to meet with a couple of prospective players and then I will post the final list of the party. thanks! Charles

If any of your players fall through, I'm up for 3.5, Pathfinder, or D&amp;D Next. I have an open schedule.

i really hope that ill get into play and i hope we get to play this weekend&nbsp;

Almost done with my character. Facing some difficulties though. Will send you the sheet to check ASAP.

Hey, Charles, this is Chris, Ken's friend.&nbsp; He told me to get a hold of you so here I am!

Hey, I'm a very experienced D&D 3.5 player, new to pathfinder and am wanting to try and next. I would always be available Sunday afternoons but weekdays are a little more on the not so sure side. Do you have room left for one more?

Austin I am getting a lot of interest here. So I am considering running two groups through the same games. PM me for more details.

GROUP INFO -&nbsp; Ok guys here we go. Apparently GMs are a bit short in supply. So I am considering running two different groups through the same games. I may be over committing and end up bailing out so if that concerns you then please DO NOT join. Here are the names for the first group and I will message you guys privately or in the Campaign Discussion with more details. Marcus S Ken W Winter M &nbsp;Chris Y. If your name is not on this list and you are interested in being the second group I will assume you are still interested unless you tell me otherwise. I am still meeting with people about this second game. We meet in a blank campaign where you roll some stats for you character. This give us a chance to chat and get to know each other. One of the PRIMARY points of being a good GM is knowing your players. I don't see how I can do that unless we can talk for a bit.&nbsp; It's like this, if we can't get along in a few minutes of talking, how on earth can we expect to get along in a game session. If this doesn't work for you then I understand completely...just not your kind of game. Feel free to ignore my games. But please do not join to try and convince me I am wrong. "Ain't nobody got time for that!" :) And I am taking players that are interested in voice and video in the hangout first, if they are not enough compatible players then i will move down the list to voice only players. If you are going to get a camera soon let me know as well.&nbsp; Thanks for your interest!

can i join?

private message me so i recieve it

Still interested.&nbsp;