Hi all,
Some of the forums I frequent on the interwebs require new members to introduce themselves before they can start posting. As it's not particularly realistic to expect Wizards do that, I thought it would be worthwhile to make a thread (which perhaps the mods will be kind enough to sticky) for people to introduce themselves if they wish to do so. I feel like if we all take the time to get to know each other a little better, it might help foster a friendlier community here.
I'll start. My name is Jonathan. I am in my early 30s, and I have a wife and three daughters. While I'm originally from the City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia), I have been living in the City of Sails (Auckland) for over a decade now. I have a BA in History and a diploma in computer graphic design. My favorite movie is Good Morning Vietnam, and one of my favorite bands is Weezer. In addition to RPGs, I also enjoy playing Munchkin, Settlers of Catan, and my guitars.
When it comes to my RPG experience, I got started with AD&D 2e in the early 90s. I think I was in 7th grade at the time, and my friends and I didn't really know what we were doing rules-wise. It was still fun, though. I ended up with a sizeable collection of 2e material, as well as most of the D&D novels that were available through the mid 90s (I remember being particularly fond of Spellfire and the Dragonlance Chronicles).
While I was in college, I joined a friend's ongoing 2e/3e hybrid game. I don't remember the details of the setting or the hybrid rules very well, unfortunately. I think I still have the character sheet for my last character in that campaign, though. He was a dashing blade bard who became the face of the party.
Then it came time to move to New Zealand and start a new life as a married adult. I didn't think I'd play D&D again, so I left all my stuff behind. Turns out I was wrong, though, as some of my new in-laws got me back into the game with the 3.5 rules. I eventually started my own group and ran a notoriously lethal Red Hand of Doom campaign (if you've been around long enough, you may recall my old "Absolut Doom" recap thread).
I've also run and played in several D&D 4e and Star Wars Saga Edition campaigns. I even had a go at running the exhausting Dawn of Defiance adventure path, although we only made it through the first three modules. While I liked the SWSE system (I'm keen to see a module for 5e that converts subclasses into talent trees), I eventually came to the conclusion that d20 just wasn't a good fit for Star Wars. We ended up switching over to the FATE system for a while, as I had the idea that the Bulldogs! space opera game might be a good fit for Star Wars. It has a pretty fun setting in its own right, though, so we never actually did any conversions. FATE is quite fun, and I'm glad to see a little bit of its influence in 5e's Inspiration + personality traits mechanics.
Somewhere along the line, I joined another friend's D&D group. They were nearing the end of an epic three-year journey to level 30 in a 4e Eberron game. After that, we tried 1e briefly before playing through a short 3.5 Dark Sun campaign. Soon after, both of my groups switched to the 5e playtest rules (I believe we started with the March 2013 packet) and haven't looked back. I was privileged enough to get in to the closed alpha playtest earlier this year, which has been great. We're all still keen to see the final implementation of the rules, though.
How about you guys?
Cheers,
Jonathan
OK, here we go.
Like the OP, I also live in Auckland, New Zealand. My name's Craig, I'm in my early 40s, and work as a software developer. Outside of D&D and work, I enjoy listening to music, drinking craft beer and watching shows like Breaking Bad. I also post as Ichneumon on ENWorld.
I've played D&D for over 30 years, from the good old 'Red Box' to the 5e playtest and every version inbetween. Mainly I end up DMing but always appreciate the chance to play when I can. The group I'm in have played everything from 3.5 onwards, with a bit of 1e thrown in now and then. We've all been completely on board with 5e since that first playtest packet, and I hope it'll be 'our D&D' for many years to come.
Awesome! I wonder if we've ever met, perhaps without knowing it. Auckland is such a small town, and I've found that the gaming community here is even tinier. Quite a few of the people I game with in my different groups know each other, some even from outside the gaming community.
Hi,
I am an anthropomorphic personification, controlled by some guy in the UK with a warped sense of humour.
He's been playing D&D one way or another since Blue-Box Basic in 1977. He's old now and forgets stuff.
(edit) I got him to post more.
I'm really drunk right now...
I'm 9bit, you can find me around the internet, usually by searching 9bitmedia. I got into D&D a little before 4e came out because of the Penny Arcade Podcast and I fell in love the first time I played. I'm really excited about 5e because I felt like 4e was too tactics based and I didn't get to stretch my roleplaying wings... or whatever.
I'm 28 years old, I live in a suburb of Chicago, and I'll probably be frequenting these forums for a while, posting nonsense and drunken ramblings.
Hi 9bit! Welcome to the brand new 5e forums! Just a word of advice: please remember to keep your drunken ramblings family friendly.
Hello everyone!
My name is Emanuele Galletto (the surname literally translates into "cockerel" in English; which is always good for some groin-related jokes). I'm 21, and I've just concluded my third year attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, Italy. I study comics, illustration and graphic design, and will hopefully end up working in the game (or videogame) industry as a concept artist; meanwhile, I try to get paid with all sorts of projects (tactical cartography, graphic design, anything really!). Previously, I attended secondary school focusing on Greek, Latin, Literature and the likes.
I got my start with RPGs when I was 11, and strangely enough my first session was with an indie roleplay system, Elar (almost no combat and tactics, close to the recent Numenera when it comes to limited stats and action resolution). From that very day, I spent 30% of my time thinking about RPGs and how incredible they are. When I turned 13, I began to create my own systems; it would be impossible to describe all the whacky mechanics I came up with. When I got into secondary school in a bigger city, my love for fantasy and sci-fi quickly gained me the attention of a group of D&D 3.5 players; all people way richer than me, who owned all the rulebooks (sometimes multiple copies of the same book!). At the time, it would have been inconceivable for me to spend 150 euros (about 204 dollars) for three books. So, while I played 3.5 with these people, I kept playing my own systems with another group of friends.
When I got to university, I played Pathfinder for a year with some other students (I had my first female players in the game and am now determined to always include some in future sessions; they offer a different perspective on the story). Currently, I have little time to play: I have a generic system of my own that covers Star Wars and Warhammer, and will begin running Next once I get enough infos (living in Italy, I don't even know if a translation is planned, given that the absolute ruler of RPGs is Pathfinder here; and sadly, Italians are almost always optimizers or rule lawyers).
If any of you is interested in my "art"work, check the link to my DeviantArt page in my signature.
(BTW, I also happened to run a small blog for a couple months, but then I got sucked into university assignments. Sigh. http://halflingsden.blogspot.it/ )
Welcome Emanuele! I wish you success in finding a job as a graphic artist. I didn't have much luck myself as I happened to graduate from design school right when the global recession hit. I ended up being the stay-at-home parent and only occasionally get any real design work as a freelancer.
hi 35 live in the netherlands.
my first exposeure to rollplaying games was Heroquest ( if you can realy call it rpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeroQuest
Later we saw some adds for DnD in american compics at the local comic store but there was no place that actualy sold DnD.
In 1991 ADnD 2nd edition released and we managed to get the books a few months after it's release.
In my area there was a Magic the gathering hype, and DnD reached it high point with the release of 3.0 riding in on the cucess of Magic the gathering.
pukunui wrote:
Hello All. I first played D&D in 1977 using the original white box. While I only played for a few years, it left an indelible impression upon me. Along with my 10 yo son, we picked the game back up right as the playtest got underway. We have been playing in Encounters at our local shop in addition to our own games at home. We are both excited for the new release and can't wait to get started with the new edition. We are located just outside Chicago in the heart of the midwest.
Hi, I'm Kynewulf (yes, really 
, though my friends just call me Kyn), I'm nearly 40 and I hail from the city of St. Augustine in the ironically-named Sunshine State in the USA. I've been playing RPGs, and D&D specifically, since 1986 when I started with Menzter-edition "Red Box" Basic D&D Set and was also introduced to 1e AD&D soon thereafter. In addition to D&D, I play a bunch of other tabletop RPGs when times and schedules permit), from Mekton Zeta and Cyberpunk 2020, to Rogue Trader to Call of Cthulhu and Vampire the Masquerade, and more. My favorite bands are Social Distortion and VNVNation, though I enjoy an even wider variety of music.I have more hobbies than I have time or money to spend on them, and I think that getting older is highly overated (though it's better than the alternative).
Emanuele_Galletto wrote:
My English name is Lucas, and I live in the city of Seongnam, half an hour southeast from Seoul, the capital of SOUTH Korea (not to mention my poor northern brethren being terrorized by a RL Nalfeshnee). I'm 24, and study "new media" in a design college. Aside from my native language Korean, I speak English(duh), and dabbled enough in Japanese so I have no problems tinkering with Japanese stuff like their own RPG rulebooks and otaku stuff.
While I have truly "known about" D&D from since the January of 2011 when I found the Essentials set on a family trip to Honolulu, the shocking truth is, that I never had a proper playing session! While South Korea has its own share of RPG fans, the population is estimated to be around 10 thousand, and my shy personality didn't help either in finding games, despite having numerous prospering internet sites for said playing population. Other than that, in late 2012, I had a reversed change to Pathfinder and 3.5 edition due to the scary fact that 4th edition data were illegal to be posted at random messageboards or suffer an international lawyers attack (I learned around this time of the more extreme legal cases with L.W. and T$R); and despite the LWQW problems the SRD era was much better in "world simulation via game world physics", which truly fascinated me and finally transfigured me into a devoted RPG fan. Even to this day I aspire one day to create a CCL powered free RPG rule that specializes in simulating any kind of generic fantasy universe, from high fantasy to wuxia (called muhyeop around where I live). To help in this quest I still zealously collect a variety of rulebooks for reference, including Dungeon World, Fate, GURPS, Hackmaster, Mutants and Masterminds, and even a Japanese rulebook known as Sworld World 2.0.
Now, about this new edition. It's the first edition that I've actually got to witness from its birth, and that really means something to me (maybe I might become a 5th ed grognard in the future, heh; but I'll try not to be and be more open). The fact that warriors no longer had to suffer movement loss for executing multiple weapon attacks in one turn was enough for me to switch, and other tidybits also made me happy. Currently my greatest hopes are in whether metallic dragons would appear in the basic rules or not.
Hello everyone, my name's Matt.
I have held the same stance for so long the earth has swallowed me so I don't post much here to benefit those that do. I hope, though, this game brings enjoyment to all the new and old fans, alike.
May the monster manual have lots of flavor, and the DM's and Players close their books while they explore.
Hello all,
I am Aaron, if that wasn't already obvious, and the "Barbaria"to which I refer is Idaho, U.S.A.
I've been gaming since I taught myself how by reading the AD&D 2nd edition revised books (with the black covers) in '95.
I'm going to be 30 later this year, and I am the go-to DM for my group of 10 (counting the out-of-state players that I let drop in on any game that's going on when they come back to visit - only 8 of us otherwise).
I also happen to play many games other than D&D, though some form of D&D always manages to be on the table week-to-week. There are too many games that I like to list them all - but I figure it is worth noting because I can, and often do, bring up mechanics from other games during discussions (sometimes because they can be helpful suggestions for house-rules, but mostly whenever someone states something false about another game in a disparaging way).
And a special note: While I am frequently sarcastic, and always quite arrogant, I never actually mean anything I say about anything to be taken personally. So please, all, try to remember that you should not take a person more seriously than they take their self.
Hello!
My name is Slaven,i'm 26 and i live in Zagreb,Croatia. I'm finishing masters in mechanical engineering currently and i'm a Law School dropout XD
Beside RPGs,i like boardgames,tcg (played a lot of MtG),miniature war games and airsoft. Also,in my free time i play football,attend metal concerts and hang out with my friends.
My first introduction to rpgs came trough old school crpg,namley Baldurs Gate and Icewind dale series. First ever tabletop game i played was old Vampire:tM in my first year of highschool. In second grade i met some cool people who played d&d 3.5 and i got hooked. We played for 3 years (till the end of highschool) and it was a blast. With the start of college,the group fell apart and since Law school is place with least amount of geeks you can find,i took year long brake. Through friend from highschool i meet some new and great people and we game for almost 6 years now. We played WoD,3/3.5/PF,7th sea,Window and few other systems,but at the end of the day we always come back to D&D. Just finished year long campaign in 2ed AD&D and now we plan to play part two of that campaign in 5th ed.
Oh,and i simpatize with Emanuele. Books here are also overpriced (convert dollars into euros on 1:1 basis) and there is only one game store in town that has very very small selection of rpg books. We are planing shopping trip for 5th ed phb in Udine since it is closest Wizards partner store. You Italians at least have decent game shops :P
pukunui wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Let me first say, I love this idea. And I am totally game.
My name is Matt, I recently turned 38, I'm an artist working and living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. I'm married, (12 years, as of yesterday) my wife plays D&D too. We're also kinda drunk, lol. Ouzo.
I played and DMed D&D off and on since the late 80's. I only DMed adventure modules back then. It was still some great times, tons of house-ruling, tons of trying to make sense of the Gygaxian tomes, being geeky kids...I remember loving Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer when they came out...Because...Weird fun fantasy. My friends and I got into it, then sort of broke apart from our gaming sessions, 3-4 times a week...Because sex and drugs. Long story Short, LOL. That was also in Milwaukee, WI (where I was born, and grew up) so, I did attend 2 TSR GenCons. Amazing times...
I took a break in college, because I went to art school, worked my ass off, and I didn't meet any D&D players. (Or people willing to admit they were into something like D&D) Later, I redescoved the awesomeness and art form that is TTRPG playing with some neighbors, and we played 3e and 4e. Then I was happy to find friends, other couples...All sorts of people who wanted to play and DM. Those were the second greatest years, and most of those were with the 4e ruleset. Now, I'm the main DM. It's ok; as others fill in sometimes.
Right now, my wife and I live in Albuquerque, play D&D when we can, and I have my own campaign world. We take turns DMing, and the world is a place of floods, water, ships, flotillas, and mountains that are now islands. Working on that, on the side, of course, has been a pleasure. It's heavily influenced by steampunk, HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, Eberron, National Geographic photography, a late 80's/early 90's cartoon called ' Pirates of Dark Water', and Final Fantasy video games.
My work is, well, I guess you could say..."Post modern sci-fi/fantasy/horror spiked abstract drawing, painting, and photography" Or, "minimalist deconstructionism with reconstructionist tendencies." I don't do awesomely financially; but I do OK. Another personal thing about me: I like classical music. A lot. I used to pretend to conduct when I was a little kid. But I also like listening to Korn. So, make of that what you will. I also like Legos, HP Lovecraft, and Star Trek. Oh, and Breaking Bad. We live by some (and have been to) places where they shot that show, lol. I've been in the background of two crime shows in the past 20 years: Homicide (in Baltimore) and Breaking Bad (in Albuquerque). Oh, I also love studying weird crime/events. Serial killers and UFO sightings are of special fascination to me.
I was an art teacher fro 3 years; so I am always happy to help newbies get into D&D. Teaching what I love and know comes naturally to me, and is enjoyable to me.
I guess that's enough. Anything anyone wants to really know; please ask. I will answer anything, aside from something I deem as too creepy, or personal, LOL.
Hi my name is Yan i'm 35 french canadian living with my little family in Montréal, Qc Canada. I started playing D&D at the age of 8 with the Red Box before moving to BECMI and then AD&D 1st edition. I've enjoyed each and every editions since then and played AD&D 2nd edition the most (and still play it today!! ) I have been a playtester for 4 years now and i am active in the D&D community as a Forum Guide among other things. I also try to run public online games and meet new people whenever i can, through the hobby, i've met hundreads and hundreads of new gamers and had great D&D experiences along the way!
Until we meet...Salute!
Big thanks to Jonathan (aka Pukunui) for starting this thread! I think it really helps to know someone. Anonymity is the bane of constructive conversations on the internet.
I'm Wayne. In my 30's. Married. Grew up in South Florida, USA, but now we live in Stockholm, Sweden. I was a rocket scientist at NASA, but now I'm an experimental particle physicist doing research at CERN. My favorite band is Led Zeppelin. I started playing D&D very young when my dad bequeathed upon me his old D&D books, dice, and character sheets. You remember the players handbook with the giant ogre statue thing and wide open mouth? Yeah, that one. Been playing ever since....actually, I've been mostly DMing ever since. There are always players and never enough DMs!
I'm really looking forward to 5e. Enjoyed the playtest and I'm sure the final rules are going to be awesome. In a few weeks I'm going to run two separate groups through the Starter Set adventure using GoogleHangout and roll20. Should be fun! I also plan on running some weekly D&D Encounters games at my FLGS starting in August. Still trying to arrange the details on that.
Nice to meet everyone else here!
Great idea. I'm Cass, Also a physicist IRL, go figure! Mid forties, two kids who play dnd I've been a casual player for a long time, and sometimes get active on the forum. Not that much lately, but I'm sure looking forward to the new release!
jaelis wrote:
Hi I am Frank.
I am in my 40's and live in the "desert" area of Cologne. Married, three children.
I am a physicist, too. Started playing more than 25 years ago with DSA.
Also played Earthdawn, Seventh Sea, D&D (mainly 3rd and 4th edition).
Further interests: my children, meditation, philosophy, reading and others of minor interest.
Until we meet in RL.
Greetings to everybody around here
Hello all!
My name's Caleb, and I live Rhode Island, the very smallest of all these United States. I'm forty-two years old, and started gaming when I recieved the Moldvay Basic set as a Christmas gift. Since then, RPGs have been a continual source of entertainment, which I continue to enjoy going into the release of 5e.
I'm loving this thread.
'ello, I'm Alex. I am twenty-three and currently live in a little ole town, practically in the middle of nowhere, in northern Texas. My first exposure to D&D was earlier this year when I stumbled upon the Penny Arcade/Acqusitions Inc. podcasts and live shows which I instantly fell in love with. Now, the incredibly stupid thing about that is I have been going to PAX Prime for the past three freaking years, and I had never heard about it. Bah! But anyways... Long story short, I asked a few friends that I've known over the internet for years if they'd be interested in playing. They were, and I've been DMing a fifth edition campaign since March with a little help from the playtest rules and Roll20!
This being my first edition of D&D, I am more than excited to get my hands on the final rules and some physical products!
Hello everyone. My name is Dave. I am a 30 year old (dyslexic) English literature PhD student living in Canada with my wife and daughter. I got into English literature as a direct result of getting into RPGs. I got into RPGs by playing 2e D&D back in the late 80's/early 90's. I was introduced to the game by my brother-in-law. I still love playing! I can't wait until my daughter is just a little older (she is 5 now) so that I can teach her to play. I plan to get her into the game via this edition of D&D.
My name is Brian. I'm the same age as the answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
My very first game of D&D, which was around 1986, was with the 1983 Red Box. I loved it but didn't play another real game until I was a junior in college around 1993 or so using 2nd Edition when I bought my very first PHB.
I hadn't played much since then, but got very interested and addicted again when the playtest started. Now I'm DMing one group with friends from work and another group with my family, incluging my 8 year old son and my 10 year old daughter. My wife has played with us, but only does so on occassion.
John, aged 40-50 from the UK
longtime lurker but thought I would begin anew with the new release
excited for the future
Hi, I don't post much on the internet, usually just lurk, but you can occasionally find me on other sites under this name or starlord99. I started playind D&D in 1979 with the blue book set, and that cover will always be my favorite. Love Marvel Conan and other old comics from the same period. My wife and I run an online game using maptools, and we live in Overland Park, KS.
Hello guys, my name is Patrick. I'm in my late 20s. I am happily married and live with two stunted bugbears that look a lot like shih-tzus.
I'm an RPG fanatic. I don't adhere or subscribe to one particular playstyle; I've tried and generally love them all. The same with editions. While 4th was probably my least favorite, I still played it a lot and enjoyed doing so. Other RPGs I love include (but are not limited to) Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars EotE and AoR, Traveller, GURPS, Old White Wolf, and Mouse Guard.
I blog over at rpcrpg.com about RPGs. I practice writing and want to be a published author. By day I'm just an organic foods department head at Kroger. My belief is that a positive environment breeds creativity, so I'll try to do my best to keep my posts on these new forums positive, and try not to be baited into responding to those that won't.
Hi!
My name is Clarence Harrison. I am a professional illustrator and wargame designer (most recently Donnybrook historical skirmish). I have been playing D&D, mostly as a DM, since 1980. I have played all itereations of D&D (and many, many other RPG), but my preference is definitely for 1-2e and I am a big fan of everything I've seen for 5e. For most of the D&D campaigns I've run I have used my own world, The Realm of Quindia. Before getting into D&D I was a huge fan of fantasy novels, especially those with MAPS in them (Tolkein, Howard, etc). As soon as I started DMing, I knew I wanted to make my own world. Dozens of players have shared in my stories in Quindia and many have made their own contributions to the growth and history.
I don't post often, but normally stop in a few times a week (more when there is news) and scan the front page of the forums. In general I feel like many threads devolve into a stop at the Monty Python Argument Bureau. Hopefully things settle down with the release of 5e (but I'm not counting on it). If I feel like I can offer advice to people with genuine questions I will, but I generally avoid the sparring (to put it mildly) that some seem to revel in.
Quindia
Hola, I'm Ryan, a thirty-something American originally from Florida and I live in Medellin, Colombia. I've been D&Ding since the days of Milli Vanilli, starting with AD&D 2e and have played every edition since that time (plus a few games with the ones from the Before Times). I like just about all RPGs and enjoy games like Dungeon World, Apocalypse World, Marvel Heroic RPG, Fate, and others. I'm now getting set up to run D&D 5e on the regular.
Because Spanish isn't my first language, I would struggle to play in person locally, so I've been doing most of my gaming online since 2011. I do so via Roll20 and when I've got a lot of free time, I run lots of pickup groups through 4e or 5e one-shots on that VTT. If you like what I have to say on the forums or enjoy any of my designs, feel free to shoot me a PM and ask me if I've got any games going. I like playing with lots of different players as it's fun to meet new people and gives me a lot of perspective on how others approach the game.
Name is Justin here, for my group I am the go to DM for the time being I got started in the late 90's so I got some experience in AD&D and then jumped straight into 3e and played each system since. I have done a number of games though to help make me a better Dungeon master and I will say that I am excitied to see some of the indie game influence finding its way into D&D5e. I was able to get my wife to game with my group through 4e which is what she excelled at and I hope to expand this influence to the new edition. I ran sessions in all of the playtest packets as well so I hope to hit the ground running. In 11 hours I hope to pick up the starter set.
I currently reside near Cedar Rapids IA and more than willing to run something and expand my group.
Hello All, my name is Jonn. I'm in my Mid-30s. Have a wife and two kids. I am from Philidelphia, PA, USA, but I have spent about half my life in NC and have lived in Raleigh for over a decade.
I started with RPG with Zork which got me interested in fantasy. I actually been reading D&D novels for a couple of years before I realized that D&D made a RPG too! I discovered the RPG in 1985 at a garage sell in grade school had where someone donated a card board box full of 1e/2e stuff, mostly in poor shape.
In My first character ended up being a troll cleric that I can't for the life of me remember its name. I didn't have anyone else to play with so I was my own DM. This inevitably lead to every adventure having dinosaurs. I only got to play with others once when I convinced a few kids where I lived to try. They got through character creation and had fun making up a character, but unfortunately High Water Low Water won out over actually playing an adventure.
Now a days, I DM and play several different editions and am part of a meetup group that runs workshops and has discussion to help new DMs prepare to run a game for the first time. Its cool being part of an organization that almost all its members both DM and Play RPG.
Hi all.
My name is Paul. I'm a 49 year-old high school English teacher living in the suburbs of NYC with my family (wife and 2 kids). I've been playing and DMing D&D since 1978. I've enjoyed all editions and I'm proud to have had a chance to participate in the playtest to help WoTC craft 5e, but I'm also glad to have met so many wonderful and passionate people who also care so much about this game.
First post. Been lurking around the playtest forums for a few months. I'm 36 and my first introduction to D&D was a friend in freshman year of high school who showed me the DMG for AD&D during math class. Most of my interactions with D&D have been via CRPGs like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape and most recently the Neverwinter Nights games where I still actively play and DM both.
Last year I bought the 4ed based board games: Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, and Legend of Drizzt. This served as a good introduction for some PnP style play that was easier for my kids to participate in. I also bought the five Dungeon Command games for the minis and expansions to the board games. It has been good fun and served as a strong motivator to get into some proper PnP. As a final preparation for PnP, I also bought two of the 4ed Monster Vaults for the tokens as well as a variety of battlemats and dice.
Fast forward to this summer. My boys have been playtesting Next with me using the pregens and the Caves of Chaos adventure. I don't think we are going to finish it because they want to start on the Starter Set adventure immediately. My original plan was to DM them both through the Starter Set but one of them has expressed interest in learning how to DM. So I've been walking him through the process using the 2ed and 3.5ed DMGs. He's going to DM the Starter Set adventure (since I am assuming it will hand hold new DMs through the basics of the process), and I'll get a chance to play a PC.
