May 2019 BotM: NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #1)

[Snarktastic Sonja]

I also felt as though the NPC part (view spoiler)[became more obvious further into the series. I had the same thought as you did until about 50% (hide spoiler)]

[Emily]

Words, I had the same problem with app vs. browser. Comments looked incomplete, and I couldn’t open the spoilers until I logged into Goodreads on Safari. :/
Conversation makes a lot more sense now!

[Words]

Aha, now that I’ve finally finished the book, I’m rereading this thread with all the spoilers revealed...(via the browser like you say, Emily!)

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy the story as well as everyone else. But even though I didn’t feel super invested in the npc characters themselves, (view spoiler)[ I did oddly feel huge satisfaction when the real players got their comeuppance. Their assholery was so real (Tim excepted) that I feel like this book came to be after a particularly frustrating game that Hayes gm’d. :)

The mechanics of the Bridge interest me - it can pull a person’s character in, but not the person themselves. I’m guessing the other pieces might do the same for npc’s in the other direction in the sequels (hide spoiler)]...

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Just started and through chapter 8. It started a bit slow, but is picking up. (view spoiler)[I love that the demon battle at the goblin camp showed them they had all picked the wrong roles (hide spoiler)]

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I know.

May be just me or that I'm a long time table-top gamer but I love this series of books.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Just started and through chapter 8. It started a bit slow, but is picking up. [spoilers removed]"

That is one of my favorite parts.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Finished the book today and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the push to read it.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

The series is worth following. I've liked pretty much everything I've read by the author.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

So, I've started Split the Party AND I started playing One Deck Dungeon which is a card and die based 1 or 2 player dungeon crawler!

WooT!

https://www.amazon.com/Asmadi-Games-A...

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Cool. I just got back from DMing our every other week game.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

@MrsJoseph - you should check out Legacy of Dragonholt "game", which is basically a choose your own adventure story that 1-6 people can play and you get to use prepared characters or make your own up.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Cool. I just got back from DMing our every other week game."

*jealous*

I wish I lived near you. :(

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Me to. One of our players has a new boy friend and I got to intro him to D&D. Right now we have 6 in our regular group (not counting me). I think you'd enjoy it.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I probably would.

You know. I'm gonna see if I can find a group around here. They have to be somewhere...

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Sometimes a local game store is a good place to look. We have a nearby store called Game Keep where in the past I've spent far more than I should have on miniatures, books etc. (for a couple of years there while I was still working I think the owner [Carl] may have been able to have meat with his meals because of what I spent...).

I'd posted that I was looking for someone to play 1st or 2nd edition D&D and my present friends called me when they saw it.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Sometimes a local game store is a good place to look. We have a nearby store called Game Keep where in the past I've spent far more than I should have on miniatures, books etc. (for a couple of yea..."

I think I'll give it a try! There's a local comic store that expanded into games as well. Maybe, if I get a chance, I'll try and drop by there today. It's not too far from my office.

There's a Warhammer store around here but it has FUNKY hours. I've tried to go there a bunch of times but its always closed.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

WarHammer is it's own animal. They are a miniature based army game not roll play...they cost a fortune. I have friends who played Warhammer and Warhammer 40K both. So don't confuse it/them with D&D. I sometimes used their miniatures because they make some nice ones but I never played the game. It costs too much.

Hopefully you'll have a game shop that handles RPG stuff. They usually also handle board games, card games and then sometimes the army style games (including the military miniatures historical groups, they are really anal-[retentive] about details). LOL.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "WarHammer is it's own animal. They are a miniature based army game not roll play...they cost a fortune. I have friends who played Warhammer and Warhammer 40K both. So don't confuse it/them with D&D..."

Honestly, I was just hoping to fins some information there. I'm...not really into the massive army type games. I played something sorta similar before: StarCraft. Its not my thing and I prefer RPGs.

I just saw the local comics store I told you about publicized a group playing "Gloomhaven." IDK what it is but it looks like an UBER expensive boardgame.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Never heard of that one. I play 1st or 2nd edition D&D. Some years ago I played a game called Gama World but it has gone by the way side. I've played a few other D20 based RPGs. D&D is up to like 5th edition now I think, but I dropped out of the later ones a few years ago Some people love them, I think they just dumbed it down, LOL.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I finally did it! I bit the bullet and went to a beginners' D&D game/lesson.

I had fun! The people were a bit different but nice and welcoming. No one made fun of me for being a total newbie.

