D&D
UPDATE: The D&D Carnival Round-Up contains details of all the articles and blogs taking part in this carnival.
The topic for this month’s carnival is D&D.
The game that launched it all has had its fair share of ups and downs over the last 35 years. From early success to bankruptcy to attacks from the Christian right to being a household name. There is no limit on what can be said about Dungeons & Dragons but I’m sticking to four broad themes.
Everything I Know, I Learnt From playing D&D
A lot gets written about the rules and the mechanics of the game but what really interests me is the social side of the game. As players, we tend to be geeks and nerds, on the fringe of other social groups. In playing D&D (and nearly all of start us with D&D) we find a social group in which we are accepted, often for the first time in our lives.
What has D&D given you socially – friends, lovers or enemies? Has playing taught you anything useful such as social skill or approaches to problem solving. What would your life be like if D&D never existed?
Edition Wars IV: A New Hope
It is impossible to talk about D&D without ending up talking about the edition wars. Ever since Dave Arneson forked the D&D product line with the D&D Basic set, there have been arguments about which version of D&D is best. For the last 12 months or more, 4e has been in a pitched battle with, well, everything that has gone before. Trying to do a carnival on Dungeons & Dragons without the subject coming up is like expecting the sun to rise in the west or teenagers to abstain from sex. It is simply not going to happen.
So if you are going to indulge in Edition Wars, I ask that you do it by trying something new. Find an edition of D&D that you have never played before, give it a go and then write about it. It can be any edition including all the D20 variants like Microlite20 or Pathfinder and you can be as rude about it as you like. But bring something new to the debate.
“You want to do what?”
The moment around the gaming table I live for, is that the moment when a player does something unexpected and brilliant. Completely blind-siding the GM with an clever use of a spell or using a magic item in a way it was never intend. I love this moment even when I’m GMing because suddenly I have to think in whole new ways.
What are your favourite D&D tricks? What clever uses of spells (or even normal uses of undervalued spells) and twisted but brilliant use of the rules can you pass on?
D&D: The Future
Where will Dungeons & Dragons be in five, ten or twenty years? Do you expect to still be playing it? Will anyone be playing it? After 35 years, does the game have any life left in it or will computer games finally devour it?
D&D Month at 6d6 Fireball
Each week during the carnival, I will writing about one of these subjects. If you are blogger, I hope you will join me in paying tribute to the granddaddy of our entire hobby. If you are reader, you can have your say in the comments either here or on the hundred or so other blogs in the network.
Let the carnival begin!
July 1st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Here’s mine..
Bob´s last blog post..I Am A Gamer
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
Thanks Bob
Chris Tregenza´s last blog post..D&D
July 5th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Hi, Chris, here’s my little glass-raising to the glory of D&D:
http://www.gelatinouscubed.com/?q=node/15
Kirin´s last blog post..A Unique Hobby: Dungeons & Dragons
July 5th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I did mine a day early, but here it is:
http://www.rpgblog2.com/2009/06/wotc-and-paizo-action-and-reaction.html
Zachary´s last blog post..Palladium Week Postponed!
July 5th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
@Kirin / @Zachary – Great articles guys.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Confession of addict status for the carnival.
satyre´s last blog post..let me tell you about my game
July 7th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Great idea for a carnival. Mine is linked in my name.
jatori´s last blog post..DnD taught me how to read good
July 7th, 2009 at 9:45 am
@Satyre – I enjoyed how your life stroy and D&D have been interlinked. Great article.
@Jatori – Gaming in a foreign language! What a great way of learning a new tongue. All I need now is Tintin the RPG plus all the books in French and I could be speaking Franglais in no time.
Chris Tregenza´s last blog post..D&D Humour ( Dragons and Geek Love)
July 8th, 2009 at 1:25 am
Oh, totally.
Ambrose´s last blog post..Gaming is my Religion: Hear me Out
July 8th, 2009 at 8:16 am
@Ambrose – A thought provoking article and a completely different take on D&D = My Life.
July 8th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
My submission for the carnival.
bonemaster´s last blog post..How Can You Stand Working With That Guy! (And Why Are You Friends With Him?)
July 8th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
@bonemaster – Playing D&D does result in strange friendships! Good article.
July 8th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Here is mine. This was fun, thanks!
http://advancedgaming-theory.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-carnival-d-my-first-games.html
July 8th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
@Admin – Thanks. I put a lot of thought into it.
ambrose´s last blog post..Gaming is my Religion: Hear me Out
July 8th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Just a coincident, but I just blogged about that!