I've been lurking the forums and not sure how much I'll post. Suffice to say that 5ed is exactly what I've been looking for in a system to use with my growing family. 3.5ed is a bit too much crunch for my kids, and I'm ready for a different system. I had debated on 4ed or going back to AD&D, but the launch of 5ed coincides perfectly with our new foray into PnP. I just hope there will be a long line of adventures and campaign settings released for 5ed. If not, I'll be retrofitting a lot of older adventures.
Our nearest game store opens in an hour and we are off to buy the Starter Set and some more dice. Sadly, family obligations prevent us from playing in the Encounters, but I hope that these will be made downloadable as .pdfs in the future.
Greetings, all. I'm Elisabeth, a member of Steele Justice (a gaming club that's been playing D&D and other RPGs, including online, for about 20 years now), and also a member of a Friday night group that's been playing weekly since 1983 (though I've been playing D&D since 1978). I recognise several of the names above from the 5e playtest board, so it's nice to see some familiar "faces".
Hey all!
I'm Justin. Early thirties, recently married. Live and work as a professional tutor in AZ.
I read most all the Dragonlance novels as a kid but I didn't start playing until relatively recently, using 4th edition about three years ago. Since then I've begun DM'ing a small group of players including my wife and a couple friends. We started a new campaign using the playtest rules when they came out and I'm looking forward to updating our campaign with the new, official rules (although I'll have to wait a bit to update the barbarian 
)
I'm looking forward to starting a brand new campaign using the new modules with my group but it'll probably wait until the end of the year when the DMG is released and we've finished up our current campaign.
Can't wait to get my hands on the new books!
Brad from SoCal. I started playing at 8 yrs old (when, taking a hint from Hulk Hogan, I smashed a chair over an Orc - hooked since).
I'm an Aquarius in my early 30s, 6'3" and looking for, wait... No.
On a quest to hone my DM-ing chops. Sometimes I'll post rambling game theory & sometimes practical tools.
(Cool thread Pukunui!)
bawylie wrote:
Ramzour wrote:
Guys, please, I was in the grip of Hulkamania - you need to understand.
We know, bawylie, that stuff runs wild... I mean, what are you gonna do?
I am going to turn 39 later this year, single full time father of two children. I live in Texas and pretty much hit all the stereotypes for both being Texan and a gamer, I just shaved off my beard this morning in honor of new beginings and fresh starts with the release of the 5e Basic rules and the new forum. No more neck beard!
Paraxis wrote:
Hello all!
My name is Felorn (or Jesse). I've all but ignored 5e till about this point due to the Playtest forums being toxic to begin with. But now I've decided to suit up and hop on this 5e hype train. I'm glad I've decided to hop on board now as it seems most of the crazy edition warriors have been rooted out and sent home. And I'm glad to see a friendly host of posters to help usher in 5e. Let it be a long, crazy, and fun ride guys.
First Question for the New Community:
Do you think we'll flood and possibly crash WotC's hosting servers when we all try to download Basic? 
Felorn wrote:
I've been mostly a lurker though I have made a couple posts since I started to come out of my shell a little. My name is Allen, I am 26 and live in Cleveland Ohio. I started playing D&D when I was about 12 years old with 3e. Since then my D&D experiences have been on and off again due to me moving around a lot. Although within the past 2 to 3 years I've been playing on a much more frequent basis.
I started playing again when I was introduced to 4e. This was a highly modified Red Hand of Doom campaign and while I liked 4e at first, it just wasn't for me. Around last year my friends and I started a campaign using the current playtest rules and have been continuing since. As for me well I'm single and currently going to college for broadcasting, I'm going into radio when I graduate. I'm an eccentric Aquarius who likes to do things a bit differently and is a bit loopy.
I look forward to the basic rules being released later today, something to look forward to after I come home from my internship up at WTAM. And I'm just as excited for the official books to be released as well. I already have some ideas I want to try not only for character concepts but when I get my campaign up and running eventually.
Felorn wrote:
caecafortuna wrote:
I'm Emerikol and I've the scourge of the Lawful establishmentarians. I'm most known for that one time an artist captured me in action and recorded it for posterity.
Okay seriously....
My name is John and I live in Kentucky. I've played D&D since 1983 when I started with the red box. I probably began DMing in 1984.
I'm a computer programmer by trade and I have a daughter and granddaughter. Both of whom are the bright stars of my life. Neither plays D&D though.
As a hobby, I am working on a fantasy novel but as a hobby it's only coming along so fast.
I am what I like to call an old school Gygaxian DM: fully empowered, lover of rule 0, and really into world building.
I embraced every edition of D&D but came to dislike 4e after playing it for a while. Still enjoy 3e but it's more heavy weight than my ideal system. I prefer the rulings not rules philosophy to at least some degree.
Howdy Folks,
(Couldn't resist)
I am Karyn, formerly Quentin, transgender thirty-something (on the latter end), parent of four, married, and unemployed. I was once the resident Crazy Monkey of these forums but that persona is now retired.
My first character was "The" Fighter from the Mentzer "Red Box" basic game, who I named Duke because I was a G.I. Joe fan. I've been active in the online D&D community since 2007 when Gleemax was all the rage.
I'm hoping to put together a new group locally (Colorado Springs, CO) and DM a campaign with the basic game coming out today.
Hi all, I'm rookrock, I'm 29 years old and am currently living in Cape Breton, NS in Canada, but will be making a huge leap across the map to Fredericton,NB in Canada just in time to buy the PHB from a B&M store. I first started playing AD&D in the summer of 1999(grade 9 going to grade 10). I got all the latest verisons of the 2nd edition core books and played with some friends, only for 3rd to drop the next year. I saved up what a highschool student could that summer and got all the core books. It was a staggered release, so it made purchasing easier for me.
I was an active player since I started, playing with those same highschool friends until I graduated and moved to university(in Fredericton). There I found kindred nerd spirits and we were active on and off as a group the whole 4 years I was there. I took a short break from D&D after getting my bachelors in Classical History, and moved on to get my MDiv. Got married, and started playing again when fourth came out.
Currently a minister for the United Church of Canada(I'm short too so dwarf cleric is apt for me), and playing with those same friends from university. We are in different parts of north america, but the advent of roll20 made that a non-issue. We've had a steady group since May last year(just turned 1 not long ago!), rotating DM's to avoid burnout and keep it fresh. We started playing with 4th, but switched over to the playtest last September(DM's choice for edition). The next DM is threatening to go back to 3.5 if 5th doesn't measure up for him, but I'm currently DMing on the October playtest packet.
*Phew* well that's me! Oh, I am also a Drizzt fanboy, love the Dragonlance series(most anything Weis and Hickman touch really), and I occassionally write short stories based on the characters from my D&D group at www.dwarfcleric.wordpress.com (posted pictures of the Starter Set this morning).
Kiraya_TiDrekan wrote:
Hello,
My name is Brandon. I am in my early 30s and have been married for 5 years. My kids are 4, 3, and 2 years old; which really limits free time. Currently I am a stay at home dad, but recieved a degree from DePaul University in Social Work in 2012. I was able to go to college after earning tuition assitance from 8 years in the Navy. I served aboard the USS John S. McCain, and at NIOC in Aurora Colorado. I got to live in Japan for three years, and spent some time in Iraq. Originally from Detroit, I now live in Denver where I had met my wife. She and I had first contacted each other from an email a soldier type program while I was away in Iraq. Oddly enough, I was stationed near Denver and she lived there; so we decided to meet. We've been together ever since.
I got involved with D & D while squating in Washington D.C., an older room mate DMed a game of 2nd AD&D. He actually never let me play a game but did let me read the books. About a year in a half later I had joined the Navy and was training in Pensacola Florida when a friend started a game of 3rd edition and invited me to play. So I have been playing sparsely for 13 years. I enjoyed the playtest more than anyother D&D I have played. My favorite games are Shadowrun, D20 Modern, and Savage Worlds. I find space opera and apocolyptic future fascinating back drops for games.
I'm Rob, 32, married and father of one. I started with D&D 4e Encounters at my FLGS, graduated to GM'ing 4e on Roll20 and super excited to GM and hopefully play 5e.
I started playing AD&D in the summer of 1981. Pre-ordered everything for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and the anticipation of getting the books is a real @#%^& to deal with.
Thank you WOTC for the time & effort you put into this one. It should be one heck of a ride.
Kiraya_TiDrekan wrote:
All right, let's get on this train...
My name is Rhys Fawkes and I live in Hong Kong. I'm originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but moved with my wife and daughter because of work. I worked for many years as a professional game designer, but now I work in consultation. I don't play nearly as much as I used to, and that's a bit sad, but life goes on. I started D&D with 2e, but didn't really sink into the game until my friends and I played a War of the Lance campaign (a 1e set). The focus on story and established character forever painted my perception of what D&D was and should be.
What else? Hmmm...
Well, I'm in my early 30s, I was a marathoner and triathelete, and I'm devastatingly handsome, or at least that's what my wife says.
Hi my name is Brad, I live in Vancouver Canada with my wife and four kids. I first played in 1977, then started DMing ad&d in the 80's. I have been lucky enough to be able to get friends together over the years and play some great campaigns (greyhawk + gygax modules). This latest group of friends I cobbled together had some experienced players amongst them. Two years into our ad&d campaign we switched to the playtest rules. We use a mix of the ad&d and playtest rules. I am looking forward to running ToEE with the new rules! Cheers, Jocanuck
jocanuck wrote:
bawylie wrote:
bawylie wrote:
CelticPaladin wrote:
Red box basic D&D got me started. I quickly moved on to 2nd edition, with bits of 1st edition AD&D mixed in. Eventually some of my gamer buddies switched me to playing Rifts for a few years, but I did remain interested in D&D and followed the progress for a time. Then I moved (was still a kid in highschool at this point) away from all my friends, and couldn't find anyone to RPG with for awhile. Played various RPG computer games for a time, some D&D some other designs. Mostly forgot about the idea of playing a live RPG. All in all, nearly 20 years pass.
Now I am married, have a 5month old kid. I don't have time for computer games every night. And what an interesting coincidence, D&D Next is just about finished. I realize that while I can't be playing a computer game for hours every night with a little baby to take care of, I can take off for a few hours once a week to play a live session. And so, I return to the game. At least, that is the plan. Still looking for the perfect group in the Arlington VA area, though I have some good leads.
Hi, I'm "Jester" David Gibson. I go by The_Jester here and Jester Canuck on ENWorld.
I run a gaming webcomic and blog called 5 Minute Workday at www.5mwd.com. It's a single panel webcomic and I blog about assorted gaming topics with some reviews.
Many of my blogs are cross posted here, on the WotC Community Site. I'm a featured blogger, formerly one of many but there's fewer and fewer of us now.
Hopefully some other aspiring writers will start doing some excellent blogging and join me on the featured list.
I've been playing D&D 1992-3. I got into the hobby back in the days of 2nd Edition. I switched to 3rd Edition shortly after it came out and 3.5e after that solely because I got a really good deal on the core rulebooks. I ran and played a little 4e (arguably more than I played 2nd Edition) but it was never my thing. I'm currently running Pathfinder Adventure Paths but I look forward to mixing things up with some D&D5.
I'm also getting into writing (and publishing), having released my first novel and a How-To Guide for fantasy worldbuilding. You can check those out at www.5mwd.com/publishing
I am who I am. I play an AD&D/3/3.5/Talislanta/Harn homebrew game, Traveller, Shadowrun, and very infrequently Star Wars.
A couple of observations and comments:
- Welcome to all the new forum users! It seems that the release of this edition has brought out a lot new faces!
- It's interesting to see so many gamers coming from around the world! I'm glad D&D is such a global phenomena and not just a US one.
- A lot of people here seem to be older and married, and often with kids! That means that, despite the behavior on the forums sometimes, we actually aren't all 12 yr olds.
- I would like to DM the Battle Between The Brads. Roll up your characters gentlemen.
The_Jester wrote:
Solace wrote:
Mike Eruzione! Winthrop Massachusetts! I play for the United States of America! (oh, wait that isn't right....I have notes here somewhere...)
Michael from Springfield, Missouri. I'm 42, married with two awesome boys 4 and 6. Played my first game in the early 80's with either the Holmes or Moldvay set. I played some Mentzer Basic and 1e (and a mish-mash of both) in jr. high and high school. Left the hobby around the 2e beginning and missed 3/3.5 altogether. I played a bit of WEG Star Wars in the 90's and came back to D&D with 4e (which I very much like). I own every edition of D&D (at least the core 3) and toyed with Pathfinder for a bit but it isn't really to my taste.
Really looking forward to 5e as it looks to be very close to what I've been trying to find (unsuccessfully) in a modern/retro-clone type game--BFRPG, C&C, etc. I've been off the boards for the past couple of years since the end of 4e and the launch of the playtest. Good to see all the old and new faces. Great thread idea btw!
That was Eric Stratton. He was damn glad to meet you
Rhenny wrote:
Hi!
A long time lurker on the boards!
My name is Jonas, I´m 41 and I´m currently living in Stockholm, sweden.
I´ve been playing since the early eighties, both d&d (basic, second, third and a half) and a number of other rpgs (acks, runequest, old world of darkness,trinity, various versions of lord of the rings and the swedish rpg drakar och demoner).
I´m strangely excited about the new version of d&d, looking forward to a rules light, heroic fantasy game with a lot of hex crawling and dungeon delving... The game seems to hit the sweet spot between rules, feeling and playability.
Hello all! I'm Gabriel and I'm from Arizona. My start in roleplaying was with the Palladium RPG system at the age of 4 where I created a character for Robotech, who proceeded to go insane and destroy not only the enemy Invid soldiers, but also the men of his own squadron. Not long after, I transitioned to D&D I found my older brother's Red Box and played with the fighter in that adventure. I have always hated that the beautiful cleric, Aleena, died and I could do nothing to save her. Perhaps I'll revive that adventure using 5E.
I've been playing various systems ever since then, but my greatest loves will always be Palladium and D&D. My greatest experience comes with AD&D 2E and 4E. I could never get into 3E, but I have some friends that have running games of 3.5.
I joined the forums specifically to help playtest the new edition of D&D. And I have to say, it is excited to finally see some of the fruits of that experience. So, I will lend my thanks to the creators and everyone who participated in the playtest. Thank for a new D&D.
Now, if you will excuse me, there are goblins that need slaying, treasure to be collected, and beautiful damsels in need of rescue.
Happy gaming everyone!
I'm reclusive, but I have also been known as Aryxymaraki in some areas of the internet. I'm in my late 20's and have been playing D&D since 95 when my older brother's friend introduced us to it with the 2E black book reprints.
I've played and enjoyed greatly 2E, 3E, 3.5, 4E, and a wide variety of other RPGs. I've also played a significant amount of video games, and spent a while thoroughly addicted to WoW (anyone who played a shaman in vanilla may recognize me).
These days, I find my favorite RPGs are rules-fractal; they're incredibly simple on the surface but you can find an infinite amount of detail by delving deeper and deeper. As a result, my favorite games are ACKS and 5E. The new Hackmaster and Pathfinder share third and fourth place; neither of them is fractal, they're just complicated, but I can create fractility (that's a word now, I decree it) by scraping off the top layer and presenting it as the base.
In general, I am sarcastic, and my typing style tends to come across as stiff-necked arrogant Equity Lord. Imagine everything I say is said with a stiff upper lip and so dry that water near me evaporates, and if it sounds insulting, it's probably either a joke or an accident.
My kitty avatar has introduced itself to itself again, multiple times now.
However, it always feels fresh and new ... 
Name's Logan, 24, married no kids yet. Hailing from Memphis, TN. I am a fanboy of the highest degree with obsessive tendencies. I was passed in High School because my teachers hated me, never did homework, drew in class, aced every test. I failed college miserably after the military four branch denied me. I then decided to get off my lazy butt and make something of myself. Or at least get a job. Busboy for a pizza buffet, worked up to manager, got insurance licenses, started selling for a certain company, hated selling so I started servicing policies instead.
Fundamental Christian with all the stereotypical beliefs, but tempered with a healthy understanding that I am just as bad as the rest.
Impatient, impractical and frequently intoxicated is how I play my characters. When I'm not GM'ing I am the devious player who helps him.
My first exposure to D&D was Third or Third and a Half Edition and did not go well. The people who wanted me to play made me feel like an idiot for not already understanding the game to the point that I got up and left. I played Fourth with my roommates in college because I wanted to try it again. I loved it. When I got out, I reformed a circle of friends lost halfway through high school and got us playing. We haven't stopped since though we have changed systems now and again for freshness. Now that Fifth is here, we are on the cusp of jumping into it gleefully and enjoying it fullyfully.
I enjoy Hasbro's Pastel Pony Show.
Ramzour wrote:
Hi I'm Raymond, 40ish gamer living in Santa Rosa, CA. I drive an hour and a half most weekends to game with my old game group where we play mostly shadowrun, but plenty of other games as well. One of these days I'll look for a game near by for a mid week game.
You guys are great. Now I feel guilty about the brevity of my first post here, so I'll spill the beans.
I'm 67. I think. What year is this? Oh yes. That's right. I must be 67. Live in England. Married, grown up son. I gave him the 3.5e books as a birthday present years ago and he hasn''t read them yet, so I don't think there's much hope for him. I'm waiting for grandchildren to arrive, so I can teach them 5e.
Used to be a physicist. Got excited about the discovery of Omega Minus just before I graduated. That was way before quarks 'n strings 'n stuff. I gave up physics when I stopped even understanding the titles of published papers, let alone the content. Moved into messing with computers full-time. Retired about ten years back from being Chief Software Engineer for a multinational. Retiring is great. Take it from me, I've tried working and I've tried retiring and retiring wins, hands down. One piece of advice, though: don't wait 'till you're old. Retire in your thirties.
I got hooked on D&D back in '77 with the blue-book basic set. Never looked back. My first character was a dwarf called Halgrim The Terrible. I still have his character sheet. I did it on a typewriter. Remember typewriters? Happy days. I like the narrative aspects of D&D - the way a dice roll can twist the story in unexpected ways. I did get engrossed in the mechanics for a while but my brain is too old for that now, I need to keep it simple. 5e is exactly right for me,
Except my eyesight is going and I can't read anything smaller than about 9pt.The starter set is a bit of a disappointment because it's printed in 8pt and I need a magnifying glass to read it. PDFs are great because I can zoom in, on-screen. I might build some software to crack the Basic pdf and reformat it with bigger font and change the layout so I can print it out legibly. Could probably do it manually but I'd have to do it again every update so I'll let the computer do the work. Computers are good at doing the same thing again. Just not so clever at doing it the first time.
I'm rambling on. Old people do that. If you're DMing and need to role-play an old guy NPC, I can tell you how.
Hi folks! Russell from Moncton, N.B. Canada. Early 40's, married 21 years, 3 kids raised and just recently assumed the role of grandfather (a.k.a. Grumpy). Carpenter and avid backpacker with an off-grid homestead project somewhere in the not too distant future.
I happened upon Tolkien's work by way of the LotR animated film when I was nine. I was all about swords & sorcery after that. Fantasy fiction, Conan comics and all. I eventually saw the made for TV film Mazes and Monsters and thought; "Whoa! That was messed up! . . . I need that game!", but the closest thing my hometown had to a Coles was the magazine rack at the grocery store. Not two months later however, while walking home from school I found a beat-ta-heck, puddle stained copy of the Moldvay basic rulebook that barely survived the spring thaw. Dried it out, read it, a friend's dad carved us out some wooden dice as per our exact specifications and whatever path my life was on before that day was forever altered. The friends made, the girlfriends lost, the report cards failed and the life skills learned because of that game, this game. Totally worth it!
Knowledge may discern truth, but our imaginations provide the meaning.
BoldItalic wrote:
TheZigZagist wrote:
Thalion94518 wrote:
Why does this introduction feel like running naked through Central Park?
Leon, 55, a project manager from Rockland County NY with a wife and two adult sons that will have nothing to do with roleplaying games. This August will be my 5th GenCon. That's where I learned 4e. I've also done some local cons in NJ. I'm missing Dexcon in Morristown today and I'm wondering what impact the release of the Basic Rules had on play there and what the conversation was like. I might have gone, but I met my wife 30 years ago today and she owns me this weekend.
I've been playing since 1977 or so. I'm not too sure of the exact year. The late 70's is a distant memory. My brother turned me on to playing. There was this D&D club in college. A bunch of geeky kids were playing in the hall. I was curious. "Here, play this thief" a short, stout guy with a beard said to me. I had no idea what I was doing. We were sneaking around an orc barracks. I had just read Lord of the Rings. I knew that orcs were bad. I snuck away from the party. The other players were chastising me. The DM ignored them and said "What are you doing?" I went to a door and cracked it open. There were orcs inside, asleep. I had a flask of oil and a torch. I threw the oil onto the floor. Made noice, woke the orcs. They charged. I lit the oil. They all died. We won. I was hooked. My brother then bought a module: "Village of Homlet". We got some other friends to hang out - not from the club. We had about a dozen people at the table. It was fun. Some of the PC's died. I guess they quit. Most of the 6 friends that I play with now played that day.
So I've played AD&D, 2E, v3.5, 4e and now 5e. Aside from playing FTF with my long-time pals. Me and one of my FTF pals also play PBP games DreamLyrics. I note that because the two styles are so different. My FTF group is all about combat, strategy and dice rolling; what I call roll-playing. We once sat down and calculated the volume of a fireball that was cast into a room too small to contain it to determine whether it spilled out into the hallway and engulfed the caster. The PBP players we play with are more into the roleplaying or shared story-telling. The mecahnics mean much less to them. In a game right now I've been on the roof of a buiding in Waterdeep with another PC scouting for 3 weeks now, talking about our life, upbringing, fears and inspirations. To me the styles make for two completely different games and I enjoy both! I hope 5e can bring both styles together.
Orethalion wrote:
Thalion94518 wrote:
I'm Brian. I'm a machining technician/CMM programmer from northwest-ish Indiana. I'm 41 with 2 kids, my youngest just graduated high school.
I got my first taste of D&D as the new kid in school in the fifth grade back in '83. The first kid to be nice to me played AD&D and got me hooked. I didn't really play so much that first year, mostly read the books. I remember asking for AD&D books for christmas that year and being diassappointed that I got the "Expert" box set. My very first character was created from those rules, an elf named Genin Steelecat. It wasn't until the sixth grade that we really started playing, when several of my friends from a couple of different schools were tossed together in middle school. Well, we didn't so much play D&D as much as we read the rules then did whatever the hell came to mind. I had a blast. I even have fond memories of my friend Bobby having a crying tantrum and storming out when his character would die. I was pretty broke so I never really had any 1st edition AD&D books. Luckily our school library had a bunch that we could sign out. By the time I left middle school I was mostly done with D&D. I tried to get together and play but my fiends moved on. I did end up with several 2nd edition books later but never did get to play and ended up selling them.
It wasn't until years later (mid '90s?) that I met someone at work who played 2nd edition and started up again with him and his family and have been off and on ever since. We went from 2nd to 3rd to 3.5 to 4th and now after a haitus probably 5th.
rookrock wrote:
TheZigZagist wrote:
Giving this a bump because I want everyone to be able to participate. Thanks again pukunui!
EDIT: Should we ask Trevor to sticky this for a bit?
Dreamstryder wrote:
pukunui wrote:
mboss77 wrote:
pukunui wrote:
pukunui wrote:
rookrock wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm Philip, 25 years old and at a professional/graduate school getting my Masters in Forest Science. My first experience with D&D was when I was 10 (1999) and played the Second Edition of the game; but I didn't really get into it consistenly until 3.5 in High School. My group and I eagerly switched over to 4e during the end of high school and throughout college we played 4e, where I became a common dungeon master for new players at my school, as well as kept up a weekly online game using a hosted server with a map grid and pogs (GameTable Project). I have every 4e book every published, save some of the adventures, which I'm still collecting, and intend to buy everything for 5e as well. While my time for gaming passtimes has been lessened as of late due to graduate school and other life priorities, I intend to use 5th Edition as a font for a new start: there are some new roleplayers joining the grad school next years, and my hope is that we can get a group together again.
I adore 4e, but understand its flaws after years of playing and theoretical work with the system. I've been relatively active on these forums for about as long as 4e existed, and recognise a number of old faces (and greatly miss our guidepost poster, Wrecan). I'm hoping that 5e solves some of my issues with it, mainly that while balanced, magic just felt very mundane. I'm very big on martial magic, however, and am concerned about lack of mystical fighter and rogue abilities akin to those of the monk or the Book of Nine Swords. I'm hoping with fighter maneuvers on the horizon, there will be certain dials to provide different level of martial heroics that don't require multiclassing into magic. I want more martial magic, not the very limited powers the Monk had in the playtest. That all said, I tend to agree with a lot of the philosophy of 5e, and like what I'm seeing thus far. Backgrounds in particular excite me, and perhaps my favourite new part of the game is how Exploration has regained rules for longer-term turns than combat turns, and how navigating dungeons and environments have these new-variations on 1e mechanics that made them more than pretty places to structure combat encounters or skill challenges.
