Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Geritol the Lame 01-22-04, 01:18 PM	I haven't played since the late 80's, (when I discovered Beer and Engineering School). All of this "new" stuff is confusing. What game setting would you recommend for me and my son (a 12 year old who will be a first time player)?
Sulaco 01-22-04, 01:30 PM	Originally posted by Geritol the Lame I haven't played since the late 80's, (when I discovered Beer and Engineering School). All of this "new" stuff is confusing. What game setting would you recommend for me and my son (a 12 year old who will be a first time player)? I've been playing D&D for more than 20 years now, and many advice is to pick up 3rd edition or 3.5 edition immediatley. It is what we hoped 2nd edition would be back when we were playing 1st edition. As for settings, the Forgotten Realms has probably the largest selection of material and the widest support, but you could also check out the Scarred Lands setting from Sword & Sorcery Studios (some of which I helped create and develop ;)). If I were you I'd just go it old-skool for a while. Don't worry about the setting yet, just pick up the new edition and run some stand-alone adventures to get your son (and wife if you're lucky) into the game. Once he's hooked (and how could he not be? ;)) then look into a setting and starting up a campaign. Good luck. :)
Geritol the Lame 01-22-04, 01:38 PM	Thanks. We picked up the introductory gamplay set earleir this week. There are a LOT of rule differences (... like I remember that much...) but for the most part, it looks simplified and made sense. I guess we'll get a real PH, DMG, and MM this weekend. But I SURE do enjoy reading those Gameplay Settings books. Is there a site where I can download Player Character Records Sheets online (besides this website, I don't have the latest and greatest Acrobat Reader 6.0)? Again, thanks for your help.
airhead 01-22-04, 02:03 PM	Kinda did what you are doing. Quit in the late 80's - started back up with the LotR release and my kids found my old gaming stuff. I still run 1e & 2e modules on them. They don't know the difference. But for a good feel of the new game. Get the new books, check out the SRD's in the mean time. Get Sunless Citidel and run through it with your son and a few of his friends. It is very DM friendly.
Geritol the Lame 01-22-04, 02:43 PM	Thanks again, especially for the links.
airhead 01-22-04, 03:12 PM	Originally posted by Geritol the Lame Thanks again, especially for the links. If you want links, go to the "whats a DM to do" forum. There are some sticky threads at the top. One of them is full of DM links. Also a better forum for the questions that you will soon be asking. Yes, 3.0/3.5 is a little different (understatement) than 1e/2e. A lot of the guesswork has been taken away from the DM. Now they player can decide how well he climbs ropes, picks pockets or whatever. The DM still has to decide how difficult some of that is. And most important - still has to tell an engaging story to wrap the players in - that part hasn't changed.
tempeitri 01-22-04, 03:13 PM	Here are some auto-calculating char sheets: Heroforge (http://home.san.rr.com/blackbart/main.html) A Microsoft Ecel spreadsheet (make sure and enable macros) The Singin' Sheet (http://home.earthlink.net/~aaron_tasier/D&D_3_5_Automated_Character_Sheet-v5_2_0.pdf) An automated PDF file Redblade (http://www.dark-legacy.com/redblade3e/3.5e/) Windows executable that saves chars as HTML They should make char creation much easier. Then theres also the sheets from here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718b).
Sulaco 01-22-04, 04:36 PM	Originally posted by Geritol the Lame Is there a site where I can download Player Character Records Sheets online (besides this website, I don't have the latest and greatest Acrobat Reader 6.0)? Try here: http://www.mad-irishman.net/ Not "official", but good nonetheless.
tempeitri 01-22-04, 08:16 PM	I don't have the latest and greatest Acrobat Reader 6.0 You know reader is free? You can get it here (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) should you want it.
eoghantodd 01-22-04, 08:27 PM	I'd second the suggestion made earlier about Sunless Citadel. It was written for 3.0, but at 1st level the 'tweaks' made for 3.5 won't matter much at all. It's definitely written to be a 'first' adventure for DM's and Players alike... I'd stick with the 'core' books for now as well. You'll see people refer to the 'splatbooks' on here, which are the class-specific additions. there's some nice stuff, but not really necessary for starting out. Forge of Fury is/was the second adventure they put out, and it actually is written to 'hook' into Sunless...some books or parchments or something found in Sunless describe where the 2nd adventure takes place, if I remember...so gives you some 'story stuff right of the bat. The adventures are balanced/written for four players....but give advice how to adjust for larger/smaller... I ran Sunless for a group of players that consisted of 1 veteran gamer, 2 complete newbies, and one who had 'kinda' played once or twice before. ..they had a great time and were hooked. Good luck to you and yours!
Stardrake 01-22-04, 08:46 PM	One more note--there is a copyable character sheet at the back of the PHB, if all else fails. Welcome back, fellow Old Timer!
ORC_Nashira 01-23-04, 12:43 AM	So glad to see you posting here Geritol! Hope you get the answers you need!
Geritol the Lame 01-23-04, 09:41 AM	You guys have been great... and most helpful. I'll try to get Sunless Citadel today,... I've got to go to Tallahassee anyway. Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. I'll be lurking around here for a while looking for help and hints.... so watch out! Geritol the Befuddled
Geritol the Lame 01-23-04, 11:01 AM	Originally posted by tempeitri You know reader is free? You can get it here (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) should you want it. I went to the site several times, but for version 6.0 they want to charge me $299. I've downloaded several of their earlier versions for free... maybe I'm doing something wrong. Thanks anyway. Geritol the Cheapskate
Gryllmyre 01-23-04, 11:06 AM	Are you sure you aren't trying to download Adobe Acrobat? That allows you to actually MAKE the PDF files that people download. What you need is Adobe READER, which just allows you to READ the PDFs.
Sulaco 01-23-04, 11:07 AM	Oh, while I'm at it, pick up some of the new D&D Miniatures. In case you don't know, as well as being for use with D&D it is also a stand-alone tabletop battle game. The minis are prepainted plastic and dirt-cheap. The game rules are based on the D&D combat rules and so the two can be integrated easily, and it might be a good way to help ease your son into the game. He can get his own miniatures collection (and so can you) for next to nothing.
tempeitri 01-24-04, 12:20 AM	The minis are prepainted plastic and dirt-cheap. What sad times have come to pass when one can no longer posion ones self with small figurines. I also miss that nice little warning about eating the minis will cause birth defects. sigh.