Andreas Davour´s last blog post..How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb, or at least D&D
July 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
@Andreas – I love the title – “You Can’t Fight In Here! This Is The War Room!” – and a fine article.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am
DnD 4e – Is It For Me?
http://www.roleplayingpro.com/2009/07/05/dnd-4e-is-it-for-me/
Samuel Van Der Wall´s last blog post..DnD 4e – Is It For Me?
July 9th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
@Samual – A great post and a lively discussion.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Redeveloping AD&D to make it work a little more quickly and reflect some of the things I like from other systems has been one of the major themes of my blog. The introductory post about this project is here.
faustusnotes´s last blog post..Game diversity, object-oriented programming and consistent mechanics: Are they related?
July 11th, 2009 at 10:15 am
My D&D Character Is Boring! How Do I Fix It?
http://www.roleplayingpro.com/2009/07/09/my-dnd-4e-character-is-boring-how-do-i-fix-it/
Samuel Van Der Wall´s last blog post..My D&D 4e Character Is Boring! How Do I Fix It?
July 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
@faustusnotes – It is an interesting project, but the carnival is for new writing so I cannot include your post.
@Samual – another interesting post.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Here’s mine.
http://www.creativeanomalies.com/blog/2009/07/11/rpg-carnival-dd-and-me/
July 14th, 2009 at 11:40 am
@Will – Nice account of your intro to D&D
Chris Tregenza´s last blog post..Keep Players Under Control with an Altoids Catapult
July 17th, 2009 at 6:01 am
A guest post: My House Rules for D&D
http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/my-house-rules-for-dd/
July 17th, 2009 at 9:50 am
@Johnn Four – An interesting take on house rules – it is far more radical than I would be.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Everything I Know About Roleplaying, I Learned From D&D
http://hubpages.com/hub/everything-i-know-about-roleplaying-i-learned-from-dnd
This article is located on my Hubpages site, so it will show a different link. I placed the article here, rather than on RoleplayingPro for several reasons. But one of which is that when I started the article I had one idea for it, then it completely diverged! Good topic this month and good topic starting ideas, Chris.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:57 am
@Samuel – I’m not going to include your article on the hubpage in the carnival. It is a good page but a fairly blatant bit SEO. This would not be so bad if you had mentioned the carnival and included a link to the RPG Bloggers network and myself.
Chris Tregenza´s last blog post..“You want to do what?”
July 24th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Not sure if it fits because it starts with a game that isn’t DnD but ultimately, it’s how “Edition Wars” affected my entrance into DnD…
http://aiest.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/entering-the-dungeon/
July 28th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Hi there,
I started the month at Eleven Foot Pole (http://elevenfootpole.blogspot.com) with a post about the future of D&D, and I’ve subsequently found out it’s on topic for the carnival.
While it’s not the piece I would have written to specifically address July’s topic, I’ll submit it for your interest anyway:
No Roll To Hit
http://elevenfootpole.blogspot.com/2009/07/no-roll-to-hit-rationale.html
If it’s included I’ll add Carnival of Bloggers signage and tagging to it and put up a fresh post advertising its inclusion. Contact me at starfall2317 at gmail dot com if there’s any fixable problems.
Regards,
GregT_314
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:50 am
Here is the story of a first time player and his unusually clever “meat shield” character. Our party was charged with guarding a wall that spanned the width of a canyon against a horde of orcs. As combat commenced, the orcs were as yet some 90 feet distant. My man, Ishmael by name, climbed down off of the wall in preparation of combat (champing at the bit you might say). My compatriot up on the wall, a cleric of Tymora, had begun the verbal and somatic components of one spell or another when the archers among the orcs let loose the arrows they had readied for just such an event. Needless to say he took damage and his spell was lost. When my turn rolled around again the orcs were still too distant for me to risk engaging them alone (I may have been wet behind the ears, but I wasn’t a fool). Having seen what transpired in the preceding round I freed a hand from my greatsword and began making obscure gestures and muttering incoherently. As the orcs were still too far away to tell the difference it appeared that I was casting a spell. They fired their arrows at me and my 22 AC doing … 2 points of damage. As our spell casters got their round of spells off without incident, the DM exclaimed, “3000 bonus XP to Ishmael, because that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen a Newbie do!” And that was just the first time I played.