TheZigZagist wrote:
mboss77 wrote:
I'm Dan, currently from Northeast Wisconsin (I grew up in the Milwaukee area). I started playing around 1990 with the onset of 2e, and have since played almost every version of the game (haven't gotten a group to play OD&D yet...). I have been fortunate to find a group of players that not only eschew the edition wars, but are willing to jump to and from different versions of the game based up on who is DMing and the style of the campaign. So yea, none of my books are ever going to be useless. As I am from WI, I (much like many of us from the Brew CIty area) are still pissed that Gen Con left us, but I still make it down to Indy, and hope to meet some of you there! I probably have enough D&D products in my home to snap the shocks on my car.....
Anyway, I'm in my mid-late 30s, married, 2 kids, dog, MBA (graduated this year), rental property, job with ginormous national bank, and I still have working NES & SMS systems! As some of you may have noticed from my avatar, I enjoy metal. Lots of metal. 1000s of CDs worth of metal. Current favorites include Blind Guardian, Nightwish, Blue Oyster Cult, Led Zeppelin (ALWAYS LED ZEPPELIN), Deep Purple, Sonata Arctica, Rolling Stones (I know they're not metal, I like many non-metal acts also), Anthrax, and Fates Warning.
FInally, some friends and I have a weekly D&D podcast where we casually discuss anything which fits in the range of the game, called Radio Free Borderlands (http://radiofreeborderlands.libsyn.com/) which can be found on iTunes. Listen if you want, ignore this if you don't; no pressure.
I shall leave you all with a bit of advice for your campaigns. If your players are a bunch of untrustworthy jerks who borrow your books and never return them, simply mention nonchalantly that your D&D books are your reading material of choice while on the can. They won't raid your shelves again.
smacintush wrote:
Hi!
I'm Shawn, and I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. I'm a programmer by trade. I've been doing D&D for the last few years as a DM exclusively, with 3.5e and 4e under my belt, and have been closely watching D&D Next since it started. Ran a few playtest sessions and really enjoyed what I saw, and looking forward to running it with my coworkers mostly.
spelley wrote:
Hello everyone. Just for fun, I'll give an anagram of my real name: Wayden Mathos (used it for a few PCs and nobody even caught on ). I've been DnDing steadily since the red box with the Elmore dragon on the cover. Which means I'm in my mid-40s now. Hmm . . . who has admitted to being the oldest? BI (67 years)? I'm curious. I can sympathize with the struggle to read the fine print --on the forums, I just zoom the screen text up to 150 %. Wonderful trick .
Anyway, I enjoy gaming (in general) but I've always loved D&D. I love the idea of shared words, of a familiar lore. I also enjoy science fiction (in general) and love Star Trek. My family gets Big Bang Theory, but only because they know me so well .
I've been a member of this community for a while now (I don't spend much time anywhere else online in fact). It's been nice to read about some of the other members in this thread. Thanks for sharing everyone.
Yes indeed. Thanks to everyone who has made this thread a success by sharing. Here's to hoping these forums will be a better place because of it.
Artifact wrote:
TheZigZagist wrote:
Hey folks,
I went ahead and pinned this thread for now so new folks coming to discuss the latest D&D can find a place to introduce themselves. It's probably not going to be a permanent sticky though, but it should be up here for a while. Enjoy ;)
Monica
Thank you muchly Dragonette Monica!
Hello all. 34 year old insuarnce adjuster from Arizona who's been playing since 1992-93. Im married and have 3 kids, one of which is quickly approaching gaming age, quite excited. I've been lucky enough to keep the same core of platyers that I have been gaming with since middle school so I feel like a pretty lucky guy to still have the some of the same familiar faces across the table even after 20 years.
Didn't fully follow the playtest but I'm very impressed with the final product. Excited to shelve Pathfinder and get back to D&D.
34 year old from Colorado. Married, no kids, work in the nonprofit world. Been playing since early mid 80's. Was introduced to RPGs at Boy Scout summer camp and started with 1e, then TMNT, Rifts, and a few other games. I pretty much DM exclusively. Played 4e for about a year, then switch to Pathfinder. Here's hoping that 5e does what I think it can do and help me convert my players over. Also been trying to get a group together for Eclipse Phase and A Song of Ice and FIre RPG. All my tabletop gaming is exclusively on Roll20, though would love to get a live game together.
Other hobbies: World Cup and Colorado Rapids! Valiant Comics, collecting vinyl albums of lesser known rock bands (The On and On, Beirut, Explosions in the Sky, Devandra Barnhart, Geographer) and well designed concert posters from those same bands, collecting old cartography (Anyone have old Maps of Boston?), cooking, bespoke suits, travel, reading fiction (Norman Mailer, Cormac McCarthy, Jonathan Franzen) and fantasy/sci-fi (Ambercrombie, Richard Morgan, Rothfus, Durham). Former skater (to old now), so instead I watch alot of skate videos. Also play Tennis and Bocce Ball. About to upgrade from PS3 to PS4 once I beat Dark Souls 2. Other favorite games are FIFA, Final Fantasy, Far Cry 3, anything by Rockstar, Catherine, Last of Us, Uncharted. My wife thinks I'm a total nerd and is totally right.
Totally stoked for 5e!
Dragonette wrote:
Hi guys!
I'm not completely new on these boards, but I introduce myself anyway: new edition, new mates!
Marco from Italy here, roleplay addicted: I've been into d&d since I was 15 and still playin'. I love almost every game, I did love some 3.x stuff, really loved 4th Edition...And I'm completely out of my mind for this new edition!!!
Huge Eberron fan, I'm missin' some ol' good Krynn gameplay too.
I'm going to open the 5th edition experience with an Eberron Campaign I'm creating, set in between the druid cults and obscure influences coming from forbidden arcane knowledge hidden somewhere in the woods...
Hope to see some Eberron support soon (it seems pretty likely, afaiK) and can't wait to put my hands on the PHB!
See ya guys
M.
Hi Marco! Thanks for posting. I am actually keen to try running a game in Eberron myself with 5e (I'm thinking an Indiana Jones-style treasure hunting campaign on Xen'drik). Hopefully we'll see some official 5e material for the setting next year.
Dragonette wrote:
sgt_d wrote:
Hi guys!
I've been away from these boards for a long time since the first announcements of the Next playtest got me signing into an account (or did I already have an account from 3.5 days-- I cannot recall).
I'm Mike.
I have been a regular gamer since playing D&D in my best friend's basement back in 79 when he came home from summer vacation with tales of this awesome game he had played with his cousin.
Generally afflicted with brand fanaticism till I hit high school, playing only TSR games including Gamma Worlds, Star Frontiers and Top Secret and D&D. During High school, I met new friends and played new games, Toon, Traveller, Car Wars and AD&D. After high school, I was enchanted with GURPS and stick with that system till it got too big with the compendiums and all those source books my friends had and I didn't. I was obliged to try LARPing as my game group disintegrated to the combined arms of vampire LARP and Magic the Gathering, and the LARP was the cheaper of the two. Then I moved to a remote town and then fell into wandering ways (literally I first moved away and then became a truck driver for a dozen years) and even the tiny trickle my gaming had become dried up, though I found some small solace in console games. It was just never as good as being around a table or living room.
I found some good fun with Savage Worlds a few years ago and got a few old friends together to play that, and then I moved again. I looked for new players and new games and have been most interested in the very different rules light movement and the OSR movement, and I would like to say I have found the game that does both best, but as I presume anyone knows, I can say no such thing. BareBones Fantasy comes pretty close, though, and I have high regard for D&D 5th edition Basic.
Nowadays I wile away the weeks with a dribble of Savage Worlds Slipstream and a trickle of Pathfinder. Although I really hope to play BBF or D&D5B some time, neither of my game groups is really into the idea of either, so it looks like I shall have to bring these games to the virtual table or a new group to get any actual play in.
I'm about an hour north of Portland, Oregon.
I Really I like what I see in these basic rules and I am realy thinking that the 5th edition is going to be the one to bring me back to D&D, my gaming native ground.
This thread makes me happy.
Miladoon wrote:
Nautilus wrote:
Guest855761860 wrote:
rookrock wrote:
Foxface wrote:
Emerikol. wrote:
Hi folks
My name's Ed, I'm living in Texas, and I game with two groups: my two sons and my fiance as one (we're playing the Starter Set out right now!), and my fiance and a group of friends (who are currently playing Edge of the Empire, until I reach a stopping point in their adventures, and position the Starter Set as our next adventure, complemented by the PHB).
I'm keen on 5e so far Been gaming since '78, BECMI then Advanced very shortly after. I've played all versions of D&D, and liked most to a degree and for various reasons. I'm pretty pleased with Basic, but champing at the bit for the PHB and more options!
I'm anticipating a lot more good times with the continued adventures of Galadriel the Elf wizard, Bob the Halfling rogue, Xander the Human archer, and Ulfgar the Dwarf cleric. And I'm greatly looking forward to my second group getting into it as well.
BoldItalic wrote:
Magi_theKid wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
CelticPaladin wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
Magi_theKid wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
ChrisCarlson wrote:
seti wrote:
ChrisCarlson wrote:
Is someone going to tell the GoTF that he is wearing no clothes?
Well I told myself I would not get excited about 5E. Turns out I lied....
My name is Ash I am in the Army and have been married for 17 years. I have been playing DnD since the 1988, my first love at that time was Dragonlance. I had a group of friends and we played every week. Then I got older and joined the service, and 2E came, then I left.
I got back into DnD with 4E and then I discovered 3.5! I love both systems and love the Pathfinder as well, instead of saying one is better than the other. I chose to live in a world where you can have what YOU want. My wife is jazed about the 5E, she has 4E and 3.5 PC of the same name. I think she will love a simpler system. I will miss all the cool launch stuff because of Army stuff, but I look forward to seeing the game after I get back! If you are in the Fort Campbell KY area, pm me.
Ash
Javagamer wrote:
Miladoon wrote:
Guest855761860 wrote:
Hi!
I really hope so...
And I really like the idea of your campaign, it's one of the most efficient themes in Eberron. I've run a long Campaign (missing finale, hope to finish it) centered on the Blood of Vol involving political Intrigue and an upcoming "invisible" Quori invasion... Eberron is just perfect for...everything.
Let's wait for good news... ;)
M.
pukunui wrote:
Magi_theKid wrote:
It's interesting to see the correlation between who has posted an introduction here and their forum behavior....compared to the people that haven't posted here and their forum behavior. Some posters just aren't keen on being "friendly", I suppose. Anyway, keep up the good work fellow D&D Nerds!
Ramzour wrote:
Hi, my name is Joe and am in my early 40s. I actually grew up (mostly) in SW Missouri/SE Kansas, and in that area D&D was, well, equated with Satanism. Sooo, naturally, I was always interested because it was considered 'bad' by everyone I knew and was related to. In High School, on Sr class trip, one of my classmates introduced me to D&D. I couldn't tell you edition or anything else, but I quickly determined that it wasn't the devil worship I was told, but it was definitely very fun (I even asked him why it was equated with that, but he had no idea either). My next experience was in college, where I learned to play TMNT (I had a mutated turkey who was an expert with heavy, vehicle-mounted weaponry). That was fun, but eventually was able to join a D&D group playing 1st edition. Fast forward a couple decades, and I've played many different RPGs, and all the D&D versions since 1st Ed AD&D. I'm currently married with four kids (my oldest is starting college this Fall and she is going to major in Physics and going to see about starting her own D&D group at her residence hall - i'm so proud). We play games as a family, and it's great fun. I'm usually nothing more than a lurker, but this seemed like an appropriate topic that even I can post to :-)
Ramzour wrote:
Randalar wrote:
Ramzour wrote:
alienux wrote:
Ramzour wrote:
King_Kaius wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm Ryan. Early 30's and I'm a crime scene investigator and I live in Orange County, CA. I've had the same D&D group since the start of 3rd edition.
I've taken about two years away from these boards since we quit 4e. I'm not a frequent poster, but I've been on these boards now over 10 years and a D&D player for about two decades, starting with AD&D. We ran 4e D&D until about 2012, but my group branched out after we got tired of it. We took about two years off from it and tried out Pathfinder, Dungeon World (yuck) and Savage Worlds (a lot of fun) for a few months. For the last year or so, we've been playing Fantasy Flight's Star Wars Edge of the Empire system and absolutely love it. Although, I will admit, a switch back into fantasy roleplaying is looking good to me.
We played out first session of 5e this past Sunday and had a great time. My group (I'm the full time DM) is really excited about it now and we will likely switch to 5e now and see how it goes. We can always jump back into EotE later. I am very excited to jump back into the system as a lot of the changes they've done, I'm very happy with.
"Honestly, people around here need to grow a pair."
Could that be phrased more diplomatically and still retain your point?
DemoMonkey wrote:
akaddk wrote:
Just one more of my many sockpuppets, pro'ly. (Though "he" even uses 'eeyore' in "his" handle, which may be a hint since I recently called someone around here that very thing*...)
(*more fun speculation. I love making wild guesses. Wheeeee!)
I've removed content from this thread because Trolling is a violation of the Code of Conduct.
You can review the Code here: http://www.wizards.com/Company/About.aspx?x=wz_company_about_codeofconduct
Please keep your posts polite, on-topic, and refrain from making personal attacks.You are welcome to disagree with one another but please do so respectfully and constructively.
If you wish to report a post for Code of Conduct violation, click on the Report Post button above the post and this will submit your report to the moderators on duty.
Not addressing anyone in particular but I've found the more name calling involved the less strong the argument is overall. I enjoy the debates I have with those who differ with me when we can have mutual respect despite our differences. I don't have much use for people who want to throw insults around.
So anyway, welcome to the new members. Glad to have you here on the official forums. Exciting times ahead with the new edition of D&D!
Let's try to keep discussions to a minimum. This is a space for people to introduce themselves to the community, not for debating whether or not debating is worthwhile.
pukunui wrote:
I'm a fortysomething who has played every edition of D&D and is old enough to remember handling a Greyhawk pamphlet... (ouch)
For sins in a previous life I work as an environmental expert in a world famous institution (hence no specific references to it or me - apologies) and so am used to having my advice picked apart and reasonably or unreasonably critiqued and then not acted on... a bit like these forums really!
I've got a Bachelor's and Masters in Environmental Science, been in the army, been a truckdriver, a bar manager, international shipping manager, an archaeologist and consequently used to get roundly criticised by my mother for not being able to 'make my bloody mind up' on what to do with my life!
I like RP because I have always held that the real world is a far nastier place in reality than the darkest fantasy campaign world (confirmed all too often by being a soldier and an environmentalist working in a capitalist country...). So it's nice to get away from it for a while into a place were the good guys win more than 1% of the time... This is especially true of LARP where the roleplay is far more important than the rules, and I love medieval re-ennactment, both of which I have heavily been involved in over the decades. I also once got to county level in sabre fencing (back when my knees still worked well enough) - which combined with my gladius & scutum, broadsword & shield and polearm fighting re-ennactment experience, does make my left eye twitch when I read rules which don't gel with what is even remotely possible with a blade. I've even been involved in writing rules for a LARP system that still runs in the UK.
I have a lovely wife whose dad was a Colonel (equivalent) in the KGB no less, and a son whose teenage persona is clearly a karmic rebalancing exercise for mine back in the day. Suffice to say I keep my father-in-law sweet - I've been out in the Russian forests with him, and seen too many spy movies to be ignorant of how many people get capped in the back of the head in the snow in such places! 
I have friends (nearly all roleplayers...) who are wonderfully varied - from ex-sniper to IT expert to farmer's wife... and I will be shortly running a 5th Ed. game at a D&D club in London every week.
Due to living near London but being a native of further north (I'm very much a Stark in Kings Landing here...), I don't get to run games that often usually, so I'm very much looking forwards to it...
So, soomeone in the old 4e CO forum maybe remember me, but i guess that a new introduction may be in order.
I'm Martina, 27, mother of two screaming boys. I'm a research lecturer in a northern-Italy university. I have a PHD in Ancient History and a degree in Theology. I started playing d&d when i was 12, because i had a crush on a hot player at the game store. The hot player later became my husband, so i guess i owe something to Wizards of the Coast.
My first gaming session was in 1995, when i was 8 (iirc), playing a tiger mount for my brother 
Nausicaa wrote:
Caliburn101. wrote:
Nausicaa wrote:
Caliburn101. wrote:
Pardon a poor person question; but how is boar different than domestic pig? (I live in the USA, and 'boar'; if I can find it, is rediculously expensive compared to other meat).
I assume it's better, somehow. But like most over-priced foods, probably not that much. E.g.: organic bell peppers vs. 'normal' bell peppers.
ALthough, I have had octopus in Greece, vs frozen/canned octopus in the USA...There is a difference. But who am I to complain; LOL, they are both a luxury.
I'll just go eat my ramen and pestacide-laced veggies now....
seti wrote:
Nausicaa wrote:
Brian Davison
Zebulon Georgia
Husband, father of four.
First played when I was eight or nine in the early eighties.
Started getting serious in high school with 2nd edition and running my own campaigns and purchased a lot of books. Almost always ran my own material and co-created a campaign world with a high school friend whom I still keep in touch with.
I enjoy the many creative outlets afforded by the hobby from writing and art to role playing and world design.
I have introduced a huge number of players to the game and never turn away a new player.
I currently run an Eberron campaign using the last playtest which may be converted to basic after we explore some of the kickoff content.
I have never experienced much in the way of organized play, but may give it a spin with my Friday group at Treefort, our semi local game store.
Very excited about the 5th edition of the game which so far looks to be the game I have always wanted to play through house rules and mixing content from various editions.
Emerikol. wrote:
Hey everyone. Very cool thread -- thanks pukunui for starting it.
I'm Seth, in my 30s, graphic designer in MN, USA. I started playing D&D as a kid in 88 or 89, stopped after HS, and picked it up again around when 3.5 came out. I played a lot of 3rd edition stuff until the 4e launch, and then some 4e, Pathfinder, a lot of old-school basic and retro clones (Labyrinth Lord, etc), old-school Gamma World, and a smattering of indie story games here and there.
Right now I'm running a B/X 0e game (using the Rules Cyclopedia) that I'm gonna try to convert to 5e basic with hopefully pretty minor changes. Almost all the players in my group are new to D&D, though a couple played back in the 80s. They aren't into much of the tactics or character building, and I think the core of the game session will stay pretty similar. I think I'll gradually add some complexity here and there, but I think many of the rules even in the 5e Basic set will stay optional for right now.
The best thing about all versions of D&D is that you can get together with friends, drink some beers, and have a great time making fun of the DM's NPC names.
Hi Seth. Welcome!
arjomanes wrote:
seti wrote:
arjomanes wrote:
I'm not a graphic designer, but I did waste a few years of my life drawing mini-comics. So far, I think 5E has a very coherent look, but I'll have to wait till Hoard of the Dragon Queen arrives to say so for sure. No insult to Kobold Press (none at all, they produce a high quality product) but subcontracted freelance art is frequently where things go horribly, horribly wrong.
Hitdice wrote:
seti wrote:
Are you sure the art in Tyranny of Dragons will be subcontracted? I was under the impression that WotC had only subcontracted the actual writing of the adventure. Since they're still publishing it themselves, I imagine they'll have handled the art direction in-house.
19-year-old gamer, I've played 3.5e and 4e and was a playtester for 5e. Current employment: DM.
pukunui wrote:
All right. I wasn't aware of that. Thanks.
pukunui wrote:
Yeah. I've also been having "technical difficulties" with my account. I lost my avatar, and I can't get it back (when I go "save" it says "technical difficulties"; I tried logging out on my desktop and now it won't let me log back in for the same reason. Luckily it didn't log me out on my phone or my tablet. I reported the problems to WotC over 24 hours ago and haven't heard anything yet.).
pukunui wrote:
Thanks. I hope so too!I can access my account on my tablet, but I still can't get the avatar back (I still get the "technical difficulties" message when I hit "save"). I've also tried multiple browsers, and I've cleared the cashe/history/cookies/etc on the desktop, all to no avail. It's frustrating, to say the least. I haven't been able to be as active around here as I'd like as a result.
pukunui wrote:
I am a 43 retired EMT/FF and live in the south east US. I have played D&D since the holmes boxed set and split my childhood between school, hunting and fishing, and the realm, especially after the release of the FR grey box. I have played just about every TSR released game at one time or another including Top secret, Star frontiers, gamma world, Gang busters, ect, but D&D has always been my favorite.
Did you get your screen name from C.J.Cherryh's Foreigner books, Cennedi? 'Cause if you did, that's awesome.
My name is Chris and I have been a dungeon master for 21 years. It never seems that long. I started with 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons as a player. A few sessions in I was already done reading the books and I took over as DM. It's been a long, strange ride. I've run adventures in the Realms, Eberron, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, Kara-Tur, Maztica and my personal favorite, my home brew world. I moved on to 2nd Edition when I bought the books from a buddy of mine. 3.0 and 3.5 was an easy transition for me, we had a good time with the high power it offered. 4e puttered out a bit more because my primary players joined the Air Force and I'm sorry to say my home town (Jacksonville, NC) is lacking in the proper facilities to eh.. facilitate Dungeons and Dragons playing. The local game shop focuses on Magic the Gathering and Warhammer and doesn't give us poor pen and paper gamers the time of day. Anyway I am looking forward to 5th Edition and seeing the realms rocked again. To this date I haven't read or run any of the Sundering modules but I did participate in the Next playtest. I'm excited!
A warm welcome to all the new posters! Thanks for sharing.
Emerikol. wrote:
Hitdice wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, arjomanes. I feel much the same way.
pukunui wrote:
Nicodaudel wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Hello everybody! just signed up and I'm just onother person who loves D&D.
Personally i prefer and use 3.5 ed for my game but i like some stuff from 4th ed too. I think every new edition is something exciting and i hope i could carry on anything useful in my game for me and my friends. So I'm very curius about the 5th edition and i'm waiting to see and learn all the latest news and what's next.
There are so many things for somenone to see here and that's good for all!!
I wish good luck for all the adventurers and good game for any DM!
Welcome Orion, thanks for stopping by!
Welcome Orion! I hope that you find 5e to your liking and give it a try at the table.
Hey y'all! I'm Tia. 33, live in Washington State, caregiver, writer, frequent GM, ran the playtest 1-20. Trans girl, lover of good food and pleasant people, skipper of the starter set but pre-orderer of the core books.
And I think D&D Next is the best game D&D's ever been... a game that lives up to the promise made by the little story about gameplay in the beginning of the Revised Second Edition Player's Handbook. You know, the one that said "THIS IS NOT AD&D THIRD EDITION!" on one of the first few pages? That one.
I'm very happy to play this game, and be part of this community.
Hi, im Maj from Slovenia. I'm 20 years old. I started DMing with next playtest in 2012. I've only played 3 sessions but I DMd a lot in the past two years. Still I usually have no idea what I'm doing and can only hope that players will enjoy the mess I put them into. I really like 5e because it is simple and faster at the table.
If anybody wants a mad wizard PC in an online adventure, I'd love to play.
My turn I guess.
I am a 39 year old father of two boys. I live in a brick house in a forest in southern Sweden with my family and my black labrador retriever. I have been playing D&D since the red box was released in Sweden, but it has been my primary game since 3rd edition.
I hold a master of science in engineering and a position as R&D manager at a small high tech company. I get to travel a lot all over the world, and hate every minute of it. I also get to do a lot of academic mentoring (currently two master thesis students and one phd student) that I really enjoy.
I like:
- Rainy forests
- Dogs
- Vegetarian food
- Archery
- Long distance running
- Dungeons and dragons
I dislike:
- Intolerance
- Sunny beaches
- Quitters
- Team sports
- Pvp games
- Pathfinder (dont know why, irrational)
majthehero wrote:
TiaNadiezja wrote:
Hello. I'm 32 years old, and have been playing DnD since I was 7. I read my brother's books and my mom wouldn't let them play unless I could join in (moms rock). I got bored of their game, started my own, and DM'ed for my friends. We even understood THAC0. ;]
If I had to describe my playstyle, I fall into the 'story first' group and liberally houserule. I like having a group make the game their own; in story and in rules.
On the RL side, I'm a software dev (windows and winPhone, mostly) and have a few other degrees. I like building little tools to help me in the game (as a player and DM). I'm currently looking for a group, so if anyone in the eastern GTA or Durham (Ontario, Canada) are looking, let me know.
