There is a facebook app for backgammon! Anyone game?
OMGOMGOMG! I must now go install it!
Simon: Captain... why did you come back for us? Mal: You're on my crew. Simon: Yeah, but you don't even like me. Why'd you come back? Mal: You're on my crew. Why we still talking about this?
'Safe'
Gaming 1: You are likely to be eaten by a grue
A thread for the discussion of games: board, LARP, MMORPG, video, tabletop RPG, game theory etc. etc. and all attendant news, developments and ancillary subjects thereof, as well as coordinating/scheduling games either online or IRL. All are welcome to chime in, talk about their favorite games or learn about gaming of any sort.
PLEASE TO WHITEFONT SPOILERS for video games, RPG modules or anything for which foreknowledge of events might lessen one's enjoyment of whatever gaming experience.
Jessica - Apr 27, 2008 4:13:03 am PDT #200 of 26133
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?
amych - Apr 27, 2008 4:16:22 am PDT #201 of 26133
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
It looks to me like they've made it more combat-centric
well... dang. I haven't played D&D in umpty years, so I don't have much of a stake in it, but all the talk about big gameplay changes had me hoping for some more varied play. Which I think is what it would take to get me in again.
billytea - Apr 27, 2008 4:16:51 am PDT #202 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
I think you'll be disappointed. It looks to me like they've made it more combat-centric (and I wasn't sure that was possible).
What gives you that impression? From what I've seen combat's received the most overhauling (of course, as combat has the greatest need for rules), but this is about the first time they've really paid attention to the notion of mechanics for social encounters.
billytea - Apr 27, 2008 4:24:44 am PDT #203 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
well... dang. I haven't played D&D in umpty years, so I don't have much of a stake in it, but all the talk about big gameplay changes had me hoping for some more varied play. Which I think is what it would take to get me in again.
Ultimately that's really up to your GM, though it looks like GMs might now have a little more support for designing out-of-combat encounters. If they find it easier to set up a challenging goal-oriented social encounter, they might be more willing to do so. (I know for the campaign I'm running, I'm rather keen on raiding the 4E social encounter ideas to help out with this sort of design, whether or not we convert to 4E wholesale. I've already added the new death and dying rules.)
Kalshane - Apr 27, 2008 5:44:07 am PDT #204 of 26133
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
I think you'll be disappointed. It looks to me like they've made it more combat-centric (and I wasn't sure that was possible).
That's not the impression I'm getting. Granted, we won't know until we see the books, but they've been talking about their new skill challenge system and how social encounters can be run with just as much detail and with a similar mechanical approach as combat, with an over-arching idea of everyone in the party has a chance to contribute in both. If they can pull it off, it will be great to be able to run social encounters where everyone is involved, rather than everyone else updating their characters sheets or checking their dice for "bad rollers" while the bard does his thing.
I think it only seems more combat-focused at the moment because the only things we've seen concrete rules for so far have been combat related. (Which makes sense, seeing as the official Dungeon Delve events at cons have traditional been hack-and-slash, kick-in-the-door adventures, and they didn't change that formula up when they used them to run exhibitions of 4th Ed back in February.)
I am disappointed that core 3.x classes like the Bard, Druid, Barbarian, Monk and Sorcerer aren't in the first PHB and will be pushed back a year. That it makes it really hard on folks with existing campaigns that may want to switch.
megan walker - Apr 27, 2008 7:03:01 am PDT #205 of 26133
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I like the multi-player games. Pit's a longstanding favourite. (I once played with a group that actually stopped to think between bids. How perverse is that?)
OMG, the whole fun of Pit is the crazy bidding and everybody screaming out their trades. I can't even imagine pausing. I'm sad I don't have my old cards anymore with flax, etc., but I do love the bell that came with my new version.
Right now, though, the multi-player game I always reach for is Bohnanza. It's a trading game set in the competitive world of bean farming and has an excellent balance of fun and competitiveness.
I've found that Bohnanza is a great introduction to games for people who think they don't like them. And it's really good for any number of players because of the trading.
Wallybee is just so much fun to play against, she really takes to trading games. I wound up buying a board game, Traders of Genoa, on the strength of her enjoyment of Bohnanza.
Hmmm, how do they compare?
I gave Lost Cities to my nephew this past Christmas. I liked it, but it seems that it might get old quickly.
Pix - Apr 27, 2008 9:08:34 am PDT #206 of 26133
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
I bought Lost Cities for Drew for Christmas, but we haven't played it yet. (Hence, game closet cleaning needed.)
billytea - Apr 27, 2008 12:53:28 pm PDT #207 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
Hmmm, how do they compare?
Traders of Genoa is a full board game, and is more complicated. (Not as bad as your average wargame, but there's a bit to keep track of.) Less of a gateway game than Bohnanza. It's still heaps of fun though, and the scope for negotiation is broader than in Bohnanza - you can basically trade anything you have, for anything the other player has.
If someone enjoyed Bohnanza, I'd give that a few rounds, and then try them out on Traders.
I gave Lost Cities to my nephew this past Christmas. I liked it, but it seems that it might get old quickly.
It feels that way to me too, though it's stayed fresh longer than I expected so far. Odin's Ravens is the two-player card game I'm most likely to recommend these days.
omnis_audis - Apr 27, 2008 8:35:15 pm PDT #208 of 26133
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir
There is a facebook app for backgammon! Anyone game?
OMGOMGOMG! I must now go install it!Apparently there are a bunch. I went with the first I found, which is "Gammonmania": [link]
Sean K - Apr 27, 2008 9:35:48 pm PDT #209 of 26133
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
At the moment, I think I'm keenest to find out more of what they've done with social encounters. If they've made it easier for me to give PCs real challenges outside of combat, then that's a great advance for me. (I like designing combats, but I'd really rather have more time left over to plan the talky meat.)
I'm very intrigued by this as well. It's one of the parts of the new rules that interests me the most.
You know, when it comes down to it, any and all issues I have with 4th Edition would go away if it wasn't actually called Dungeons and Dragons.