Geek karma, D&D edition

[datachicane]

Back in the misty depths of time, young datachicane used to play a bunch of D&D. Being the late '70s-early '80s, there were only two flavors- the regular white box set (strictly for newbs), and the proper advanced set (for the clueful).

It's been well over thirty years since I've been around this stuff, having become a respectable pillar of society and all that. My teenage daughter found my dice a month or so back, and has been pestering me mercilessly to set up a game for her. All of the rest of my gear has disappeared over the years, and a cursory bit of googling shows a pile of various editions and variants have come and gone in the decades since.

Any OCers admit to knowing anything about the current hot tip? Should I stay full-retro and track down the old 1st edition stuff, or is that just my luddite bias showing?

[stroker]

Me and my droogies never EVER used the pre-fab adventures. We always prided ourselves in building from scratch. We used the normal combat systems and references for spells, weapons, armor etc. but the storylines were always done by us. That's a serious geek card issue. Now, if you're really pressed for time, etc. then do whatcha gots to do to get the game going. In my experience girls prefer a different sort of game to the slash & burn most guys do. Try to build a storyline and world that teaches the sort of lesson and entertains your daughter and her friends best.

Can't wait for my two girls to be old enough to play...

[RaceGrrl]

Me and my droogies never EVER used the pre-fab adventures. We always prided ourselves in building from scratch. We used the normal combat systems and references for spells, weapons, armor etc. but the storylines were always done by us. That's a serious geek card issue. Now, if you're really pressed for time, etc. then do whatcha gots to do to get the game going. In my experience girls prefer a different sort of game to the slash & burn most guys do. Try to build a storyline and world that teaches the sort of lesson and entertains your daughter and her friends best.

Can't wait for my two girls to be old enough to play...

Maybe girls now like a different kind of game, but the other girl in our group and I liked slash and burn as much as the guys did. I always felt very empowered playing the game. Then again, having a pseudo-dragon familiar might have had something to do with that. Yes, I just went full D&D nerd. Richard was DM for our game and it was always challenging. 30 years later, we're still very good friends with that same gaming crew.

Man, I miss those days.

[Napoleon]

. . . having become a respectable pillar of society and all that.

Really? ;)

[datachicane]

Really? ;)

Yeah, scary. If it could happen to me, it could happen to anybody, which is even more frightening.

We always, always played scratch-built stuff, since maintaining geek-cred was of paramount importance. Figurines and graph paper were for posers- Monopoly pieces, melted fishing weights, or coins did the job, and you got a protractor, a compass, and a ruler and you liked it.

Pretty sure I'm going to track down a set of the 1st edition AD&D books and go from there, although my memory of experiences from 35 years back likely won't help much. I may even use graph paper this time :tony:

[stroker]

Man, I miss those days.

High school free periods. Yah. ;)

[nrc]

These kids today with their 5th edition and their computerized game maps. In my day we used graph paper and we glad to have it!

I think it's important to keep it simple for beginners. Some of my guys at work have a game so I asked what they use and evidently it's and offshoot called Pathfinder. They explained it as the "3.75 edition" got to complex and Pathfinder simplified it. Evidently the 5th edition addresses some of those same things but my eyes glazed over a bit with the explanation.

On one hand it might be best to go with what you know. They've reprinted the 1st edition books for us D&D Luddites. On the other hand a newer edition might have "hipper" art and presentation that would be more appealing to your daughter and any friends she might wish to drag into the service of Satan.

[datachicane]

My daughter is a geek's own geek, so if it's obscure and slightly ratty she'll be all over it. The kid listens to my old Syd Barrett vinyl and whines when she can't talk her friends into watching Aelita, Queen of Mars instead of Iron Man. She turned down her grandfather's offer to buy her a Miata and is angling for a thoroughly used up and nasty '54 Austin Cambridge barn car she found, mice and all.


I am so proud.

[stroker]

My daughter is a geek's own geek, so if it's obscure and slightly ratty she'll be all over it. The kid listens to my old Syd Barrett vinyl and whines when she can't talk her friends into watching Aelita, Queen of Mars instead of Iron Man. She turned down her grandfather's offer to buy her a Miata and is angling for a thoroughly used up and nasty '54 Austin Cambridge barn car she found, mice and all.


I am so proud.

Tell me how you did it. I've got two candidates needing the same result.

[cameraman]

My daughter is a geek's own geek, so if it's obscure and slightly ratty she'll be all over it. The kid listens to my old Syd Barrett vinyl and whines when she can't talk her friends into watching Aelita, Queen of Mars instead of Iron Man. She turned down her grandfather's offer to buy her a Miata and is angling for a thoroughly used up and nasty '54 Austin Cambridge barn car she found, mice and all.


I am so proud.


Ermmmm, 0 to 60 in 30 seconds when factory fresh. A very cool project but not something you would ever want as a daily driver. I know someone with a slightly newer restored Cambridge and driving in traffic on the way to local car shows is very unpleasant as you get swallowed up at every traffic light by pissed off people in far faster 30 year old Yugos. The car is horrifically underpowered.