Welcome to our little community, SylverFlame.
Cool idea for a thread!
I'm a lawyer, in my mid-forties, and live in South Florida. I came to the US in the early 80s as a refugee from Latin America, escaping from a civil war when I was a little kid. I started playing D&D a couple of years later, after I got to Florida, with the D&D Basic red box. I first DM'ed for my cousin and brothers, and later also recruited kids from the neighborhood as players.
In addition to D&D, and painting miniatures, I love the outdoors, kayaking, the beach, etc., throwing parties for my friends, cooking with my significant other, all kinds of movies, and family time.
I DM'ed D&D all the way through high school but only first got to play as a player as a freshman in college for one year. I stopped playing after that for some years until my brother's wife heard me talking about pre-ordering the third edition D&D books when they were going to come out in 2000, but not having anyone to play with, and she asked if I would run a game for her and my brother. I started DMing again with third edition and ended up finding friends in town to played D&D and got a whole group together that I ran from first level all the way through 20th over 2 years using the Shackled City adventure path for D&D 3.5. After that I started up a fourth edition campaign that ran from first through 18th level over the course of two years, and just wrapped up, just in time to kick off a new game with 5th edition! My friends and I are really excited to try out the new edition.
Great to see you, zoroaster99. I lived in Gainesville for four years while working on my Ph.D. and still have family there (and in Jacksonville). Many of my students at the U of Florida were from Latin America and in situations not unlike yours when you came to the U.S. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I hope you enjoy your time here sharing your passion for D&D with the rest of us!
Thanks, Nicodaudel. I University of Florida was were I went for undergraduate and law school, and where, as a freshman, first got to play D&D as a player. The guy in the dorm next to mine started a weekly game in the dorm's rec room during my first semester there. We all had a blast (we were playing 2nd edition D&D back then).
My name is Frank, I am in my early 40's and have been playing D&D since I was introduced to it by my aunt and her gaming group back in 1982. I believe we used the red box then the 1E D&D. I live in North Carolina, USA and I mainly find myself as the DM. As a matter of fact, almost exclusively as the DM! (as much as I would love to play, I guess if I want people to play my games, I guess I have to do the work!). I currently run a 4E game and I have been running a playtest group from the beginning. I am really excited about the new edition, and both groups I DM for will be transitioning to this version soon. Great idea for a thread, and I look forward to hearing from some of you as this edition gets rolling. Cheers!
zoroaster99 wrote:
Welcome FrankD20! Very cool to read that your aunt brought the game to you!
EDIT: Looks like I'm a victim of the Pukunui broken-avatar syndrome.
Wow. 7 pages of this. Well, I suppose that I shoudln't be surprised.
Hello, I am Betzlalel, or just Betz. I don't feel like sharing my real name mostly because I like my psuedonym better. I live in Minnesota and am a relative baby in the RPG world. I played D&D for the first time over christmas break this last year, and our DM and I decided that, since I had more free time, a better internet connection, and only slightly less experience than him with the game that I would be the DM from then on.
Only the best ideas spawn from the brains of high schoolers.
Anyways, I now have 7 months of DM under my belt, and during that time my play group has replaced 4 members. Today we have 6, two of which know absolutely nothing about the game. Those two also just happen to be female. Not that I'm implying anything sexist, but... I've been playing 3.5 exclusively since then, and am excited to get into 5.0. It has more things that I think are improvements than I think are worse, which I suppose is kind of the goal, but still. Good job WotC.
Welcome everyone! Thanks for sharing.
Welcome Betz!
Hi!
I'm Alex, I'm 21, and my hat looks like a green squid. I'm a game design student currently taking a leave of absence from collage due to an unfortunate onslaught of depression, but I'm not letting that keep me from anything related to games. Officially, I guess I'm studying to make electronic games, but I love making tabletop games just as much and some of my best work was actually used in a real live card game, Sentinels of the Multiverse: Shattered Timelines Expansion. Sentinels of the Multiverse is this goofy superhero comic-themed cooperative card game where everyone plays as a superhero and fights a self-running villain controled solely through game mechanics and flipping over certain cards. I designed one of the additional villains that were added in their third expansion, Kismet. So yeah. That was neat.
I've done playtesting for both Sentinels and more recently D&D Next, and I like constructing things to help other players out( you may see a fully bookmarked D&D Basic PDF in a week or so!).
Hi Alex! What's the 'FR' in "Fralex" stand for?
A fully bookmarked basic pdf would certainly be handy. Cheers!
Franklin. It's my last name. I'm so creative when it comes to forum usernames.
Fralex wrote:
Hi, I'm Amber, 1 day away from 22 and living in Portland. I was born to a geek, am engaged to a geek, and intent on continuing the geeky bloodline - after all, somebody in the future will need a family excuse to get a background that allows them to use legacy game systems like D&D 5E (because it will be a legacy system by then - a few things that are still useful or good will use it because of how old they are). And dice. Pretty sure that dice will be legacy equipment by then too.
I specialize in worldbuilding and rules engineering (primarily rules engineering), which is what I love about 5e - the fact that it is built to handle rules engineers bringing out the duct tape, WD-40, big pocking wrenches, and various other Tools of Doom.
Hi Alex, I too, am a game designer and suffer bouts of depression. Bi-polar and it should show in my posts on these boards. ~laughs~ Seriously though, I hope you find treatment and friends & family to help you through and you can continue on with your dream of creating and designing games.
Amber? I thought you already posted here? Perhaps I was gtting to know you through your other 118 posts already made. ha!
Welcome all, and good morning coffee! How I love you and hug you and kiss you... the coffee!
Disclaimer: I sometimes post before my first cup and the above happens.
kill_the_wiz_first wrote:
Hi Amber and Alex!
My sister is bipolar. I just got the depressive side of the spectrum. Hit me pretty bad a few years ago. Now I've got my happy pills and my family (and my D&D) and they keep me going.
Hi everybody, my name's Sean and I live in St Louis, Missouri. I'm in my mid-40's and have loved rpg's since I got my first blue box around 1980. My friends and I spent almost every weekend and summer vacation playing games through middle and high school. We mostly played AD&D, but soon discovered other cool games like Gamma World, Top Secret and Stormbringer....the list goes on. Good times!
Now, decades later, I have two sons, 13 & 18. My 18-year old has been roleplaying since he was about 8 and I'm just now getting my younger son and his friends into D&D. They've taken to it like ducks to water and we've had great fun the last several weeks.
We're all pretty excited about the new edition, so I've kicked it up a notch and will be running two weekly sessions, one for each group. I'm going to be running a homebrew campaign world with a sort of a "Lost World" kind of feel.... full of exotic lands & people (and monsters!) that they've never heard of. My story will allow both groups to meet towards the end of the campaign for an epic finale.
I've been visiting these forums regularly for a few weeks now and, I must say, seems like a great group of folks 'round here. Looking forward to hearing about everyones stories, experiences and ideas as the new edition unfolds!
May your tankard always be full.
Hi Sean! Welcome to the community!
Blackdog2k wrote:
Hey Sean, fellow Missourian here! Welcome.
Hello! My name is Steve and I live in Macedon, NY. (~30 miles east of Rochester, NY- the home to a once proud Kodak and Xerox.) I'm going to be 50 this September and have been playing D&D, other RPGs, board games, and card games for the past 34 years. I started out with the Moldvay basic and expert sets. I haven't actually played in a game since the second edition; I've exclusively DM'd since 3.5, skipping over 3.0. I have also played or GM'd various other RPG games over the years: Champions, Chill, Call of Cthulhu, Vampire the Masquerade, Star Frontiers, Traveller, Star Trek, Serenity, Mutants and Masterminds, and Dungeon Crawl Classics. I spent a bunch of years helping out a friend run a LARP as a plot developer, NPC, and general handler of equipment. It was a lot of great fun, and was a great way to get exercise and spend a weekend out in the woods beating on people with plumbing supplies. I also did a little VtM LARPing but my first and greatest enjoyment has always been Dungeons and Dragons.
For the past 11 years I have been working at a local university supporting fusion research. I work with cryogenics- helium and LN2, vacuum, lasers, and tritium. This place is ripe for a superhero, or villain, origin. Before then, ~10 years, I travelled as a field tech working in the thin film and semiconductor industry. I spent 5 years in a comic/gaming shop until I got burnt out on the whole industry. I was also a partner in a comicbook company for a while, but we were just coming out when the first big Indy implosion hit in the late 80's/early 90's and it only lasted for a couple of years. I graduated from SUNY Brockport with an English Literature degree, minors in film and history. I live out in the country with my wife, a dog, 2 cats, a horse, and lots of wildlife.
My current gaming lifestyle revolves mostly around occasionally playing either Champions Online or Neverwinter. I mostly solo, playing PvE in these games. My friends and I try to get together once a month to play some type of board or card game, our favorite game being Dune. We are definitely looking forward to playing 5e and I have really liked what I have read so far in the free basic rules.
I have never been to a huge gaming convention, like GenCon, but would love to go some day. There is a possibility of getting to GaryCon next year. I have been to the NY ComicCon, but never to San Diego, and from what I have heard I probably wouldn't like it there anyway- too crowded. I’ll stop here now before this gets too long.
Welcome to the fun world of 5e, Steve.
Liquid Helium! I worked with that in the lab nearly 50 years ago. Happy days. Glad to see it hasn't gone out of fashion ;)
Welcome Steve! I didn't know there was a Dune board game. Is it any good? I have fond memories of Dune II, the grand-daddy of real time strategy computer games.
Hi everyone, my name is Drew. I am a 40 year old full time civil servant/part time writer. I live the in UK where I am married, and soon to be a father. I have been gaming for a fair number of years having been introduced to D&D through the classic red, blue and green boxed sets when at school. (I never got as far as to play the black and gold sets - though I still own copies of them all). Started gaming "serisouly" in the 90s with 2nd edition A&AD. Never really got into 3rd Edition (I prefer my rules lite), and 4th edition was not the game I grew up with. However love what I have seen of the new edition, and have just signed up. Very excited to see what happens with the new edition.
Hi Drew! Welcome.
Welcome Drew! Here's to many more years of happy gaming! 
mboss77 wrote:
pukunui wrote:
That does look pretty cool. Thanks for the link, Andron!
Hello All -
I'm 42, live in Southern Ontario, Canada with my 2 daughters / soccer stars. Work in a factory as a forklift driver.
Started playing D & D with the Red Box. Loved D & D ever since.
Play / collect all editions of D & D and it's clones. Also have a huge collection of dice.
Currently playing Castles and Crusades, Pathfinder and starting a D & D 5 E game in August.
Can't wait to get started . . .
Welcome Oathwin_Oakheart! Glad you checked in!
Hi, started playing D&D in '79 (I'm old) stopped for a while and have been player other RPG's like Traveller, recently I downloaded the new basic rules and have generated a couple of characters and I am a player in a couple of play-by-post games. Lots of fun so far.
-Rob
Hey, I'm Nick W from Portland, OR. I've been playing since just before 3rd ed. so my memories of 2nd are foggy and frankly tainted by a terrible DM. (there was literally no plot to the point we got regular jobs in the city and when we finally found something to do, raiding an evil Wizard's abode we found nothing except a captured baby owlbear which we freed, wooo.)
That said I've played 3rd, 3.5, 4th, SW:Saga, BeSM d20, d20 Modern, Pathfinder, Mutants and Masterminds, and a ton of non-d20 based systems (Marvel Heroic and Anima are crent favorites.)
I'm excited for 5e and have been reading the forum for quite some time, just not posting. Decided to start to post some of our plays and comment instead of arguing with myself :p
Welcome Rob, Nick, and Oathwin!
Joe here.
Hiyas!
Semi new to these boards. Long time D&D gamer. Started when I was in the USAF, played AD&D (forgotten realms).
I came back to 3rd ed, liked it. Tried 4th with some great buddies of mine, didnt like it at all.
Hopes for 5th (next?) to be what brings me back to my first table-top rpg.
Welcome Joe! Here's to hoping 5e scratches that itch for ya.
R_Dragoner wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Welcome Dale! I'm not sure about an OGL-style licence, but the devs have hinted at some kind of program they're working on to allow people to share (and possibly even sell) homebrew material.
Thanks Pukunui. I'm flexible. I'm cool with just about any license as long as it doesn't say things like, "you can't work on anything but D&D 5e." or "you can't change the flavor of anything we come up with," (and even then, that second one is not a deal breaker). But I really am hoping there is a license. I really do like this game and want to write for it, even if it is not OGL.
Greetings All 'Round,
I'm Tony, 43, D&D player since 1980. Gamed on and off since, but interested in getting back into the hobby. I've been on a VA disability for about a decade, PTSD and Psychotic Depression. I am divorced, have sole custody of my 5 year old son, and am battling my way back to being part of society. Life has been a rough road, and it's a struggle most times to just get by and stay sane enough to avoid being committed. Nearly lost everything a couple times, reached my lowest lows, but putting that all behind me and pushing forward. The gaming community has always been the place I've felt most welcome, and I hope to again to rejoin new friends in the grand tradition of P-n-P RPG.
Hey Tony; glad to have you.
Welcome Tony. Your road does sound pretty rough. Hopefully you'll reach a freshly paved road soon and it'll be smooth sailing for you again.
d20devotee wrote:
Hello all,
I'm 42, professional illustrator / graphic designer and fencing athlete, living in VT, formerly from Ohio ( long story ). I DMed D&D 2nd edition in the early 1990s, along with playing some MTG at that time during art school. I've been into video/computer games from the early 80s and still am to this day. I played some Marvel Super Heroes with a cousin back in the mid to late 1980s, but never D&D because I did'nt have a group due to the inclusive world I lived in as a deaf person. I did, however, get the original and famous red box for my birthday and still have the manuals in my possesion ( the box was destroyed, sad to say ) and have great memories leafing through them over the years in my isolation.
I did'nt get into D&D fully until the mid 1990s when a friend suggested the game and I volunteered myself to run it, gathering the 2nd edition books. I managed to play some Pathfinder 3.5 with a group briefly when I moved up to Vermont but then it got more difficult due to a tough schedule in my fencing tournaments that conflicted with the gaming sessions, and of course, my projects too.
Then I stopped gaming for a while in the last few years until 4e showed up which turned me off. I appreciated the design work they put in with the manuals but it did'nt really appeal to me entirely as a game. It was not until 5e finally reared its head in that the simplicity of the Starter Set got my attention. I have'nt bought it yet but am extremely curious now that I glossed over the free PDF, harkening back to memories of 'old skool' D&D with the age of innocence, naiveity, and courage with black and white text and stylized line art in 1st edition.
I'm extremely curious how 5e's Starter Set compares itself to the Pathfinder's Beginners Box which I have, although I hope to add it to my collection eventually.
PS. Does this Wizards community forum have any compatibility to the iOS app Tapatalk? I sure hope so because that's usually the fastest and most efficent way to manage the posts and get instant notification.
Welcome Sanctum1972! I would be very interested in hearing how you have adapted and helped others adapt to playing with you due to your deafness. Good to have you with us. I'm 42 also.
Welcome aboard buddy!
mboss77 wrote:
Cennedi wrote:
Thanks for the welcome guys (& gals).
Quick question: Ive seen it referenced by moderators but I cant find the Boards Code of Conduct (the link I found is disabled). I just want to be familiar with what are the board rules.
Joe
Here's a link for ya joeburgos!
Hi, my name is Nate. I'm in my early 40s, work at a golf course in Colorado, United States, and like to play games online and on-paper.
My first character was a halfling, who became a halfling thief during 2e, and eventually died at the hands of the lich in the fire giant module. My favorite character was a summoner wizard with a habit of distressing his paladin buddy with his summoned monsters, created in 2e, adventured through 3e, and recently retired in 4e, happily pursuing occult lore in his tower. My current character is a bravura warlord, temporarily translated as a fighter/cleric for 5e until the PH comes out.
I"ll tend to be more optimistic about 5e than the average poster, based on only a single 3-hour session.
/cheers
Welcome Nate! Sounds like you've had a lot of fun over the years. Here's to hoping the new edition will continue that trend for you!
Welcome Nate! What part of Colorado are you from?
Welcome nate!
Welcome nate!
Greetings, my name is Randy. I live and work as a Programmer/Analyst in the area of the central Willamette Valley of Oregon with my wife and 3 kids (two boys 15 and 13 and one girl 4). Being in my 40's, my childhood wad definined by a little known independant movie set someplace far, far away, the advent of HBO, and dreams of being a hero with my Red, Blue, and then Advanced D&D books. Unfortuatly, living in a small town in Northern Idaho there wasn't a great number of options to actually play.
Eventually, I moved to a larger town in Northern Idaho in middle school and stubled across a gaming group that mostly played DragonQuest and Champions.
It wasn't until College that I finally got my consistant taste of D&D - by frantically feeding 5 1/2' discs into the dorm's computer and playing the first Gold Box Game, Pool of Radience. Eventually, I found out Utah State had a Gamer's Guilde and was able to pick up different games here and there. Did get to play a wide variety of games: Champions, Traveller, Tood, GURPS. Only really played D&D at the yearly local convention though. One of the highlights was one GM used a map of Zion National Park as Hell and systematically killed all powergamered superbuilds. Whle there, I was also fortunate enough to help test an independant game called Darkurthe Legends.
Other than the many D&D computer games, I pretty much skipped 2nd and the start of 3rd.
Fun fact, opposites do attract as my wife pretty much fit the steriotypical religous anti-Magic, RPG, fantasy, etc. mold. She accepted that I was playing WoW at the time, but not happily. I now have her up to grudging acceptance and may try getting the boys going on 5th. One thing she was happy to do, give up 5 nights of "Don't bother me during raids" with oguys night out for games once a week.
Current group has played a variety of games. I started during an interesting BESM campaign. Next we did a 3.5 game that ended around 9th as the DM grew frustrated with some of the players. Did a turn at 4.0. I actually enjoyed it for what it was, but also saw the flaws of the contually escalating numbers. Most the party revolted against that around 12th level. Next we had a nice 2 year run of Mutants and Masterminds. I think this went well since ther wasn't alot of assumptions about wealth and power level.
I started GMing with the first playtest as filler for when our M&M GM needed time to build material. Had a lot of fun doing it and the players had fun even though they were only slightly interested. Tried to further my experiance by running Legends for a while and a few games of Shadowrun. Eventually, we got to playing Pathfinder. Due to circumstances, I had to take over for the GM on the Kingmaker AP. Now every week the players do their best (unwittingly) to convince me that I really can't wait util its over and I can run a 5th game.
Hey Randy, welcome to the forums! I love your first paragraph, I think you summed up my childhood pretty well!
Hey, this is Matt from Mississippi, the U.S. state with the lowest percentage of gamer/sci fi types. I'm nearly 47, widowed, dad of 3 (plus a cat and a rat). My youngest (12) and I have been playtesting like no one's business and are enjoying the starter set adventure. My daughter (lvl 15 teenager hoping to multiclass as a you tuber) occasionally plays with us. My oldest is 17 and has Autism; he prefers to give me ideas for monsters to actually playing (though interestingly he seemed to have a good concentration when we played Mutants and Masterminds). Been gaming since aroung Christmas of 1978 (that was back in the 20th century for you youngins :P ). I have played every version of the game. I remember telling myself that I would never, ever, ever play 3rd edition, then I did and liked a lot about it. I enjoyed some parts of 4th, mostly the initial character creation but had trouble with higher levels and the "on rails" feel of the power system. Love all sorts of games (Munchkin, got a GURPS super hero game going with my son, Smallworld, Minecraft, etc). May have to take out an add in the paper to find some more players here in the deep south.
Love seeing all the international gamers in this thread. And all the married folks (parents basement indeed). So, let's enjoy this new edition ( and all the past editions). As my new hero Wil Wheaton says "play more games!"
forgot to mention that my late wife was a gamer. We met playing D&D. Made some of our best friends playing Earthdawn. She would have liked this new edition.
bawylie wrote:
Hi Matt, welcome aboard! Thanks for sharing your story.
Edit: btw SW MO is not exactly thick with gamers either.
Welcome Matt! (not that I mean to imply you should lay about in front of the door.)
Nice to see someone from Mississippi pop up - I used to live down that way and would zip over to Picayune 2-3 times a week to game with my "B Group", and there was a fantasy LARP we went to 1 weekend each month.
I had no idea that the area had a low percentage of gamers.
First, I'd like to say that I am SO happy, that I'm not the ONLY 40 + year old player who has posted something on this thread!! LOL! 
I'm 48, playing D&D since the Red Box was on the market. REALLY got into the Dungeons & Dragons with 1st Edition while in high school.
For YEARS, I ran a huge, weekly Sunday night game in my basement (7 + people), located in the Forgotten Realms. When 4th Edition was announced, we prepared to move into the new system. Um, we did not like 4th Edition. Basically, we stopped playing altogether. Bummer.
I've since moved to Florida, and haven't done any pen and paper gaming since 4th Edition hit. But, that's all changed with 5th! With MUCH eagerness, I cannot wait to jump into the new stuff! LOVED the INTRO BOX, LOVED the free BASIC stuff! Giddy-up! I ran the Intro game for my wife and son (both new gamers), and it was perfect! They picked it up and enjoyed themselves, no problem. A breeze to run right out of the box!!!
I'm now looking for players to start a new campaign down here near Clearwater, so I'm laying the groundwork.
I've actually enjoyed reading most of the threads I've seen, not NEARLY as many TROLLS as I expected.
Only a few who don't seem to respect peoples views.
Thanks!
Dungeon Dude
dungeondude wrote:
dungeondude wrote:
Thalion94518 wrote:
greyhobbit13 wrote:
ChrisCarlson wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
ChrisCarlson wrote:
Welcome everyone!
Rhenny wrote:
ChrisCarlson wrote:
My local gaming store is called The Dragon's Lair. The gaming tables are set up in the basement. So, yeah, that's fun to say!
Ok, sticks hands out and waves vigourously.
Hi, Im Alyson and the Hubs is Colin. Based in Llanelli South Wales, ex Londoners. Im 47 and been playing since I was 18 which is about 29yrs.
The Hubs who is 52 started Waaaayyyy, Waaayyyy back in 1973 when D&D was the fantasy rules supplement for Chainmail - which was a Table Top Wargames A5 mag.... and has been playing for 40yrs this year.
Thats how we met, playing D&D at a mutual friends house then dated and finally been hitched for 27yrs . So we have been playing together for a long time, through 1e,3e and hit 5e. As for other rule systems played Traveller, Chivalry & Sorcery, Tunnels & Trolls, Runescape and then got buried in Rolemaster...... (Love the tables) Then got into video games (after the mutual RPG group drifted apart) and hit the MMO, played WoW from TBC to WoLK stopped playing when the hubs lost his sight. I carried on playing WoW then moved to Rift, until the unexpected happend.
Found our local Gamers Shop - The Gamers Emporium in Swansea by accident via FB and joined the ongoing RPG group which was playing Sourge of the Sword Coast back in June. We are now embarking on two campaigns One via the playtest DM and One under my own tender care, both using 5e and will be joining in on the Encounters/Expeditions when they start in August......
Short but sweet so I maybe posting the hubs words when I reply to the threads as Im his secretary come gopher.......
Welcome, mrsrockguru, and to mr.rockguru too. I think he is going to get the prize for the longest-playing person here. 
No-one else here seems to go back beyond 1977.
Welcome Alyson and Colin!
Thanks all for the "welcome" and "hellos"....
I am freaking EAGERLY looking forward to delving into 5th!
Dungeon Dude
Hi all
i'm Dude (Cyril) from Paris ( France)
I discover D&D 31 years ago, and translate my first Otus red box alone with an english/french dictionary before my first english lesson at school. 6 months later, the box was officialy translate.
I play RPG and D&D since the first edition ( and we're not à lot in France ) but, like à lot of players, I was desapointed by the 4th edition. But this new one is full of promesses.
I start playing the starter set module last sunday, and I hope to receive my PHB soon to start à réal new campaign
Bienvenue, Cyril
Merci Gras/italique
For the Mississippians on the thread...
If you're on the Gulf Coast and in reach of the state line, Slidell, Louisiana actually has a really healthy gaming population. I left there about ten years ago but still get news. There was, last I checked (it's been a few months), a game store in town that did regular games, and a lot of the DMs and players down there are quite excellent.
I don't know if that helps.
TiaNadiezja wrote:
FLA has tons of gaming. Orlando has at least a half dozen game stores, probably more.
BoldItalic wrote:
Hey im Incendavis i am in my late teens. I have just gotten into Dnd (Last Spring) and i have fell in love with it. My father used to play and told me of the times he used to play dnd and that is what got me to make my own Dnd group no regrets
Edit: how do i get my little I am the sorcercer tag from the quiz working?