It's 5th edition, lol. I told the DM that I didn't buy anything to prep because I didn't know what edition he'd teach and you're the only person I know who plays. When I told him what edition you play, he told me that your gameplay is much more complicated and so I would have been very much lost, lol.

It took 3 hours...and it was directly after work. This means I was out of the house for 13+ hours straight. But its only one day.

Hubby isn't the biggest fan of me being gone so long on a weeknight. Especially since the game skews male (though there was another woman in my group) and takes so much time.

When I was leaving, one of the other players told me to check out DnDBeyond. www.dndbeyond.com) But I have to sign in with an email address and I'm not really into attaching myself to systems I am not sure I plan to be active in like that. It's just another way to allow people to track you everywhere like a tagged dog.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I get that, never heard of that sight.

I played other editions up through 3.5 (and bought the books for 4) but I lost interest in those. I had a group at the game store but it finally broke up. That's when I posted on the bulletin board at the game store for a group. That's how I met the couple with whom we stared another group.

We have 2 women and 4 men (besides myself). The game does (still) tend to skew male, but that's changing as women get willing to try it, LOL.

I'm glad you found a group, hope it works out long term...maybe you could invite hubby?

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Oh, what character are you playing?

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I get that, never heard of that sight.

I played other editions up through 3.5 (and bought the books for 4) but I lost interest in those. I had a group at the game store but it finally broke up. Th..."

Thank you!

It's...not really a group just yet. The DM running it says that its "not adventure league" and that it's a beginners group only. He says its basically a group he started in order to teach new people to be able to slowly funnel them into standard games (is that adventures league?). He doesn't allow any character over level 2 at the start of the session (but he does allow you to get past level 2 during gameplay).

I've been trying to talk hubby into playing. He says he'll continue to play Grim Dawn with me and he'll consider some type of card based game night (like Spades or Poker)... but he'd rather join someone else's card based game night. And if I find a D&D group closer to home AND he's of a mind, he'll join.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Right now I'm playing a level 3 wizard. Everyone was a bit peeved that I didn't go for the cleric. Ha!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

That's because (if 5th is like 1st & 2nd) the Cleric is necessary as she/he is the healer...but it's not thought of a glamorous. If you learn the right spells however a cleric can be very tough.

I'm not sure how different 5th is from what we play, and all our players (adventurers) except 1 (Missy's boy friend) are experienced. Starting level is dictated by the DM and his knowledge of his players.

In this case I started everyone at first level. I'm planning (and running) a campaign game. That is it's a game I set up in a world I designed (I've been building the world since 1978 so it's fairly developed now). The game could go on for years. Sometimes we take a break and the other regular DM in the group (Nick) runs a different campaign for a while.

So the characters can grow from low to high level (and I'll adjust the challenges as they grow).

So since I'm not sure of all the differences between 5th and our editions I may not know exactly where the games differ.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "That's because (if 5th is like 1st & 2nd) the Cleric is necessary as she/he is the healer...but it's not thought of a glamorous. If you learn the right spells however a cleric can be very tough.

I..."

Yeah. We had no healer. And a barbarian halfling who kept getting hit. The DM stepped in and gave him a potion cause he basically was dead from 2 plays in.

I didn't want to be the healer as I like to "cleanse" towns of evil. By killing. Mostly (in PC RPGs) I tend toward either melee play or distance. TBH, the melee is new with D3 + Grim Dawn. I was solidly a distance player before D3's Monk. THEN they came out with the Paladin. It was a no brainer. I can't bare to Monk anymore and I'm starting to not be very good without being coated in tons of steel and one-handing a two-handed weapon. O_O

[Mike (the Paladin)]

When I'm a player the Paladin is my favorite character (as I suppose you guessed from my screen-name). I tend to prefer melee combat to. Of course a Paladin can heal a few hit points a day and the amount goes up as they advance... They can't be the primary healer but you know, better than nothing.

:)

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

And we have now finished book 3!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Cool...

I just got back from a Church Pastor's conference over the weekend so I'm still a bit punchy. I think I'm too old for fun.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Cool...

I just got back from a Church Pastor's conference over the weekend so I'm still a bit punchy. I think I'm too old for fun."

Never too old for fun! But sometimes we need to parse it out a bit.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Yeah...second day (first day was all classes and meetings) I spent most of the day in my room...napping. LOL

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Yeah...second day (first day was all classes and meetings) I spent most of the day in my room...napping. LOL"

LOL

[Mike (the Paladin)]

's okay, I'm feeling better now. Of course almost all my clothes are dirty so tomorrow is laundry.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

sign of a good trip. ;)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

LOL...Jeans and T-shirts in now.

:)