Incendavis wrote:
Hello, I'm Johanna and am very excited about 5e!!
gaminggirl wrote:
Hi Johanna, and welcome!
Hey there! I'm David, 20 and currently studying Physics at Cardiff Uni. (Any other Brits lurking round here?) I first started "D&D" with my dad's homebrewn system he'd been on and off working on for 20 years or so when I was 14, and am still playing in his campaign he originally started running for me and my brother. Then I fancied a go at DMing, gathered some of my friends and hey presto, my games were born! I'm pleased to have infected at least a dozen other people with the D&D disease.
This will be my first edition that I'll be seeing from the start (well, we got the 4E books early on but unforunately didn't have a group to play it with back then so I just read the DMG repeatedly :D ) Now I'm DMing the starter set for a group of friends, as well as a game in the homebrew system. I get to play a 4E game online regularly, and a Savage Worlds game when I'm at uni. Really looking forward to getting the 5E books, i'm pretty sure it'll become my go to game!
Hi David, thanks for checking in! Fellow 4e player here. I've also just picked up Savage Worlds and I'm looking forward to having a go with it.
Hi David,
Yes, there are some more of us UK people here, though not as many. Read back a few pages in this thread and you will find one or two.
5e is fun. Almost as much fun as physics
Yes, I was a physicist once. Back when Newton was a lad It was me who threw the apple.
- Alpizarai -
Real Name Pablo Alpizar aka Ben
Age 30
Sex Male
Birthday May 29th (UtF+1)
Where I'm From: Costa Rica! That is central america. If you wanna visit the outer rim, be my guest.
Occupation: Grapic Designer - Smuggler &Freelance Graphic Artists & Salesman at my family's video-store in my country.
Interests: Anything SW, and well star wars rpg, EU. FU, video games (fighting games, tournament play UMvC3 & SF4), Psilocybe cubensis, Lysergic acid diethylamide, tetrahydrocannabinol, D&D (Darksun, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft), Pathfinder (mythic adventures). And also japanese art, comic books and in music, I listen to Movie Scores and celtic music.
What am I playing now? >
VideoGames > Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 either in ps3 or xbox!
Board games > RISK-StarWars (1st ed) and Conquest of Nerath
Card games > Nil or n/a
RPGs >
- Star Wars Saga Edition - LEGENDS Legacy Era (level 16)
- D&D(Pathfinder) Darksun as a PC (level 14)
- D&D(Pathfinder) Dragonlance {mythic adventures} as a PC and as DM (level 12 )
- AD&D 2nd Ed Darksun (PC) (level12)
- D&D 5th Edition Ravenloft as DM (level 9 )
- D&D 5th Edition Eberron as Player (level 10)
- D&D 5th Edition Forgotten Realms as Player (level 5 )
I started playin D&D with the advent of third edition on the edge of the past century ('99), heard from it in my local arcade store and asked an uncle to buy me the starting kit of 3rd edition in the states an bring to costa rica. A month later, one of my friend's elder brother showed us to play AD&D for a couple years and then I started DMing in 2001.. I've been gaming ever since as much as I can to scape this boring seeting and venture into the worlds of D&D--playing it ever since i learned i actually moarned for all my childhood wihout knowing of the game--so I started doing D&D gameday events around here to help ppeople learn the game, organizing events in my country for the sake of the most memorable game's distribution and for the glory of role-playing and it's growing interest in my homeland. I also used to play D&D Miniatures so I stood to the phrase-- Live by the die, die by the Dice.
May all your rolls be CRITICAL!
Welcome Ben! Cool intro/bio.
R_Dragoner wrote:
Checking in, reading up. What a neat group!
welcome all and sundry.
Looking forward to spirited conversations and swapping stories!
Howdy! Frequent lurker here, sporadic poster... My name's Mike, age 33, and I'm currently living the dehydrated life down in sunny San Diego. Started playing DnD a couple years (~4yrs) back when I was still living in Seattle, getting my PhD (in Immunology) at University of Washington. My lab was located right around the block from the Seattle convention center, and one day when I was walking down through Freeway Park (the park right outside the center), I found a d20 on the ground. Coincidentally (or maybe not), this happened a few days before the first PAX that I had ever gotten tickets to was starting, so when my friends arrived in town for PAX, the first thing I made them do was go down to the DnD Free Play area so I could properly use my newfound treasure. We had a blast, and basically spent the rest of PAX down at the tables! Unfortunately, that group of friends all live down in the Bay Area, so when PAX was over, I didn't have a group. After a few months, I decided that I didn't want to wait for PAXes to get my DnD fix, so I jumped in and started brewing up my own campaign, and began to DM over several VTTs with my Bay Area friends.
Since then, our group has switched over to the playtest, and is anxiously awaiting the upcoming PHB/MM/DMG releases. I've also managed to draw my younger brother into the DnD world, and now he runs his own campaign and gives me the opportunity to be one of those super annoying PCs =)
Oh, and I still have my lucky Ground Die(tm) that I roll whenever the roll is particularly fraught with destiny!
Howdy Mike! That's a cool story about the D20.
Hey all, my name is Alex, but I am known around the internet as Smartboy (long history, don't ask :P). I am a 21 year old, rather new D&D player that lives in Seattle, WA and works as a software developer for a branch of Disney. I first became interested in D&D a year and a half ago, during my time at the University of Washington, Bothell campus. I had already been part of the (casual) Magic the Gathering group there, and one of the people was also in the Dungeons and Dragons group. They told me I would like it since I enjoyed forum-based roleplaying, so I decided to try it, and participated as much as I could (they were playing D&D 3.5 with a lot of house rules) before my schedule started conflicting and I had to drop.
Fast forward to today, and I am finally settled in my job after graduating a year ago, so I decided to try finding another group. I was lucky since this was just after the basic rules were released, and a group was forming up to try them out. I joined up with them and have enjoyed the starter set campaign with them very much, although I have not been a huge help yet to them (I am the sole wizard of the group, and a halfling to boot). Still trying to grasp this edition, and some parts of the rules have been confusing, but I am getting it with their help.
I'll probably lurk around here more than anything, but I felt like I should introduce myself since I know I'll be posting once in a while.
Hello Alex. Thanks for checking in. There are plenty of knowledgeable people on this site if you have any rules questions.
Hi everyone, I'm Paul. I'm a 39-year old professional accountant from Edmonton, Canada. I first played D&D in 1983 when I was 8, with a group of older friends. They kicked me out of the game because I was horsing around and being an idiot rather than taking it seriously. On my 9th birthday my mom bought me the red box basic set, and I finally started to figure the game out. For some reason I thought there weren't any more monsters past the page that ended with "dwarf", so I kept making dungeons with the same monsters over and over (mainly bats). One day I flipped the page and realized what a plethora of monsters I'd been ignoring. (Still to this day the happiest day of my life, and I include my wedding day in that).
My circle of gaming friends moved on to Shadowrun in '87 or '88, so I was pretty much absent from D&D for a long time. I came back with 3.5 edition and hopped in and out of the hobby for a few years. About a year ago I discovered Roll20, and with the 5e playtest I jumped back into D&D more regularly.
This is a cool thread. I am loving reading all the stories of how we all started playing and the friends and loved ones made through it.
Ok, now I wanna hear from any players in the Jackson, MS area. Deep south nerds speak out!
pauldanielj2 wrote:
Hi Paul. Man, I loved that red box, too! Somehow I ended up with a red box, a black box and a gold box. I spent hours trying to figure out how they all worked together.....had no idea that I was missing two sets!
Hmm. my age is showing. I can't seem to start a new thread. Any help for the technologically impaired?
greyhobbit13 wrote:
mboss77 wrote:
Hi my name is Philip and I'm based on Melbourne Australia, our group has been gaming together since 1984, but we only got in D&D after playing D20 Modern, so we started with 3.5 moved onto 4th edition and have just started playing 5th, in my secret identity I'm a station master at an outer suburban railway station.
Our group (Rising Sun Roleplayers) consist of 5 People, and over the years we've played many systems including MERP, Rolemaster, Champions, Mekton, Bureau 13, Teenagers from Outer Space, Legends of Anglerre, Traveller, Harnmaster, GURPS, and many others, lately we've been playing Fate Core (urban fantasy set in Dublin Ireland), before returning to D&D.
Hello Philip, glad to have you with us. The longevity of your group is really impressive. You all have certainly covered a lot of gaming territory.
Hello all, Trevor here. Played a little of the original AD&D back in the early 80's, then discovered the personal computer (hides behind a rock, awaiting the incoming arrows) and have been computer gaming ever since. And now, at the age of 45, I am back with a passion.
Looking forward to getting engaged in local Adventure League events.
Hey Trevor, good to see you! Where do you hail from?
mboss77, I live in Omaha, Nebraska.
Hello folks, coming back to D&D for 5th edition. Very excited about it. Have played D&D since the late 70s. Now living in Oregon.
TDHenderson wrote:
Hi, I'm Melissa, known on this forum as Melwick. I was on the WOTC D&D forums during the playtest of 5th Edition...some of you may know me from that time.
I can't say that I do know you from that time, but glad to meet you, Mel.
Hitdice wrote:
Hey there, coming into the forum today and hoping to have some good discussions! I originally got started with DnD with AD&D 2nd Edition's Paladin's Handbook and since then have had a number of adventures with 3.x. I will warn people I'm one of the few that actually liked 4th Ed (Yes I dealt with many a wizard player that wanted to burn every 4th Ed book they saw) and I'm hoping 5th will prove entertaining and versatile enough for me to keep going with the series.
Hello Nist498 and welcome! I'm a big 4e fan too, there are quite a few of us here. Where are you from?
mboss77 wrote:
Nist498 wrote:
BoldItalic wrote:
Hi All
Not posted for a long time on the board. Just picked up 5e and im loving it. Been a gamer since 1982 so a long time players of all things D&D - this version does look amazing so far.
Hello from Turkey.
My name is Cihan, i`m from Turkey / İzmir. I`m former professionaal basketball player and coach. Now i`m working for a Turkeys biggest e-gift company as a regional manager at İzmir and i`am mid 30`s. Love sports, social life, drinking, reading / writing and tons of hobbies Also I`m playing d&d (and some other systems such as wod, mutants mastermings etc...) since late 90`s. For now, i guess i`m the one of the few guys who write about d&d next on Turkish websites, check dndnexttr.blogspot (my former blog) and geekyapar.com for my Turkish dndnext articles advices and tables. And if you want to ask more and play (if you are at İzmir) contact me! Cheers...
Hello Dargurd and ShevarashG. Welcome to 5e and happy posting!
Howdy! I'm Hortensio_peace, and I started playing D&D with 3.5 in middle school back in the early 2000s. Then I moved to a new school and fell in with a differet, and sadly non-D&D, crowd. Then I dabbled in 4e in the summer of 2013, and now I am VERY excited to start playing 5e! 3.5 will forever be what I cut my teeth on, the bike I learned to ride on, the guitar I learned to play on, the board I learned to surf on... you get the idea. But I am very excited for the direction the game is going, and love to see the relationship between player, game, and Wizards of the Coast. I'm excited to be here!
Hello! I'm Matt and I've been playing RPG's and DnD in particular since 1990. I've played a ton of different systems and genres, lots of different campaigns both short and long. I work as a Middle School Choral Director in Virginia, though originally, I come from central NY state, around the Syracuse area. I played 2nd edition for years and years, ran a lot of games in 3rd edition, a few in 4th, and looking into 5th now. The wife and I were really big into Living Greyhawk when it was around. I currently run a GURPS Mecha space opera game, though am already planning the continuation of a long running campaign using 5th edition.
Hello everyone, I go by Zapdos. L1 Magic Judge and very quickly being obsessed with D&D. I'm based out of West Virginia, Played a little 3.5/pathfinder, 4th and a few sessions of the 5th play test. I'm super stoked about 5th so I should be around a good bit.
Hello everyone.My name isTony.Ive play DnD up to the 2nd edition and then stopped.Im not gonna lie.I didn't like the 3rd/3.5/4th edition rules.It just wasn't for me.Then all of the sudden WOTC comes out with the 5th edition rules and I've felt like they brought back the magic of DnD again.Very excited to be back in the fold again and can't wait for the future products coming out this fall/winter.
Hortensio_peace wrote:
Hello and welcome everyone!
Hi all! Welmet! Talaeden_Denthiir here! Nice to meet you all!
Hi all! Welmet! Talaeden_Denthiir here! Nice to meet you all!
Hi, Justin. Thanks for stopping by to introduce yourself. Hope you have better luck getting the next group off the ground!
I'm fieldmechanik and I'm from the USA in the Wilds of Pennslyvania. I have been playing D&D since 1987. Most of my experience has been as the Dungeon Master. I'm married and hve a two year old son. My gaming group has 8 people in it and we meet to play D&D (and other games) at least twice a month. (More if we have the opportunity.) There is a small group of folks playing Wednesday night D&D at the local coffee shop, and one of my friends runs a "T for Teens" event for teenagers at the local library where they meet to play D&D at least once a month. We don't have a local gaming store. The closest store is roughly 45 minutes away. So whenever I go on a trip, I am using questing to visit a new gaming store.
I have to say that I was excited when the D&D NEXT playtesting started because I was not a fan of 4th Edition. We played through every version of the playtest, and enjoyed every minute of it. With the advent of 5th hitting the bricks, we're gearing up to start making characters and playing some of the Tyranny of Dragons (ToD) storyline.
I'm wondering what the "present" time is for Forgotten Realms now? Is it still 1484 DR when ToD starts to take place?
I have come back to the Forums (again) hoping that the 5th edition community will be awesome.
Hello, my name is Phill, 37 years old and I hail from the United Kingdom.
I started to play D&D at school some 20+ years ago but that, sadly, did not last long. We used to use the Geography teachers class room at lunch time and sadly an in game arguement spilled out into the real world and one player threw a chair at another, just as the head master walked by. Not only did we not get to play anymore we all got detentions.
Lately though I started to work at a very cool place that has nerds like me and so we have recently started to play a mix of first and second ed AD&D. I play a Sorcerer called Rask, I have written about 2500 words of back story and every night we play I drop down into negative HP's and almost die. Still....it is a great deal of fun and makes me think about all those lost years when I could have been playing!
From that I started to look up online for tips on how to play a sorcerer and how to stay alive, that led me to forums, podcasts and Penny Arcade. My how I adore the Penny Arcade podcasts and a certain Mr Jim Darkmagic.
Anyway that got me interested in the newer versions of D&D and that 5th Ed was due. So with all the updates and teasers from Wizards on my Facebook page I went out and bought the PHB right away and I am loving it! How I wish Rask had Spells he could cast each round rather than trying to hit things with his Crossbow. Despite being proficient in its use if the target has armour I need a 17 to hit the damn thing. So I often roll a 1 and shoot someone on my team instead. Or I try to throw an acid grenade and roll a 1...so far I have a badly burnt left leg, right arm and right side of my face and I am missing a finger on my right hand.
Right now I am looking to find the time and a club to play 5th ed at. I think I have found the club just waiting to hear if they intend to play it
Thanks
Phill
Hi Phill, and welcome to the world of 5e. I'm UK too.
You should try playing a halfling. They get to re-roll 1's.
Hi fieldmechanik and Phill!
A quick intro from me then! I'm a 44 year old guy living in the South West of England. I've gamed rather a lot since I was around 13 across all formats, but sitting around a table with good friends and roleplaying, or board gaming are my favorite pastimes. There's no edition of D&D I haven't liked, but I'm less worried about systems and more focused on telling stories with my friends.
As a profession, I train people to work in customer service and management, and although I'm not showered with gold for my efforts, I have a very flexible employer and get to work with some great people, plus the advantage of walking down the hill and through a park to get to work.
I'm running an Encounters game on Wednesday nights at my FLGS (Torbay Guild of Gamers), and this will probably spawn a couple of other games at different times. I really like 5th Ed so far, it has the feel of earlier editions, but the player balance of the 4th. All the classes feel valid and can really contribute with their powers and abilities. Plus there are mentions of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones in Warlock. Bonus points designers!
Matt
BoldItalic wrote:
.....
Hi all!
I am Vargtass on most boards I frequent; I had to add the surname here (possibly due to forgetting my older user credentials, I don’t remember anymore …). Unfortunately, the alias doubles as the name of a Swedish long drink, so sometimes it’s already taken.
I am 43 years old, married with two children, 16 and soon nearly 14 years old. Both kids play D&D 3.5 in my campaign since 2008, and the son (14 years) in a PF campaign DMed by my brother. I have played every edition of D&D except the original (excluding some expansions of Basic, too), starting in 1983. Besides D&D, our group focused on the Swedish evolution of Basic Roleplaying (“Drakar och Demoner”), Call of Cthulhu, White Wolf’s storyteller system games, and a lot of others at conventions in late eighties and nineties (fond memories of James Bond, Paranoia, and more). At the time, I was also part of the organization of one Swedish convention.
I have followed the open playtest with a keen interest, discussed it a lot, but didn’t have time to play significantly at all. Now, I am extremely enthusiastic about the release, and jump at every preview online! I look forward to starting The Hoard of the Dragon Queen with the kids and their friends – looks like it will be a seven-headed party, ages 12-16, two girls and five boys, two of which are beginners. I might also run the Starter Set adventure with my adult friends in scouting (all beginners) if time allows.
Normally, I write my own campaigns, but lately I have realized this takes too much time nowadays. I have to lower my expectations a bit, but I expect to tweak a lot as I see fit, though.
I have a background in engineering physics, and have worked mainly in research as a scientist, director, and programme manager. Since a couple of years, I am a civil servant in these areas, enjoying funding research and managing international collaborations.
I look forward to many more years of happy dungeoneering!
- Vargtass
Greetings bags of mostly water!
After a long hiatus from these forums during 4E I have returned thanks to 5E. I have been off gallivanting with Pathfinder but after reading the PHB for 5E I decided to return to this wretched hive of scum and villainy and since I have been called both I will be in good company!
I am 34 years of age and married. I don't have any children but I do have two very high maintenance dogs. I am a physicist by trade and I work at a national lab in the DC area.
I have been running pathfinder campaigns for a few years now but after reading the PHB for 5E cover to cover last night I must admit I am smitten. I am signed up to play in a campaign and I am planning to run the new published adventure.
I look forward to chatting with you fine ladies and gents.
Cheers,
itouchmyelf
Hi Vargtass and Hi itouchmyelf,
One day, some mad psychologist is going to try to work out why D&D players are mostly physicists. He'll get it totally wrong, of course. We know why, don't we
BoldItalic wrote:
Oh. Hi there.
I've been running rampant through these forums for the past several hours (Thanks, insomnia!) I've been lurking for years (like, 3.5 was released, wow, what is this online thing years), but I've only now started posting. Lotsa fun as well.
Just thought I'd pop in and say hi. Been a while since I've been around. Steered clear during the revamping but just picked up the PHB. Looking forward to checking things out.
Welcome to all the new folks! Glad to see you all posting here.
So I am ForgottenSpecter. I have only played 2 times before but that was during 3.5. I recently thought about getting back into D&D after moving to the Philippines.
ForgottenSpecter wrote:
Orethalion wrote:
ForgottenSpecter wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
ForgottenSpecter wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Hello! I'm Nick. I'm 30 years old, a father of two daughters (8 and 6 and both rpg-obsessed), am engaged to be married, am an Army veteran, and I work as a writer for a newspaper. I'm also a poet and novelist of contemporary and Jazz Age literature published through Swyers Publishing. I also sell my abstract expressionist paintings on the side. Writing is a massive part of my life and reading is as well. I don't typically read fantasy fiction (aside from Ed Greenwood's Realms novels) and my favorite authors are Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf. I currently reside in Wyoming, but by no means consider myself a Wyomingite.
I've been into rpgs since I discovered AD&D 2E back in 1996. Always the avid writer and imaginiative kid, I instantly was chosen as our young group's DM and have been DMing and world-building ever since (using every edition of D&D and various other rpgs). Aside from my homebrew, I'm somewhat of a Forgotten Realms aficionado and prefer to run D&D campaigns in that setting. My gaming passion is my homebrew setting of sylvan high fantasy 'Arko', which I first created in September of 2001. I've run countless Arko campaigns with numerous groups over the last 13 years in many different rulesets (D&D and otherwise), and have just converted it to 5E. Out next Arko campaign, and the first using the new D&D rules, will be firing up shortly. I'll be sure to post a campaign journal elsewhere in these forums.
You can find me elsewhere on the internet here: https://www.facebook.com/NicholasTrandahl
Here: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007DON7G0
And here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NicholasTrandahl?ref=si_shop
Hiya! I'm Karibou. Been playing since 2e, but pretty much skipped 4th edition because I felt 3.5 was more robust (and I have 2 floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with 3.5-related content!) I'm quite excited by the new PH, but will be even more excited when a MM and DMG are available! I have nothing more specific to add, just wanted to say "hi!" because I'm sure I'll be hanging around here as I get the new rules down. I can run 3.5 in my sleep, so learning a new system will be like wearing new shoes -- cool, but a little uncomfortable at first. I'm glad to see that a lot of the basic structure of 3.5 is the same, but much of the tax-code-like mountain of rules is so much more streamlined. I've been playing with people who are new to gaming, and I never really realized how complex 3.5 rules were until I started explaining them all to new players.
Anyway, hi all!
Well, I've been commenting on these boards extensively for the last few days, so I may as well present myself ;)
My name is Karl. I live in Montreal, Quebec. I've been playing D&D since AD&D 2nd Ed, and have to say that of all the editions I've seen to date, 5th edition seems the most promising. Although I'm one of those who actually had a lot of fun with fourth ed. Mind you, it IS a tactical game and I'm playing a Tactical Warlord, lol. I have a great deal of experience with several RPGs, and I'm a bit (a lot) of a collector of games as I'm big fan of game system design and theory.
And by the looks of it, I'll be DMing a game as soon as the MM and DMG come out :D
Hello other newish people!
Hi Karl and Karibou! Welcome!
Hi everyone im Amber aka Ziggy. Im 26 and live in Burlington Vermont. I am mostly a console gamer but am trying out the world of computer gaming. Hit me up im always down to make new friends and join partys :D May the odds be forever in your favor
Hey everyone, I'm Sean from Auckland, New Zealand. I'm one of those eternal DM people who can only get his friends onboard if he's running things for them.
I started playing with 4e and really appreciated how it eased a complete newbie like myself into a DM role but I'm very excited to have now started a 5e campaign.
Full disclosure, I do some graphic design work for Gale Force 9 (who makes official DnD support material and miniatures) but you won't see me trying to push anything. I'm here as a player, a DM, and a huge fan of DnD.
ChylerSkyline wrote:
Name is Aaron, over the age of 50. Joined the forum in 2004, but rarely post. Made the account to ask 3e questions. I started with 1e ... first character a mace wielding fighter named Awbruta. He lasted one adventure before being warped by a helm of opposite alignment (CG to LE). I was in the military overseas and never had an opportunity for 2e. Used that time exploring other games ... GURPS and Rolemaster among others. Found 3e to hit what 1e limited ... "You mean my dwarf can reach an unlimited wizard level?" For me 4e died after a half dozen forays; went back to 3.5.
I was a former enlisted and officer in the Navy. Now work as a high school teacher. Play essentially once per month. Hoping 5e leaves out the things I disliked about 4e.
Greetings all - name is Greg Volz (and no I'm not the lead singer of Petra/Christian rocker from the 80's ) I'm a 44 year old who has gamed since the early 80's. A friend of mine introduced me to the Erol Otus covered Basic D&D while attending my catechism class...oh the irony! I've played or ran all editions of D&D since, some more than others, but have always had a good time playing or running whatever version is out there.
Disclosure: I've written a couple published articles, developed some material for PFRPG, and have a cartography credit in one of Wolfgang Baur's patron projects (Empire of Ghouls). Not trying to sell anything just wanted to make sure folks don't think I'm schilling
5e has really caught my attention as I'm suffering from Pathfinder bloat although that's really my problem and not the games - I think I have OCD when it comes to making sure I have all the latest Hero Builder Pathfinder files.
I'm running Encounters at a FLGS and one of the pieces of anectodal evidence that I'm seeing at the store is that 2e gamers who skipped 3.x and 4 are coming back with 5e. All-in-all it's a good thing!
Later and good gaming,
Greg Volz
Natural Twenty Games
www.naturaltwenty.com (site is being redesigned and more content is on the way)
My name is Conan and I've yet to play a barbarian. I'm in my early 30's and started TRP with some high school friends with mostly White Wolf content and a slight splash of 2nd before everyone split their separate ways. I got back into the hobby in my late 20's when my room mates were members of the Toronto Area Gamers had people over running 4th and I played in a few campaigns before moving out of there. Though, I retained friendships in the community and now regularly game with some of the people I met then and play a wide variety of systems (Icons, EoE, 4th, Fiasco, Fate, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Apoc world variations).
5E is currently looking to be our next game with me running HotDQ, and some people have had an interest in joining AL play or taking the group in for a session at one of the stores in the area. I might also do some of my own "solo" play in AL with my own PC at one of the stores in Toronto (especially after meeting some of the local DM's outside of my group at Fan Expo over the weekend).
As a small sidenote: I spent 9 months living in Auckland, which almost makes me part of that group, right?
BoldItalic wrote:
Hi Warpigglet, and welcome.
From your post, since you clearly enjoy D&D and like 5e as much as we do, you are obviously extremely sane. Are you sure you aren't a physicist? Even slightly? No, I guess not.
Hi, everyone. My name's Brian, I'm a 39-year-old gamer living in NYC. It's been a while since I played D&D -- I began with the red box in elementary school and quickly moved on to 1st edition and then 2nd edition AD&D... and then got sidetracked by other interests, a lack of players, and a game system that started to feel a little too different from what I was used to. That was 20 years ago. But now I've finally found my way back to the dice. The 5e rules are what did it -- it really feels like coming home for me. Last week I ran my first campaign in what seems like forever and had so much fun. I'm definitely back for good!
I'm more of a player than a dungeon master, but circumstances stuck me behind the DM's screen and you know, I'm really enjoying it! No complaints from the PCs yet, so I guess I'm doing okay. Since that first session I've had a lot of opportunity to read the advice on these forums, not to mention the links everyone's shared, and I feel like I've already learned enough to improve my technique. I'm looking forward to picking up even more from everyone.
When I'm not gaming, I'm collecting science fiction stuff, including vintage robots and ray guns (and prototypes of both) from the 1930s through the 1950s; original paperback and pulp artwork; Star Wars toys; and first edition science fiction paperbacks. I'll admit, I like science fiction more than fantasy, but in the end I do enjoy it all.
To pay for everyong -- lol -- I'm a video producer and documentary maker. (Sorry, I'm not a physicist!) My most recent film is called Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys, and it explores the history and pop-cultural influence of... you guessed it... Star Wars toys. It's out on DVD and If anyone cares about such things, you can find out more at the film's website, www.PlasticGalaxyMovie.com. I feel a little uncomfortable plugging the film here, so that's all I'll say about that. (If it's against forum rules please let me know and I'll get rid fo the URL!)
I live with my wife, who's gamed a little in the past, and our cat, Calamity, who likes to knock my dice off the table.
Nice to meet you all!
(Bonus XP to anyone who can say what my avater is...)
Hi everyone, first post here just getting back in to D&D with the release of 5th edition after a fairly long break (i wasnt a fan of 4th edition). Fairly new to DM'ing so will likely be picking everyones brains for ideas soon!
Hello! My name's Ellen, and I am from Bonham, Texas. I'm in my early 30's. I started with 2e, although my group quickly moved to World of Darkness and West End Star Wars. Speaking of SW, my favorite film is The Empire Strikes Back. I suppose I grew to love the paladin mythos because of it's similarity to the Jedi concept. Currently, I am eagerly awaiting my 5e Player's Handbook. I really like what I have read about 5e so far. I'm looking for an LGBT friendly gaming group in Texas, so please let me know if you come across one. I'd be grateful. Keep rolling those dice!
lesbianblackguard wrote:
I heard great things about Saga Edition, although I never got a chance to play it. It warms my heart to know that West End SW still gets played somewhere. I should never have sold those books. Have you tried the Fantasy Flight SW games? They have a very unique dice mechanic that I really enjoy.
Zardnaar wrote:
lesbianblackguard wrote:
Nice gaming library! I'm envious. It's only fitting that "A galaxy far, far away" reach the other side of the world. Are there RPGs uniequely popular in your area? Maybe ones we don't know about here in the states? Love your signature, by the way. (:
lesbianblackguard wrote:
Nice to see your library there, Zard. RPGs are bit more popular up here in Auckland, although probably not by much. We've got a couple of gaming stores but they cater more to the M:tG and Eurogames crowds. D&D (including Pathfinder) is probably the only RPG most people in Auckland play. I bet my group was the only group in the country playing FATE Bulldogs!
We played SWSE extensively for a while. I've got all the books. When I took over as DM, we only made it through the first three modules of the Dawn of Defiance campaign before I just couldn't take anymore. I enjoyed the game as a player, but as a DM, I found it had quite a few glaring flaws (eg. how grenades interact with cover and the way Skill Focus made Force powers overpowered at low levels and underpowered at high levels). I ended up feeling like d20 simply wasn't a good fit for Star Wars. This is partly why we started playing Bulldogs! instead - I wanted to see if it would be a better fit for Star Wars. I would say yes on that count, although the amount of work to hack it is a bit intimidating.
By the way, The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of the SW films too.
pukunui wrote:
I wouldn't mind trying WEG Star Wars. I don't know anyone who has the books, and I'm not sure I'd be able to convince any of my groups to try it either.
pukunui wrote:
It is a beautifully simple, and yet layered system. I think you would enjoy it.
Zardnaar wrote:
Hi folks, I'm Tor. I started playing in 1985 with the red box set, when I was 10. This is how it happened.
Everything that happened when I was young seemed to happen when I was ten years old. I frenched kissed a girl for the first time. Got drunk and threw up for the first time (they are unrelated by the way, the kissing and the getting drunk on champagne). Made my first best friend that I would keep in contact with throughout my life, albeit irregularly. But the biggest life altering experience was my introduction to the grand-daddy of all role playing games, Dungeons and Dragons.
It was during a school break, I had finished my sandwiches and was rushing to go and play one of my favourite games, “stingers”. A fast-paced game where you try dodge speeding tennis balls. If you got hit, it would sting, hence the name.
I ran passed some boys huddled on the stairs leading out to the quad. I remember the day being sunny and the light was catching the lid of a red box on the floor between them. The box cover enthralled me and I stopped in my tracks. It was fire engine red with a large ferocious red dragon about to kill a hapless warrior. The warrior was in the dragon’s den and both were standing on a mound of golden treasure. I had never seen anything like it. I asked what it was and a boy named Gregory Sayers (the aforementioned lifelong best friend), said it was a game called “dee-en-dee”. I read the box cover to make sense of what he said, “Dungeons and Dragons” it proclaimed in large fantastical type, with the ampersand being a dragon curling around itself and breathing fire. It was magical. He had some small light blue objects in his hand that intrigued me, so I asked him what they were. “Dice.” he replied in a short manner. He seemed very absorbed and his answers sounded rehearsed, as if he was asked these questions all the time. I sat down next to him and asked if I could see the dice. He nodded and rolled them onto the ground. They blew my mind. I can still remember the quiet thrill of seeing the now all too familiar multi-sided dice. There were six of them in total. A square one which didn’t interest me at all as it had the regular six sides I knew from board games like “Monopoly” and “Careers”, but the others… There was an eight-sided, a ten-sided, a twelve-sided and a twenty-sided. It was hard to tell just by looking at them and I had to ask Gregory what each one was. The twenty-sided die held my interest for a long while (so many sides) when I noticed the last die. It was shaped like a pyramid. I picked it up, the numbers didn’t seem to be in any order and all were very low. “And this one?” I asked. “Four-sided,” he replied, looking up for the first time since I sat down. I then proceeded to ask him every question I myself have now answered thousands of times. “How do you play?” “What’s the twenty-sided die for?” “How do you win?” “What’s a Dungeon Master?” “What’s better, a dwarf or an elf?” “Can I get a magical sword?” “What spells does a first level magic-user get?” “What is first level?” What is beyond third level?”
I never did get to stingers that day, nor for any other day while I was at that school. By the end of the break I had rolled up a ‘fighter’ character, and armed with a sword and shield was facing carrion crawlers with their poisonous tendrils and rustmonsters that could turn your armour and weapons to rust in seconds. I was enthralled. All this was happening in my fertile imagination with a few scraps of paper and the very cool polyhedron (a word I would later learn) dice. I played a character for the first couple of months and left the Dungeon Mastering to Greg. Soon I bought myself the same red boxed set and was eager to try my hand at leading some of the stories, so I asked Greg if I could Dungeon Master the next game session. He gave his assent and afterward the players said it was their best game to date. From then on I was the Dungeon Master, and have rarely played as an individual character ever since.
That was 29 years ago and I can still remember it clearly. I grew up and the games grew up with me, becoming more adult in nature. More complicated rules, more genres, styles and themes. Dungeons and Dragons moved to a shelf as other games came on the scene.
It is hard to understand how two, thin, soft cover books with small ink drawings in a red box and a bunch of weird dice could generate so much power that could inspire for a lifetime. Thanks Greg for introducing me to the game, you have given me worlds.
I credit DnD for my love of reading, my imagination and ultimately for my love of story-telling. It is by far the most empowering game for a child, ever. Who knows, I still might be running around trying to sting someone with a tennis ball if I hadn’t seen that box cover. Thanks E.G.G. for “roll for initiative”.
Glad to have you aboard, Thor.
Hello everyone
Like Tor I started playing D&D with the Red Box back in 1983 but all my best memories of playing come from my 2nd ed days. Barely a weekend went by between 1989 and 1999 when I didn't have dice in my hands and I was killing things and takin' their stuff .
Life progressed, as it has a disturbing habbit of doing 
. Marriage, kids and responsibility kinda got in the way of my favorite hobby for many years. I totally skipped 3rd ed and, when I tried to get my old team back together a few years ago, we found didn't get on with 4th. It just didn't have the same "feel" as we were used to back in the day. Then last year I heard through the interwebz grapevine that there is going to be a new edition of D&D so I signed up for the playtest and liked what I saw. Fast forward to July and the release of the basic rules and a play through of LMoP with my old team and I am once again hooked!!
The best thing this time around is I have a captive player base in the form of my three kids!! D&D has very quickly become our weekend "family time" activity. My children are 9 ,11 and 14 so getting them off of their goto electronic devices is a major PLUS, even if it is only for a couple of hours. Also this coming weekend I am going to be able to PLAY for the first time in many years because my son is going to cut his teeth as a DM for the first time. I don't know who is more excited, me or him 
Any way thats enough about me. I'll no doubt chat to some of you around the forums
Kheldar
Oh, hi, I'm Caoimhe. I started playing D&D with AD&D 1st edition; my first D&D product I owned was the DMG. I've been a DM for longer than many people I know have been alive, which is really scary when you think about it.
I liked 4e and I currently have mixed feelings about 5e, but I'm giving it a chance.
I'm also a game designer (see my signature file) and I just did a conversion document for the Birthright campaign (also in my signature file). My favorite D&D setting is Al-Qadim.
I live in southern California with my girlfriend and our two kids, and two cats.
Hi,
I've been lurking on these forums since I first heard 5th edition was in the works.
I started playing 2nd edition in high school, (and dipped into AD&D and basic) then got into 3E and 3.5
About 10 years ago I stopped playing and focused on exhibiting artworks instead. So never really experienced 4E although I didn't like what I read about it's direction.
A few years ago I started to get some ideas for a homebrew campaign/world setting.
I thought about trying 4e but eventually procrastinated long enough that talk of D&D next had started...
Everything I read about the new edition made me excited. So here I am, I got the starter set and ran a session for a bunch of players that had never really played (except one guy)
I've now got the PHB and am going to put on another session this weekend.
I'm not sure how involved I'll be on the boards, just wanted to say hi.
Cheers
A.
Hello!
I'm a 25 year old D&D fan and player from Portland Maine, I run a couple of small games in 5e. I'm big into character development and story.
I got into RPGs from my dad who played first eddition AD&D when he was in the marines.
I've played every edition except for 2nd and a few other games like Dresden Files and World of darkness, but there is nothing like D&D.
Ive been DMing for a good 6 years now.
I love building my own campaigns and am one session in to a brand new 5e adventure!
Hi I'm Liam, I am 18 this october (thats october 2014 for those reading in the fututre)
I play two sessions of DnD a week, the first session I have been attending outside school with friends and we've been playing 4e for like 3 years because we didn't know any different but now we are starting 5e and its just better! the 2nd session I attend is one that a friend and I setup in school, we play 5e and its okay but we only get an hour at lunch so it is a bit hard to get enough in.
anyway I wanted to see if I could get some people to fill out this survey i am doing for a Character creation project which will be part of my higher education in computing A-Level.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ab39KVQN7JzNniQHGUH2nsL6s6KxvWRYIh59CzbFaA8/viewform?usp=send_form
the survey i tried to keep very brief and i have had a lot of replies from people that don't know much about dnd so I am now trying to find more dnd players to fill it out.
by completing it you will be helping me get a good mark in my computing A-level hopefully
Hi Liam, welcome to the forums and good luck with your studies.
If you haven't already, I'd suggest you sign up for the DungeonScape beta, which is starting next week. It's a program that, amonst other things, guides the player through character creation for 5th Edition D&D and outputs a filled-in character sheet. It might give you some ideas for your project (and something to write about in your report, too).
Hello all...
I am Morgan Corey, I am a 35 year veteran of the D&D tradition (42 years old). I live in the land of the 49er gold rush, that being the Grass Valley / Nevada City area of California. I am always looking for players and DM's for my local gaming cooperative and would gladly welcome PM's about said group. I live with my lady, our soon to be born child Revan Corey and my black cat familiar "Ms.Chief" ;) I tend to be a fan of where historical "earth-based" mythology meets "high fantasy" and am in the process of writing a novel using these themes and the 5e rules system as the basis for my characters and villians. It is to be titled "Cu'Morrigan, Hound of the Great Queen". I am a life-long musician who plays ambient-indy guitar rock and spent time as an amateur boxer and competitive skateboarder (CASL). Most of my players left because of 4e but are coming back in droves over 5e so for me, this is a bit of a rebirth back into the D&D fold as we switched to Star Wars Saga Edition until 5e was released. Send a PM if you are in the area...
Hi all,
Started playing D&D from the red box, but mostly played AD&D, later played everything from Call of Cthulhu to Paranoia and VtM.
Haven't done any RPG for the last 5 yrs, and no D&D for appox. 10. Read reviews for 5th and decided I'd missed it too much.
Off writing a campaign setting I went..
Quite involved in HEMA (Historic European Martial Arts) and this has given me some strong ideas about armed combat, which will reflect my house rules.
I migh be found to make comments about weapons/feats/general combat system type things in regards to that. Just so you know. ;)
Hey there everybody, my name is Jacob and i'm 19 (a newbie) and live in southern Ohio (Oak Hill). I was first introduced to ttrpgs through the game HeroScape. I got the 5e starter set a couple days ago and still haven't been able to play my first game 
I've known about dnd since I was a kid but have never been able to play because I haven't had a store that sold the products. I'm into MtG, video games(Zelda, Mario, Golden Sun), fantasy books(LotR, Eragon), anime, comics(Marvel, manga), etc. Some of my favorite shows include Sword Art Online, Blue Exorcist, Steven Universe, and Adventure Time. So that's all you need to know about me, see you on the threads.
I've been Dungeon Mastering since 1979. When I was about 30, I slipped out of the gaming world and into parenthood and responsibility world and only in the past few years starting "gaming" again. I have had no experience with 3/3.5 but do own and run some Pathfiner. I have no 4e stuff, but play in a friends 4e campaign (not a fan of the system, sorry I'm an old fart and it's not D&D to me). I'm now running a 5e campaign, love 5e so far.
Hey there everyone, what a fantastic crowd you all seem!
My name is Elijah Shine, I am 17 years old, live in Battle Creek, Michigan, and I have been playing Role-Playing games since I was about 10-11 years old. Although I never really got hardcore into them until about 3 years back. Role-Playing is something that, luckily, was heavily encouraged by my parents to play because of the skills and thinking that is involved. Unlike some parents that believe that D&D is all about the occult, magic, and whoring women, my father actually gave me quite a boost into Role-Playing. He ended up giving me his D&D/Role-Playing collection, which definitely helped me want to play even more so. I then began the pursuit of joining a group which I quickly found at a game shop about a block from my house, then started with playing 1st edition; my favorite edition to this day. I am a big fan of mechanics and just really enjoy how it plays out, and how you can feel, "Old school", without even having played it before.
Aside from Role-Playing, I enjoy shredding on my guitar, or writing some poetry to calm down the stressful day. I would say that guitar, poetry, and entertaining myself with Role-Playing are all things that have really made me who I am today.
My name is Yanjidijian (Yang for short), and I'm an evil cleric of Kali.
With that out of the way, I'd like to introduce my character...
My name is Kevin Neff
Been playing D&D for about 33 years now.
Started with AD&D (as player & DM) and skipped over 2nd (bought the books though) and went into 3.0 & 3.5, then 4th and now 5th. Like this edition the best so far.
Hopefully this edition will last awhile, I'm getting too old to learn another set of rules! :-)
My name is Jeremy, I've been playing DnD for about 4 years now, which is small fry compared to some people here. I've logged most of my playtime in 3.5 but I've got good working knowledge of 4th and AD&D, have played a fair bit of both.
I play twice a week with another forum user, zardnaar, I play the pole-arm fighter in the game he runs and DM the game he plays in. I really like 5th ed so far and am looking forward to seeing where they go with it.
Hello! somewhat new to the D&D wagon only real stuff I've even touched would be a few sessions of Pathfinder (Which would technically be D&D 3.5) annnd a couple of the MMOs I've Roleplayed alot in MMOs but figured now wouldn't be a bad idea to get back into the Tabletop gaming as a hobby again. I heard alot of good things about 5th edition and hopefully look forward to getting into a few sessions as a player myself soon.
SaintViruss wrote:
Hello all!
I'm Tim with the blog TabletopTerrors.com. My brother James and I run the site, and we love Metallica, the video game DooM, Taco Bell, and of course Dungeons & Dragons.
I've been a long-time lurker, but have never posted much. = )
This is a great community, and I'm really happy to be a part. Thanks for all of the fanatic introductions, and for all of your posts that keep the forum living and breathing.
Talk to to you soon,
// Tim
Hi all,
My name is Oliver, and while I've been posting on these boards for a bit now I thought I'd finally introduce myself. I've been playing and DMing D&D on and off since '89 and definately have a fondness for 2nd ed, though 5th is quickly becoming my favorite and has really gotten me back in the hobby after playing 3.5 for only about a year and skipping 4th entirely mostly due to time constraints in my life.
When I discovered the Critical Hit Podcast a little over a year ago (an amazing 4e campaign that I highly recommend to everyone I can, it's over 200 episodes but start from the beginning, it's worth it), it started as a great way to vicariously scratch that D&D itch but before long I was looking to play again so I signed up for the 5e playtest and have been running a game ever since. My wife has recently transitioned from Player to GM with HotDQ and I'm getting to experiance being a player again for the first time in a decade, which is awesome and much less time consuming for me
Great to be a part of the community!
Welcome to the forums, Tim and Oliver! Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourselves.
Hello, all!
My name is Michael, and I've been around since before the Elmore covers, but never played Basic. My heaviest playing days were 2E, and when 3E came out my group started splintering and life took over. I played 4E a few times, but it just didn't take. I've heard great things about 5E and I'm looking to get a new group up and running.
I'm the type who likes to follow the rules, but not live by them. By that, I mean I attempt to apply common sense when possible, but I'm also trying to use the rules to translate what my character is doing, rather than vice versa. In the end, I want to enjoy myself, and I want the group to end the session with a laugh and a "When can we get together again?" mentality.
I'm looking for more players, so if you're in the San Diego area, I'd love to hear from you. What I've been trying to do is get in the forums and find like-minded people. I admit that some of these threads get contentious... but that just makes it more fun! And a little easier to find compatibilities. ;o)
Game on!
I'm back! It's my 4th accounts after multiple merging failure. Hopefully the Devs will be able to recover my original account so i can get back all my private groups and access. So what's shaking what's baking?
Plaguescarred4 wrote:
Rhenny wrote:
Greetings folks!
My name is Josh and I have been playing since the mid 80's and have hit every edition from 1st through the current iteration in 5th though I have yet to really did into 5E. My strongest playing days were 2E and (3) 3.5 and at the time I could have probably quoted you most of the rules or at least known of hand where to find them.
All of my years in DnD add up to a lot of experience as both DM and PC with great joy derived from a full character creation process and background. I believe if we have our charcetrs fleshed out it makes the game more fun for us and for the DM. As a DM the more you give me about your character the more I have to work with and thus, give back to you and the others in the game.
I'm looking forward to digging into 5E as it looks like it has the things I really remember loving playing this game growing up.
Does anyone know who made this artwork (below?) I found it on the Wizards of the Coast D&D website. I am trying to find a higher resolution of this artwork. Any help would be appreciated. THANK YOU!
Prydain wrote:
Thank you!
Similar to other posters here, I was first introduced to D&D through the boxed sets although at that time I was too young to grasp the game in all its intricacies. Moving beyond the red box was daunting. I found my grove as a teeneger playing 3rd edition, and later 3.5 where I DM'd exciting campaigns in the Dragonlance setting. Dragonlance 5th Age was boring to me, and its weird card-game edition was frighteningly bad. 4th edition rules seemed too envious of WoW to me, although I'm back in the fold with 5th edition, which I find stellar.
I'm enamored by the spirit of the fifth edition, and love everything from the build quality of the core rule books to the artwork and story telling woven throughout the easy-to-grasp updates. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
My name is Andy Minegar. I currently live in Portage, Michigan and have been playing D&D since the mid-80's. I remember getting a hold of a re-release of the original and playing. Back when elf and dwarf were classes, not races.
I am currently running a weekly game for a group.
I guess I should introduce myself, even though I've already posted on the forums already. I started playing in 1990 with a set of 1st edition books my friend had and transitioned through every edition since, except for 4th which I couldn't get into. So far I'm really impressed with 5th. It reminds me a lot of my early introduction to D&D. I both DM and play the game. I live in the Petaluma, CA area if anyone's interested in getting a group together.
Hail and well-met!
In the mundy world they call me David, but here among the interwebs I prefer Gaerfindel. If that looks or sounds familiar to any, it should; I composed it from Tolkein's Sindarin. It literally means "copper tresses," which goes a long way to describing my appearence.
I've had many characters under many editions, but my current favourite, whom I've converted from one system to another, is Thaddeus Thibbledorf Pwent III--and yes, I know I'm stealing directly from Bob Salvatore. --aka "Thibbs" of the Most Maligned Order of the Badger. He's a gnome barbarian with aspirations of knighthood. Think Sir Dydimus from Labyrinth crossed with Don Quixote and you get the idea. Since I prefer to stress role-play over min/maxing, her's been an absolute joy to foist on other players. 
Greetings!
My name is Michael, but you may know me as Echamil.
I am a young man from Michigan, and I enjoy Swords & Sorcery Fiction, getting my first particular taste of it through classic JRPGs through Consoles.
I got my first taste of Table-top gaming when I was about 11 years old. I don't remember the edition, but it was a Homebrew of an enormous 1000 floor dungeon. I didn't do much but stand back and watch as dice were rolled, notes were taken and laughs were to be had. I remember watching as the Fighter would rush head first into each encounter, greatsword drawn, doing what seemed like massive amounts of damage. The wizard, conjuring powerful spells from ancient arcana, a havy tome in front of him. The Cleric supporting each member of the party with her divine prayers. The rogue, dancing around each enemy, slashing through each enemies defenses.
Before I knew it, an entire afternoon had vanished, and it was already into the wee hours of the morning before game came to a close, the hero's weary and in need of rest.
I didn't begin to officially play Dungeons & Dragons until I was 16, about 6 or 7 years ago, starting with B2 Keep on the Borderlands as my first ever adventure. I had discovered both a copy of B2 as well a first printing of the Red Book at a local goodwill.
Unfortunately, after my first adventure into the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, I didn't return until just a couple short years ago, starting against with D&D Next.
Since then, I have created folders for characters, sending them on thousands of mini adventures, exploring their stories.
I hope to continue to do so.
Hello.
My name isn't really NinjaButter (it's Michael). For clarification, ninja butter occurs when you have two pieces of toast stacked one ontop of the other and they appear to be unbuttered. However, the butter is secretly hiding between the pieces of toast, waiting for the unwary to pick up a piece and bite into it, revealing its true buttered nature in a surprise assault of taste!
I started playing pen and paper role playing games about 10 years ago in college. I immediately fell in love. I am more into the creative side of things and have become my group's default DM. While I enjoy running a character, I also enjoy creating a fun gaming experience for my players.
Mead typically abounds during our sessions.
I've played 3.0, 3.5, 4e, 5e, d20 Modern, and Pathfinder. I hope to continue to play P&P RPGs for many years to come.
Hi
I'm Nina, from Austria
I started with RPG with DSA (German System, quite similar to D&D) about ten years ago.
The last years I played D&D 4th and some other systems... the group i played with constisted of very experienced players so i never really started reading the books, i just asked. ^^
Now i moved to a new town and i want to start a group on my own and - tadaaa - i'll start a career as DM. ^^ So be sure, a lot of noob questions will come and i'm so excited how it will be. Hopefully good. ^^
Hi from New York. My name is Carmine. I haven't played for almost 15 years until I met some coworkers at my new job that play. I played the original D&D and some 2e before having a career then, over the past few years, a family. I play when I can, and find 5e great. Compared to what I heard about 3e through 4.5e, this edition is fun and easy to learn.
I may ask some questions that other's seem basic, but be patient til I get to speed. Also have a habit of over analyzing.
I forgot how much fun it is and the friendships that develop, both on paper and real life. And hope to make friends here as well.
Hello all, I'm just an old-skool F.A.T.A.L. minmaxer out to trash all other RPGs for not adhering to such strict historical rigor...
J/k.
I got started playing D&D in middle-school with 3.0/3.5 and D&D was many things to me..
It began as a fun diversion and excuse to eat vomitorium-style delicacies courtesy of Domino's. -My staple was a thick-crust veggie-lover's flipped onto a thin-crust meat-lover's with chickn kickers in between, I called it a Meatzzawich.
This may or may not have contributed to my current veganism.
Later, 3.5 became an excersize in theoretical power-gaming and ended many a college relationship for me.
I'm probably happier now because of it.
After passing my DMing 401 Honours course, I graduated to the life of a wandering Master.
And I've been at it ever since.
I've played some 4e and was even one of the few who liked it initially, until I realized the headache of home-brewing, having worked on the 4e shadow wiki for a time and later, attempted to HB my own BoVD. I still think it had its merits and certainly helped me jump a lot of people into the game who might not have otherwise played but it's not my favorite.
Beyond that, I'm gradually building a subsistence Forest Gardening, playing drums in a variety of contexts, and trying to find time to contribute to Athas.org.
I'm heartened by what I've seen of 5th Edition and I believe I will be converting my nascent campaign, The Book of Dooms, which I've been world-building these past 3-4 years, to it. I mostly play in a Dark-Sun inspired pastiche of my own devising and thus, have read a significant amount of the AD&D material for DS. DS is a pretty dead board as boards go these days, but you'll usually find me lurking over there with some other Travellers if you need me.
Hi everyone,
long time lurker, first time poster and all that.
My name's Simon, I have been playing D&D for the past 16 years (started with AD&D back in 98). I have tried many different tabletop RPGs since then and am always looking forward to trying new systems/settings. I mostly DM for my group of regulars and have recently decided, in light of fifth, to convert my ongoing pathfinder campaign into 5th ed.
Hmm, I thought I'd have more to say.....Well, I can always add to this very short intro some time later.
Now that 4E is on the way out, I might just be back in the game! 
Got my books yesterday. Lookign forward to trying out the new edition (though I'm unlikely to give up Pathfinder any time soon).
RavingDork wrote:
RavingDork wrote:
Hi! I produce the "Epic Metal Coins" tabletop gaming currency upgrades, currently on Kickstarter:
Hi everyone.
I'm a returning player to D&D. I used to play a long while ago when I was a teenager, but moved away from my gaming group and couldn't find a new one. I've recently recieved the D&D 5e Starter Kit as a Christmas gift and I'm looking to get started again. I live in Manchester in the UK.
HA! introduction-topic, found it!
so now i can introduce myself; my name is Diona, I live in the Netherlands near Rotterdam.
I did play several years ago, only a few times and never got a change again, however now I am getting myself into DM-ing. My partner played edition 2 a lot, but never had a change after that, so lang time ago too.
I am not totally without fantasy-writing experience, I write for LARP so I do kind of know what I am doing, I hope
the improvement here is that my plot will not get any troubles from weather, players getting hurt because of rabbit holes and so on
it might be challenging to tell everything in such a way that I get the mental picture across
next thursday will be my first evenening of telling and refereeing the adventure at the table
Hey everyone! I am fairly new to D&D but have played some. Im really enjoying 5E. Coming here for discussions and to get some questions answered.
Welcome everyone! Great to see so many new faces.
Great reading these stories of where we've all came from!
The name's Tom, I'm 39 & married here in cold ass Michigan. I have two kids in elementary school. I've played D&D since the late 80's/early 90's, but not nearly as much as I liked. With moving a lot in the Army and working as a 911 dispatcher the last 10 years on rotating shifts, it's hard to get time playing in a regular party.
I like playing with the mini's on a map and do some little stories with the kids getting them into rolling dice. Nobody dies, the bad guys just run off after getting "bonked" to many times.
I usually DM when playing with everyone else, but play as a Paladin or Kender Cleric when I get the chance. ;)
I love to help others with story elements or rules questions (although I'm brand new to 5ed) so hit me up for a chat. I'll post a lot in the forums when I get the chance.
Greetings, all. Long-time player back for the new edition. US, west coast, pretty pleased with 5E so far.
Running a weekly game with some friends and everyone is really enjoying it so far.
ModusPonens wrote:
A warm welcome to all the new folks! Thanks for taking the time to post here.
Hi everyone
My name is Christian, I'm turning 35 this March and I live near Zurich in Switzerland. A year and a half ago I returned to school to get a Bachelor degree and may be a master degree thereafter, we will see. I spent the last 15 years working in IT, after completing an apprenticeship in IT. I am a returner in D&D terms as well. I liked 4E, but dropped out during its' heydays nonetheless. I started playing D&D around the year 2000. I played in Greyhawk, the FR and Eberron. Other Pen and Paper RPG's I know and love are Das Schwarze Auge, Shadowrun, Star Wars "Edge of the Empire" and Dark Heresy.
My return to these boards serves the secondary purpose of practicing and hopfully improving my english. Hence, please excuse the grammar and spelling mistakes.
Hi, I'm Jason, returning player from the old Living City/Living Greyhawk days.
I'm... old enough to have played 1st edition when it came out.
Trying out this 5th edition thing. Seems fun so far!
-j
karmainfern wrote:
Where were all you Michigan players when I lived in Michigan?!?!?
And now my forum account has been corrected to where it should be!
FuelDrop wrote:
Gudday everyone. My name is Craig and I used to live in Auckland, New Zealand. Now I'm in the shaky city, Christchurch.
I've been playing and DMing since 1983 when I started with the Metzger red book. I missed D&D 3 and 4, coming back to it with 5. Hoping to start my first game in a couple of weeks.
I've played and GMed AD&D, GURPS, Cyberpunk 2020, DragonQuest (hey - you Auckland people, have you played in the Seagate Adventurer's Guild games?) and played lots of other systems, both in private games and at various conventions. I've GMed for America's Cup (the Auckland Uni club's annual competition).
I'm part of the D&D New Zealand and D&D South Island Facebook groups.
Just getting back into the game after a 25 year hiatus. The wife & I brought the kids to the bookstore to spend their xmas $$ and the wife called me over to the game section and pointed out the Starter box. Both she and my daughter looked at me and said "wouldn't it be fun to play as a family?" Now I'm DM-ing LMoP for them - I went out and bought the PHB & DMG since my daughter insisted on creating her own elven ranger.
So far I'm liking 5e, but I'm awfully rusty.
akr71 wrote:
DungeonKrusher wrote:
My name is Robert and I am from Monterrey Mexico, currently running The Hoard of the Dragon Queen with my friends, loving the 5th edition so far
greetings to everyone
WotC finally fixed my Community account...I've been unable to get on here since the account migration in October! Good to finally be back!
-HM
Hello, all! I'm new here. Hoping to get in a 5E game. I love what I've seen so far.
Greetings, everyone. I'm Vahn, and I've been a long time lurker of the Next Forums.
My gaming experience, while by no means extensive, includes D&D 3.5E and 4E, as far as D&D proper goes, and it also includes Pathfinder, and Mutants & Masterminds 2E. I even played Star Wars Saga, once upon a blue moon ago...
Anyways, hope to get along well!
Hey everyone!
My name is Drew, age 25. From Michigan, finishing a 2 year diploma in Ontario this spring. I started by playing a homebrew campaign a friend made a few years back and I'm looking to get into playing regularly again with 5e. I'm looking forward to being part of the community
Hi Everyone!
My name is Becky! I'm a (almost) 25 year old housewife and console gamer from Ipswich, Queensland. I have been DYING to try old school D&D for pretty much as long as I can remember, but I only have 2 mates who are interested in trying it out and they have never played either. So we are all too embarrassed to try to DM for our first game ever LOL. Also, Ipswich is a pretty bogan city so it's a bit hard to find people who want to do anything even slightly intellectual. Case in point, my neighbour's kids this arvo were playing a game to see how long they could continue hitting each other with planks of wood before they bled. So if anyone is in the area, and doesn't mind 3 noobs joining in, we would LOVE to play.
Fun Facts About Becky:
1. I have never played D&D before
2. I started gaming when I was 2
3. My first game was Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Master System
4. I am a stay at home housewife, but I'm working on my first Supernatural Fantasy novel
5. I am a total sucker for any game by Bioware
Hi. I am Jason, from Singapore.
Started playing gamebooks like Choose Your Own Adventure, FIghting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, Bloodsword etc.
My first roleplaying game was Fighting Fantasy with my late cousin as my GM. Then I bought my first red box Basic D&D set, then the blue box, green, black and gold.
Proceed with AD&D 1st and 2nd ed, but still went back to the simplicity of Rules Cyclopedia.
Bought v3 and v3,5 ed but never played them. Skipped v4.
Now playing 5ed. It is a wonderful system, feel so close to the old D&D. The adventure I'm running now is the classic "Night's Dark Terror" in Karameikos. Bad news is that I have to stop rpg very soon as life will get crazily busy.
Also played rpg from Palladium (Rifts, Robotech), Mechwarrior, Warhammer Fantasy and lots of boardgames (Warlock of the Firetop Mountain, Talisman, Heroquest, Battletech, Arkham Horror, Space Hulk, Gears of War etc).
Painted minis too but stopped since I am a busy man now.
I still have all the collection above to date. All are treasure to me.
I hope to see more from D&D 5e, Glad the magic is back. Kudos to the design team.
Hi, I'm Jimmy
Returning to DnD after a long hiatus. I used to play the old Red, Blue, Green & Black box sets of Rules, back in the 80's.
Heard good things about the new edition starter last year and stuck it on my Christmas list. Had my first session on Boxing Day with six novices and my brother who like me drifted away ages ago.
I'm DM'ing (again. I've never actually been a PC!), but all going well, as we're now up to our fourth session.
Really enjoying the starter adventure and already started accumulating the core rulebooks and Tyranny of Dragons.
I think the stand out thing for me so far is how the artwork has developed, the books are beautiful. The ruleset is nice and slick and feel spoilt for choice with the character options.
All this Forgotten Realms stuff is new to me, (born and raised in Karameikos) so been trying to catch up. But all seems good and looking forward to the Elemental Evil story line.
Hi to all old gamers and fellow DM's , from Athens Hellas .
My Name is Elias , i have joined recently the community here online but in my 35 years of age i have adored and played Ad&d and D&D since my 13.
So i have returned for good this time ....What have brought me back is my 16 months old Daughter and the love ,the pure love of my Family . In this turmoil of recent changes that have been made in my Life and the Life of my Lady ,with our beloved daughter , and in summer time i have a blast of the past in my soul ....I have recalled my old ( but not forgotten ) habit to play every weekend Ad&d (2nd ed) , first as a player and then as a DM.
I hoped up in our small attic room and in my tidy boxes i have bring back in my life the DragonLance world , my boxed sets,dices ,miniatures,novels , the core books and the smell of old pages and so many memories having fun with not so closed friends but available players ....In Greece we had back then at 1990 ( and we also got ,22 stores nowdays ) Kaissa a store called after a Hellenic godess of Chess ( its a fantastic name and a fantastic godess ,named after an Italian poem ,nothing specific ) .
I have brought them back.... triggered from a memory and the love of a great game that i wish the whole family to played along the years , why ? But the answer is so simple and you all know of it . The Fantasy ,the roll of the dice , the story telling and of course the brain enhancement
But this is not the whole story the fact is , that i wished to return , i am an artist a jeweler ,creating things for the pleasure and love of others but the pleasure is all mine , no money can buy this , the smiling eyes of a person that have got what it wished for ....these days everything comes from machinery and 3d printing , i am an old technitian , i use metal and wax and my hands and i blend the craftmanship with high tech in a balanced collaboration .
This is what i have made for Wizards and my beloved D&D , ( https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=770735846296594&set=a.711843792185800.1073741826.100000805566088&type=3&theater )a small act of love for the 5th edition , that had also got hold on me !! I feel like playing the 2nd without the Thac0 and its pure role playing wish the company bring back the Ravenloft boxed sets and the Dragonlance boxed sets with a fresh reboot to these great Worlds.
I will follow in this journey of the 5th edition , all the editions have to offer different things to the gameplay and the rp , nothing is really changing only the art and the years that are passing .....
Hope to contact with any sick person as me collecting figures ,play as a Dm , read read and read again the great core books and adventures and some of us create new things and items for this great game for Life ....
May the Dragons fly in your Dreams !
Facebook : Yamabushi Tengu , Archa Icon
Elias Keranis
Athens Hellas
Hi all!
My name is Federico, i'm 24 years old, and live in Milan, Italy. I'll graduate before april in Law.
I've only recently (one year) started playing tabletop rpgs, with Shadowrun and Numenera. Since august i've jumped into the fifth edition of the best world-system ever, which has fascinated me since i played the two Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games! Also, i loved the Dragonlance series (always been an avid fantasy/sci-fi reader). I discovered i'm a bit of a power player, in the sense that i really like fighting and optimization (great guides on the forums!), but the more i play the more i also appreciate RPing so i guess there's still hope after all.
Our group (my half-elf warlock, a dragonborn fighter, an orc cleric and a human monk) is now finishing the "Ghosts of Dragonspear" campaign.....the plan is to continue with both Scourge and Dead in Thai!
Good campaign to everyone
Sirkaikillah11 I live on Maui, Hawaii and game with Paukukalo Gamers. Ive been playing since the 80s. Ive spent the last year playing Savage World. But since the release of 5e ive returned. I used to lurk these message boards as just sirkaikillah during 4e and D&Dnext. Currently our group is playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen and we are enjoyimg it.
Aloha
Hi all, what a great idea for a thread! It's so interesting to read everyone's stories. I'm 27, based in the UK and I'm extremely new to D&D. One night I was visiting two good friends - A, a long-time player and B, a total newbie like me. We had been playing games and chatting about various nerdy topics when D&D came up. I and B cautiously admitted we'd always been curious... and so A offered to DM for us so we could give it a try. So we rolled up some characters and the rest, as they say, is history. We play pretty regularly now, (I'm still trying to work out all the rules though) and we're adding a new member to our party tomorrow which is pretty exciting.
I play as a Cleric (which is fun) though I have to say the roleplaying aspect of the game is one thing I think I probably need to work on (other than having terrible luck with dice)- in fact, if anyone has tips for staying in character I'd be much obliged...
Owlwoman wrote:
Hi
I'm Alexa, I'm 19 and I live in the UK
While I've played in a few tabletop sessions (D&D 4th Edition, and some Shadowrun and Call of Cthulhu), I've not played in any long campaigns.
I love RPG video games, and at the suggestion of a broadcaster I watch on Twitch, I found an online site where I can play/run games
I'm now starting to think about running my very first campaign, using the D&D 5th Edition rules, so I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions (which may or may not be stupid!)
Wow...it is so great to see so many people from different countries joining in to the community. Welcome to all.
Cheers.
Owlwoman wrote:
DungeonKrusher wrote:
Hi i'm Nathan, i'm late 30s, I live in Toowoomba Queensland Australia.
I have just started playing D&D 5th edition after a 18 year layoff from the game. My interest sparked again as I am tired of the same rebranded/repackaged PC games in the form of shooters/strategy games and MMOs. I played WoW for 8 years, bored stiff of it and the attitude online now from most players. I used to play in my mid-late teens with friends (1 of which has started replaying as mentioned above) after school, we used the BECMI rules and some of the AD&D 2e rules mixed in.
I have purchased all the D&D 5e books and supplements and miniature line, and run a group of 5 family members and close friends, also fully investing in Hirst arts moulds etc for a bit of fun, been a blast tbh, big boys and their toys! We have almost finished the Starter set adventure, then obviously leading into Hoard of the Dragon Queen and ultimately Rise of Tiamat.
Anyhow hopefully talk to a few of you around the forums.
Hi there, I am Goon-for-Hire. Some of you may remeber me from the old (pre-gleemax) D&D 3e forums.
I've been playing D&D since 1984 with the BD&D red box. I grew up in a small town and the nearest place I could get D&D material was 100km away, so I often mixed material from a lot of different editions. For awhole I used the Basic DMG with the AD&D 1e PHB, and then the AD&D2e DMG with the Rules Cyclopedia, etc. It took me about a decade to get a full edition togehter. I pretty much skipped 4th Edition, but 5th has brought back almost everything I loved about the older editions with what I liked the best about 3.5e. My childhood home also meant that I had to make everything up for myself, because I could never get my hands on Dungeon or Modules.
In the past few years of hanging out with some slightly older Grognard (Old School Gamer) types I have developed a real passion for old, pulpy, psychadelic modules. And I have always loved the weird trippy aesthetic of Mystara.
I'm one of those guys who is forever DMming. I have run hundreds of campaigns and dedicated thousands of hours to Dungeon Mastering, but have played as a PC for less than 20 hours in total over the last 31 years.
My current group is myself, three steady plaers, and a couple of sometimes-in players. They are all very story-oriented deep-immersion role-player types. We are between campaigns at the moment, but are giving serious thought to running Temple of Elemental Evil in 5th.
I am in Canada.
Been playing since 2nd ed. Skipped 4th ed... and Pathfinder. Thinks 5th ed is spectacular so far. Runs a Forgotten Realms game on sundays.
BaronVonStylin wrote:
I've played ADnD 2e, 3e, 4e, and hoping to find time for 5e this year.
Also making a d20 mechanic based game of my own to explore a wide range of design choices that I'm curious about trying out in actual play. Will probably self-publish it. Not OGL. Not compatible with any edition of DnD. Very experimental.
Hey, I'm Kolt. I'm 24 and from a small town in southern Kansas, though I currently reside in Iowa. I began playing when I was 10, with my father (a veteran of the early '80's). I started with AD&D 2e, which I played through high school, before going to college and finding a group playing 3.5/D20 modern, in which I found my current GF of two years. I've played a few different systems since, and am always looking to explore new possibilities. I have BAs in English and Technical Theatre (Scenic Design/Technical Direction). I currently work as the Assistant Technical Director for a small University Theatre program, and build/repair/refurbish furniture as a second job.
wondering back over from Pathfinder. just signed up
Welcome you guys!!
Hello all! I used to be on the boards as Jyrdan Fairblade (which I still go by on the Castles & Crusades boards, if anyone else is on here from there) but that was some time ago. Been playing D&D since 1986 or so. I was about 9 or so and started with the red box, like so many others.
Currently running a 5e campaign set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Venice. I mostly DM/GM, but when I do play, most of the time I play a dwarf with the last name of Redhammer. I'm also a musican with two projects, Hexweapon and Wormfang.
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Howdy. I was on here shortly before and shortly after the release of the Player's Handbook as Magi_theKid, but for some reason my password emails aren't coming back to me, so I'm just restarting. No biggy. I'm 25, married, and play in a game and run four others with various schedules. I've loved D&D since fourth when I actually got to play and get into long ranting arguments with my wife over what should or shouldn't be in the game. It's great.
When people have arguments over rules on the forum my first response is always to talk out the reasons behind what is being said and then come up with an alternate rule that they aggressors could use when they play that neutralizes the problem. This isn't to dismiss the fact that the rules as written are good or bad, just that if you don't like something, it's more contructive to do something about it than sit there and complain all day.
I write a webcomic full time. You should read it. It has nothing to do with D&D, but it's pretty much the best thing I've ever made and I'm very proud.
Welcome, magiwildcard. What is your webcomic?
ChrisCarlson wrote:
Greetings glorious citizens!
My word, don't ya'll look lovely?
Lawful Good for everyone!
EVERYONE. 
Hi All. Longtime gamer. Reeeeeaaalllly long time gamer. I've been playing D&D since the late 70s. Yes, I am old. We played with the roughly the same group for....decades. Finally about 5-10 years ago, it finally ground to a halt. My wife and I moved further away, as did a couple others. It just became something that was hard to keep up. We used 2nd edition, or maybe 2.5 I forget. I think 4th edition came out just as my group were winding down.
Now my wife and I were bored so we decided to find some local gamers. And we did. So....here we are. 5th edition.
I live on Cape Cod, and my wife and I run an antiques/vintage collectibles business both online and a brick and mortar store called ATOMIC DIMESTORE. We sell vintage 1940s - 1980s toys, comics, pop-culture, vintage clothes, glassware, and other cool stuff. It's not a traditional antiques store, no traditional and boring stuff, just vintage nerd culture, punk culture, rockabilly/hot rod. We even sometimes have vintage D&D. It's cool. Honest.
Hello! I'm new to this forum!
Not new to D&D or gaming in general, though. Never actually played the "true" tabletop version, but I grew up on the PC games based D&D. XD I've always been interested as well. I also read the Legend of Drizzt books, though I knew about him since the PC game, Menzobarrenzen. I probably butchered that.
Anyway, now that I have a strange group together, expect some questions and what not. :D
Hey guys!
So my name is Jack, I'v always heard lots about D&D but I was never really exposed to it . So instead I exposed myself to it by buying the D&D starter kit just yesterday at Supanova! (Australia's comicon).
I'v always known about D&D, I used to watch youtubers like the yogscast play D&D and the space reskin they did. But the reason why I never bought it sooner was because welll... not one person in my local town would have an interest in D&D and non of my friends really like it. Aaand even today when i just bought D&D, no one still wants to play it with me. *violin starts playing*. But in all seriousness if you guys could point me in the right direction to how to play this and begin to meet others who play it that would be awesome! I looked inside the box to find a sheet called 'D&D Encounter' it mentions that stores host D&D games or something like that? Would it be wise to start there and go to these stores to quench my thirst for D&D?
Hi, I'm Bree. Not really new, I guess, just returning from a very long hiatus. I haven't played Dungeons & Dragons for at least four years, and even when I was playing last I didn't play nearly as much as I wanted to.
My first taste of D&D came when I played Baldur's Gate way back in the 90's. A couple years later, I got into AD&D 2E at the unfortunate point in time that was literally about two months prior to the release of 3rd edition. My allowance suffered heavily that year 
Now that 5th edition is out, I'm looking into getting back into it, if I can find a group that will have me.
Hello folks, I'm Matthias, Diaz for friends, and I'm a huge fan of D&D. I'm 27 and started play in 2001 with the Red Box, then moved to 3rd Edition, 4th Edition, and now I'm coming back after a long hitus to play in the 5th Edition.
PS: I'm sorry if this is not the right place to ask something like this, but I wanted to know if I can in any way change my username, since this one is a bit too old and kinda "childish" for the current me.
Jack_Skellington wrote:
Hi, I bought the red box when I was 10 or 11. That was probably 1981 or so. Played off and on until high school, then again after college for a while. We also dabbled in Gamma World (1st and 2nd), Villains and Vigilantes, Car Wars, Twilight 2000, and Star Frontiers. And then Warhammer FB for a while. Now after about 20 years I started playing 5e D&D at a store in town for Adventurer's League. Might start a home game, or join one, but really just like painting minis when I get a chance (rare with kids) and doing the league night. Anyway, we never really adopted anything from 2nd Ed or later, so it's kind of funny to jump from Basic/Expert/AD&D to 5e and have completely missed the edition wars and Pathfinder. But it's been fun to pick it up again and learn the new stuff.
Hi Joe here. I hail from the wilds of the Pacific Northwest. Started gaming with the little brown books around 1977.
I don't know why it's taken me so long to take the plunge but I finally did. My Players Handbook arrives tomorrow! Pretty Jazzed!
Greetings!
Dave here. My first D&D game was using the basic set back around 1979/80 when I was in elementary. Started hardcore into AD&D soon after along with early Palladium games. D&D and Rifts were out mainstay along with trying many other systems all the way up until arond 2005 where adult life started taking over.
The one element that obliterated our participation in D&D though was the introduction of D&D 4e. We lost ALL interest after trying it and due to the extremely volitile community it bred. My friend who also would DM often loved Saga system for Star Wars and we were initially jacked for 4e but ... I'll just say that opinion wasn't shared upon release. If anyone would be a hard sale on D&D 5e it would be me. I won't repeat my opinions of 4e but be sure many topics on non-WotC forums were extremely critical on the entire business decision. End result though is I read through 5e and am very impressed! Simplicity is a must when it comes to nurturing role play and story and I am enjoying it so far.
I've decided to begin the campaign with the new Elemental Evil story arc but in Eberron. I have never been able to built interest in Forgotten Realms as my main campaign setting overall has been Dragonlance but our last 3.5 games were set in Eberron and it's uniquness far surpasses my interest in FR. Luckily a little updated information is released for it. I still have a load of older books so pulling lore from them will have to do seeing few 5e books are released.
We should be starting the new campaign soon after the Hockey playoffs are over. Really looking forward to it!
Greeting, all. My name is Scott Bagley. I'm sixty-five years old. I'm a fifteen year-old gamer geek trapped in an ever-aging body. I've been playing D&D since about 1978. Wife bought me to original white boxed set of Gygax & Arneson D&D Xmas 1976; not a card game, not a board game, not a dice game. What is it? I spent two years trying to figure out what a DM was. Nobody my age (or anybody older than 12) even knew about RPGs back then. I had to convince the 17 year-old son of a co-worker to teach me how to play. I've been in the same group of players since 1978, with a few changes in personnel over the years; we stick to D&D 3.0 (with input from used 3.5 books, because we're cheap and hate paying the money WotC insists everyone pay/play). I started going to Pacificon in San Francisco in 1980, been going to Northern California Cons since then. I was an owner of the ConQuest gaming convention 1998-2004, where I was the RPG director. I was RPG Director for ManaFest 1999 and 2000. I was RPG director for Kublacon 2001 through 2003. I was overall RPG director for Origins 2002 and 2003. Then I burned out in 2004 from overwork and have since slowly returned to gaming conventions as a D&D player. I enjoy Pathfinder, missed 4.0 entirely, and love D&D 5E. Let's get back to the joy of cooperative play.
Greetings all,
I am 48, live in NY and I first played D&D in 1977 or 78. I played almost every day, with a group of trhee friends, up until about 1987. I stopped playing PnP RPGs around then, and shifted to Consoles and PC based RPGs. So, I have missed D&D PnP editions 2, 3, 3.5 and 4.
I don't know what it was about 5E, but something made me buy the core rule books. I had no intentions of actually playing, my work and life schedule won't allow for it, but reading them brought me back to my childhood and love for the game.
Then I discovered Sword Coast Legends, and after reading it will be based on 5E (as best as it can be translated), I found a whole new purpose behind the 5E core books. I intend to create adventure paths (modules) in the PnP format and then translate them as best as possible into the SCL Campaign creator.
I created a multi game, multi platform gaming community back in 2013 and it is fully supported with a premium website and teamspeak server. Although we have several TT groups running, none are using 5E yet. I'm hoping that the interst in Sword Coast Legends will help to create that cross over.
Hi, my name is KorvinStarmast and I'm a diceaholic.
First played D&D in 1975.
Got to enjoy the early growth of the game.
I was the first in my group to play a Druid when Eldritch Wizardry came out. Good fun.
Faded during 2d edition days as life and a marriage made time not available.
And then the kids were old enough to play, but only if Dad DM'd.
And then they lost interest, because ... Starcraft! (hell, so did I because of Starcraft and Diablo I).
Got the 3.0 and 3.5 books and decided that I didn't like them much.
Bloat.
A friend asked me to join a 5th edition game and we are enjoying it only due to roll20's tools.
The old High School group is mostly back together. We are in Texas, California, Virginia, New York, and Washington state.
But now, we can drink legally while we play, which is a good thing.
And Paladin's still have this weird thing about horses that make the rest of us rub our chins.
+++++++++++++++++
Hello everybody, my name is Cole. I am 33 years old and have been playing D&D off and on for most of my life. I started with AD&D and have played each edition except 4th edition, I am currently DM'ing a 5th edition game and am enjoying the simplicity of the new system immensely. I will be turning my DM chair over to another in my group who will be leading us through our next campaign soon and am really looking forward to playing my Halfelf Bard.
Hey cool people,
My name's Kriss and I'm 26 years old. The D&D hobby started in our family with my dad and my grandmother, so I spent my childhood surrounded with 1st Edition AD&D books before I could write in complete sentences. Since then, I've played and enjoyed basically every edition from 1st to 5th. I eat, live and breathe tabletop gaming, and what I enjoy most is making systems and content. I've written a homebrew remake of d20 Modern, a Metal-themed Bard, and other stuff.
I'm currently running a West Marches-style 5th edition game and a Dungeon World game. When I'm not running or playing something, or working for copper pieces to buy my daily ration, I spend most of my waking hours working on my take on a 5th Edition Modern system.
I've spent a lot of my thus-far-short-life being a big time Wizard-player. But in the last few years, along with reading, listening to and watching a lot to learn more about medieval weaponry and how people historically fought with it, I've really gone the other direction and now mostly play Martial, Fighter-ey type characters. And Bards. Long live the Bards.
I've been registered on the forums a long time but I've only really been active for a couple of intervals since, so this is sort of a return / new awakening for me. Rock on.
Hi, my enlisted handle was Cecil, and in college they called me Kandahar. I live near the border of Canada, surrounded by hunting stores. I bought my first mini d6 in about 1988 from a Hobby shop that still sold Lead Miniatures. I designed my first RPG in 1990 while living near Brighton NY. I have a Wife of 3 years and we attend conventions from Long Island to LA.
My two favorite classes are kensai and psionicist, and I loved the David Carradine Kung Fu shows growing up. Also liked series such as Rouroni Kenshin, Samurai 7, Shura No Toki, etc., and the classics like Fist of the North Star, Chojin Locke, and Akira. Mom was a huge horror/mental powers fan, so stuff like Carrie, Firestarter, Scanners,Tommyknockers, etc. all influenced me. I changed majors a lot in college so I've got ecclectic tastes, but finished with degrees in stuff related to religions, east asia, and international relations.
My wife and I travel a lot, visit weird cultures and countries, eat strange things, and game. We found whether live action or table top, gamers are pretty much the same all over the world. It's a community that is sort of like it's own floating nation culture, no matter where you go, there's a guy eating doritos trying to cast magic missile into the darkness...
I'm glad this thread is here,I really am socially awkward even online, and wouldn't know where to start. Or what to say. Or anything to be honest.
To get started, I'm Emily, a highschooler in Tinley Park, Illinois. I'm socially awkward, but love the friends I have,and making new ones. I'm into any kind of epic fantasy novel,lore, and mmorpgs. I'm in a committed relationship with D&D and MTG. I dislike when people make their characters insanely OP in any game. It ruins it for the realistic people that appreciate a storyline and such. If anyone lives near me and wants to LARP, go to a con, or just chill and game, feel free to contact me. I'm not on this too much, but my Kik is "floppyturtles", and I check that daily. I don't really no what else to put, but ask me anything else youd like to know through a message. thanks for reading!Hello ! I used to play D&D while in highschool back in the mid 90's and I have recently got back into the game. I have downloaded the free PDFs and I have been DMing for my three younger kids. Sometimes my wife and mother join in, which is nice.
I plan to utilize all of the resources here to minimize the learning curve as I learn the game again.
Thanks!
Hi!
I actually joined these boards back in 2001 or 2002 (mods, can I get my old join date and post count back please?) and I used to play all the time.
Playing D&D is my favorite thing to do. I can still remember playing back in 1981 in study hall when I was 11. A few years ago I was frustrated with not being able to find a good reliable group to play with, so I basically gave up on D&D, that, along with some serious medical issues that makes it hard to play have kept me away from the game. Recently some of my friends have started a Pathfinder campaign and I got re-energised. Hopefully I can get a good 5.0 game going. For now I'll just cruise the forums from time to time.
My screen name is a Hindi word that means "life" but when you say it to someone it means more like you're my life. My girlfriend at the time was from India and she used to call me that...so I used it for my first 3.0 charecter back in 2001 and my screen name too. It's pronounced "John".
My last post on these boards, I think, was about how much human blood you would need to forge an evil sword.
Hello everyone.
New DM; long term dm lurker... if that's a thing. I read/listen/watch a lot of material but only have limited experiance doing. I've played a small amount; running my first long term campaign now with a group of long term friends online (due to people being spread out). Trying to dig up enough time to run stuff at a local college; which is proving difficult.
Hi, everyone,
My name is Jesse and I'm from New York. I've worked in various IT fields for 12-13 years, most recently as a developer and software QA analyst. As far as gaming goes, I've been playing RPGs since I was 12. I love games, whether they are boardgames, RPGs, wargames or video games. For me, RPGs are a creative activity similar to writing, but unlike writing it's one I can share with friends.
I've played almost every edition of D&D except for the white books but it wasn't my first RPG. My first RPG was a Choose Your Own Adventure book that I think was Lone Wolf, but I don't remember it for sure. I remember it had stats in the back for the character you played and that you rolled a d6. I had a good shelf of CYOAs going at one time. I was a reader and I liked games and these were books that were games. I got hooked fast. Then I found some friends playing Villians and Vigilantes. That was the first one I played with friends.
Around this time, I started reading the Dragonlance books. Someone bought me The Magic Of Krynn and I got the 1st ed AD&D books at the same time. I had almost every 1st edition book at one time, and Dragonlance was my go to setting for a while. When 2ed came out, I went back and forth between Spelljammer, Planescape, and Dark Sun. 4e is probably the ruleset I've played the least and I have not had a chance to get a 5e game set up yet.
Of all the editions, my favorite has to be 3rd edition. The rules aren't the most intuitive, but it's been probably the best implementation I've experienced thus far. 4th edition was an interesting experiment in innovating the game that I think could have been done better. I've looked over the new edition and I'm really eager to get back into the hobby because of it and other games like FATE and Numenara.
Besides D&D, FATE, and Numenara I also think the Fantasy Flight Games versions of Star Wars is really good. I wish 4th edition had been a little more like this, especially in the way characters are generated and progress, as well as some of the mechanics. I'm also into MMOs and Action RPG video games. I've played WoW off and on for years but right now I'm playing EQ2. I've played Dragon Age, Morrowind, and Mass Effect amongst others going as far back as Temple of Apshai on the Commodore 64.
I'm here to share ideas with those who enjoy this hobby as much as I do. Maybe even find a new group to play with. I've toyed with playing online and I have to say that it just isn't the same as getting your friends around the table in your kitchen for the evening, but I'm open for giving it another try. I enjoy being behind the screen as much as I do playing a PC. My style is mostly narrative mixed with hack and slash.
Looking forward to talking with you all.
Cheers,
Jesse
Hello everyone.
I am 48 years old, married, and a film producer living in Southern California.
I have been playing D&D since 1974 and was active on these forums in the 3.5 heyday. but fell off during 4th edition since I didn't play it. Now that 5th edition is up and running I decided to resurface.
I am currently running a longterm 3.5 campaign set in my World of Therra (which has been active for about 20 years), but I decided to run 5th edition for my kids (aged 13 and 17) so that when my current campaign ends I can migrate my world to 5th edition.
I intend to post 5th edition scenarios I design to these forums, for critique and use.
In addition to D&D I as big into Traveller, Runequest, and Champions back in the day.
I play wargames, including World in Flames, a massive counters and dice game covering the entire world and every theatre of WW2. This game occupies a room in my house we call the "War Room".
My favorite class to play has always been and continues to be bard, and I am looking forward to playing one in 5th edition. as they look to be comparable to the other classes in capability.
See you on the forums!
Devin
devincutler wrote:
Hey, everybody! I am new here to the forums and such, but not a newbie to D&D.
My first exposure to D&D was in the 80's when my dad and a bunch of his AA friends would get together and play at one of their houses. I fondly remember him regaling us with tall stories of monsters and battles and the good guys traveling across the land to help those in need. (He was a Paladin.) I asked to play with him, and he said I was too young. *sad trombone*
Fast forward to senior year of college, I was living in Vienna, Austria and began playing a German version of D&D with a few of my roommates and friends.
Post-college (and back in the states), I overheard a group of my guy friends talking about starting a campaign (3.5). I chimed in, said I was interested, and I became their Cleric. When another friend wanted to play, she became our Cleric and I switched to a Sorcerer. After a year or so that group fizzled out, some of us moved, and that was that.
A few years ago, during our family vacation, my brother in law DM'd a 4th ed game for us. I played a Rogue. I loved playing a Rogue, but didn't care much for 4th edition. At all. When I recently mentioned wanting to start another campaign, he chimed in and said 5e was pretty good, and he'd love to get a group together. We've been skyping for a month or so now, and I love it! I get to play my Rogue and I really love 5e. We play for a couple hours Monday nights; it's difficult schedule-wise with me in AZ and everyone else on EST with regular, responsible, adult-type jobs.
I've come to the boards in search of another Skype campaign. I'm currently a stay-at-home-mom (to a 16 month old) and my hubby is a full-time med student. We don't get out much, so D&D is my adult-time and entertainment-time. I've posted and messaged and am waiting for responses...if you're looking to hop into a new campaign, please message me! Also, I'm in need of a Beloved Fearless Leader/DM, so if anyone comes across one in need of a group, let me know!
EDIT: It only took a week or so before I found a new group and we started a campaign. Yay! Good luck to everyone else on the lookout for a group... and happy gaming!
Hello, My name is antone I'm 20 years old and really new to D&D. I never new how cool this game was till I watched it being played on twitch. I am completely lost on how to play and really want to find people to play with. I would love if someone would tell me where to get a D&D program and invite me to play with them. I may be new to D&D but i was a hard core RolePlayer on wow. If you want to invite me to play D&D like they do on twitch please send me a message.
Hello everyone,
My name is Michelle, I live in the Northwestern states of 'Mericah! I'm happily married and working two jobs because I'm a workaholic.
My favorite colors are pink, purple, red and periwinkle, I love fall and winter the most out of all seasons, and nothing hits the spot quite like a nice cup of tea.
I have dabbled in such adventurous endeavors as 1st edition and 2nd edition, playing a Kensai and Psionicist but only after initially learning the dangers of kitty cats to a poor level 1 Wizard... and how much fun it is to smash magical items as an enraged Barbarian, among other exciting concepts whose character sheets wander about aimlessly in piles of papers at random friends' homes.
Recently, I had the experience of learning to play a 5th ed.. character... the concept was out of this world! I wanted some crazy-damage-dealing monster of a woman, so what better race/class to go with than a Tiefling Warlock who followed the Path of the Old Ones. <3 That was fun to play. But I didn't actually get ~into~ learning all the rules and such until I created my own characters with my own PHB and a whole boatload of spare time (if you count working past your bedtime until midnight as "spare" ) In fact, the campaign for these characters is much more slower paced, yet to help learn the rules and discover experience points values based on different types of monsters, we might find ourselves in a huge pickle. The Acrokacola Rogue birdlady does way more damage than my Barbarian does... while Fury Raging!!!! Whaaaat? Is confused! 
Sneak attacks are so cheap... I wish I had one. lolz.
Anyway, that's about it for me for now. We can always ask questions later. I know I have many! ^.^
Greetings fellow nerds, my name is Cake. I've been playing this game for way too long, since about age eight. I started with first edition, the books and dice were gifted to me by a family friend, and twenty years later I'm still playing with friends. My favorite edition is 3.5 but lately my friends and I have gotten into 5th. I usually DM because I enjoy writing and record keeping, but occasionally I get to actually play. I like to run Cleric and Wizard, but 5e Fighter looks super fun so I'll probably get into that too. I finally got around to registering in hopes that I can enrich my DM and story techniques, and maybe share some of my own ideas with the community. I look forward to nerding out with all of you. 
Hi, I'm Amber, I'm a writer and I work for Beamdog. So I pretty much live Dungeons & Dragons. I used to be on these boards as Medesha way way way back when. Mostly on a thread called Very Large Hats. Ahh, those were the days.
Old school here. Started with the blue book in the late seventies, saved allowance money to buy what we used to call AD&D (now better known as first edition). Skipped second edition but played 3.0 and 3.5, then skipped fourth edition. Currently playing fifth edition.
Haven't been active on any D&D boards before, probably out of inertia. One of the main reasons for joining here is because friends have been nudging me to publish an off book gaming "religion" that has developed its own spell list and theology over five campaigns. It's nothing to be taken seriously if you're devout in your faith in real life, but despite being offbeat and humorous Not looking for compensation, more interested in sharing something that has brought a lot of enjoyment over the better part of two decades and that has been play tested enough to become balanced and workable.
Part of the advantage is that it's a parody everyone recognizes. A substantial part of the "religious" system developed while serving in uniform (US Navy) to prevent misunderstandings with the sort of person who takes Jack Chick tracts seriously: when non-gamers walked into the space during a gaming session and heard a few random in-character remarks nothing got taken the wrong way. Everyone was in on the joke. That did a lot to let off steam while I was on deployment, although to be honest most of the groups that have played this have been entirely or mostly civilian. It's just fun and funny.
The spells have been revised for 5.0. Mainly looking for a venue to share the resource before I grow too many gray hairs and forget. Would welcome PMs to trade ideas and accept advice.
Old school here. Started with the blue book in the late seventies, saved allowance money to buy what we used to call AD&D (now better known as first edition). Skipped second edition but played 3.0 and 3.5, then skipped fourth edition. Currently playing fifth edition.
Haven't been active on any D&D boards before, probably out of inertia. One of the main reasons for joining here is because friends have been nudging me to publish an off book gaming "religion" that has developed its own spell list and theology over five campaigns. It's nothing to be taken seriously if you're devout in your faith in real life, but despite being offbeat and humorous it works in most game settings. Not looking for compensation, more interested in sharing something that has brought a lot of enjoyment over the better part of two decades and that has been play tested enough to become balanced and workable.
Part of the advantage is that it's a parody everyone recognizes. A substantial part of the "religious" system developed while serving in uniform (US Navy) to prevent misunderstandings with the sort of person who takes Jack Chick tracts seriously: when non-gamers walked into the space during a gaming session and heard a few random in-character remarks nothing got taken the wrong way. Everyone was in on the joke. That did a lot to let off steam while I was on deployment, although to be honest most of the groups that have played this have been entirely or mostly civilian. It's just fun and funny.
The spells have been revised for 5.0. Mainly looking for a venue to share the resource before I grow too many gray hairs and forget. Would welcome PMs to trade ideas and accept advice.
Hey Guys,
My name is Iwan. I live in the Netherlands and started playing D&D 5e a few months ago. Man that is a GUUUUUUUD EDITION!! Kudos to Wizards of the coast! I played DDO: Eberron Unlimited for years, and still do every once in a while. I play Neverwinter (the MMO) also, but I never really felt comfortable with the 4e edition. I hope in the future, DDO will bring a 5E version of an MMO. I was "born and raised" in the forgotten realms of 2E, about some 15 years ago. I allways found 2E the best edition, but now 5th has come to the table, I have to say it's very good to see the versatility (of character creation ) and roleplay, in a well balanced and easy to use system. In 5th, I play and build my characters, how I want them. I played single-class Cleric (Diciple of Life), and at the moment I am playing a Wizard(Necromancy) / Fighter(Battlemaster) with human trait variety (+1, +1, 1feat, 1skill ). with dual-wielder feat, that allows me to wield a staff(focus) and a longsword. The only thing I say about that is that monsters you encounter, have a problem. Whether they are far away, or in melee. ^^ The reason I stopped playing the diciple of life has several reasons, but it's not because of the build or the core rules. I really loved my cleric, but when you remove curses, afflictions, fully heal party-members with little to no effort and revivify, without thanks... well... let's just say his concious caught up with him...Anyways... Loving and living 5th edition. ^^
Hi everyone!
I started playing D&D in high school when 3rd edition first came out. I played 2e for a few years, and starting DMming in 3.5. I continued DMming in 4E and with 5E I've DMd and played. I love 5E! I enjoy this game so much: video games and board games come and go but D&D never gets old or boring.
My goal now is to write adventures for fun. I am still deciding what that looks like: I've submitted for AL but since I don't have a background I am checking out third party material to gain experience (level 1 writer lol). I have read a lot of fantasy fiction over the years, but I also have an IT background so I may pursue making adventures in Sword Coast Legends when that comes out.
Happy gaming and please PM me if you have any advice!
Random facts about me: My 1st character ever was a 3E Druid, and ironically I've never played a druid since. My most enjoyable character was either my evil necromancer from an all evil campaign, or my current D&D AL DIviner.
Greetings everyone!
My name is Shan, which is short for Shannon. And nope, I'm not a female,, sorry fellas! Lol. Anyway, I've always loved the whole medieval fantasy setting ever since I was a kid. My obsession/passion started playing old RPG's like Final Fantasy, Shining Force series, Fantasy Star series, Ogre Battle series, etc. As the years went by, my RPG obsession/passion transferred to the new MMORPG scene starting with Ultima Online, EVERQUEST, WoW, etc...
My cousin, Ronny introduced me to D&D 2nd edition when I was about 17 years old. Since then, I've fell in love with everything about D&D. I currently own over 250 d&d novels which are mostly consisted of Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, with some Greyhawk, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, etc thrown in..
I haven't played a tabletop campaign session in about 3 years, though, mostly because of my current GF's strong negative opinion of D&D in general... However, I did manage to pick up the new 5th edition players handbook, DM's Guide, and Monster manual without her knowing, lol..
Hello everyone. I am in Oklahoma City and brand new to D&D. I have been an avid miniature gamer and I still play Infinity and Dark Age. Necromunda and Blood Bowl were two of my passions as well. I am now ready to enter the D&D realm at 38... I know right, I have been around it my whole life, but it just now got my attention.
Hey,
New to the game. Some co workers dragged me to one and I ended up really enjoying it. Beats the pants off of video games.
Hope to show my ignorance a bunch around here!
Hail and well met,
Usually I'm a player but as of late I have been dipping my toes in the DM side of D&D. I cut my teeth on 2nd Edition with characters adventuring in the lands of Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and last but not least (my personal fave) Ravenloft. Recently picked up the majority of available source books/modules for D&D Next and am currently working on conversion of many of the old 2nd ed modules to 5E.
I hope to be able to find a lot of help and offer any help I can on these boards.
Cheers
Danny
Hi all! It's Ekin, from Turkiye! Physics student and Dungeon Master.
It's been more than 10 years since I started to interest in TRPG. Also following all the materials about 5E. Didn't have a chance to play this version but I'm ruling a grand campaign which will end its first storyline soon. I would like to contact other DMs for sharing experience, and maybe, brainstorming. Actually I always wondered about game ruling differences between other countries. I don't want to trust in YouTube or Twitch streams, because they look extremely basic. I believe that the community has more valuable playing / game ruling styles.
So... That's all! I hope I can find some friendly fellows. This place looks crowded.
Hi folks.
I'm Dyson. I've been playing D&D since 1979 when I joined a group that played OD&D (although a few of the players had copies of the AD&D1e PHB and Monster Manual, I joined the group prior to the release of the DMG so no one in the group was running actual AD&D yet). For the first two years I played the game without owning anything more than a set of dice. FInally in 1981 I bought the new Moldvay Basic D&D rules, which to this day remains my favourite itteration of D&D.
I've played every edition of the game to some extent (although I admit that my experience with 2e is limited to about a dozen sessions and my experience with 4e is limited to two amazing total party kills).
I play and GM a lot of other games too. In the last five years I've been involved in games of Lacuna Part 1, Savage Worlds Shadowrun, Star Frontiers, Street Fighter, Fiasco, Rogue Trader, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Marvel SuperHeroes, Gamma World, the classic 1975 Empire of the Petal Throne, and of course D&D and D&D-like games (1981 B/X D&D, Labyrinth Lord, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, D&D3.5, PF, and finally D&D5e).
I occasionally write small games, publish electronic zines, come up with weird ideas and just play games with whoever is nearby. But mostly... I draw maps. I draw a LOT of maps. I've drawn and posted well over 300 maps to my blog in the last 6 years.
Well, now that the forums are shutting down I'll finally introduce myself! My name is Sands666 (here, duh), and I've been playing D&D since the mid 90s when I was in high school. I started with Basic D&D, using the Cyclopedia to run games, though to learn the game I started by using a D&D boxed set that included a run through of Zanzar Tems dungeon! I started with Basic because I thought you had to learn those rules first, but eventually realized it didn't matter and played 2nd Edition with my friends. I've played off and on throughout the years. I used to run a game for kids too. I ran a couple of short 4E campaigns, one of them in the Shadowfell. I've been running my first 5th edition campaign for about a year now in a home brew setting (modeled after ancient Egyptian themes) in an empire called Ra-Theris! I plan on sticking with 5th edition and expanding my home brew world from campaign to campaign. 5th edition is my favorite edition since the Cyclopedia! I'll definitely miss the forums being around, but I've been on here a while so thought I'd finally introduce myself before we reach the event horizon! Best wishes playing D&D and keep up the good RPG fight!