Dungeons & Dragons: No, a Paladin is NOT a Boyscout

[mirkwood]

16 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

I'm old school. 3.5 all the way. Almost to the point of being OCD about it.  I know the basics about the other versions. 

You're not old school, you're pagan D&D.

I'm old school, I still run a 1/2 E combination campaign.

[unixknight]

1 minute ago, mirkwood said:

Assassins were in the first book too.  I tried a thief acrobat and after a couple of sessions just made him a normal thief.  We played an all barbarian party when the class first came out in The Dragon, but it was a short lived campaign.  Who wants to play characters that won't use magic?

Assassins were in the PBH?  Really?  Geez it's been a while since I opened it up.  But yeah now that I think about it you're right.  I remember the tables in the DMG for Assassins and the drawing of the scimitar on that page...

[Guest MormonGator]

Just now, Jane_Doe said:

It's a nature type spells --- commune with nature and such things.  The RP isn't that it's a "spell", but rather an ability your primal warrior has acquired.

Very cool. Thanks @Jane_Doe

[Guest MormonGator]

1 minute ago, mirkwood said:

You're not old school, you're pagan D&D.

Sounds about right. 

[mirkwood]

7 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Now THAT is a blast form the past!

Of course, my  group couldn't resist plaing them as PCs...

So did we, in one of several failed attempts at evil parties.

[mirkwood]

7 minutes ago, Vort said:

My third-hand D&D story:

My younger brother was invited to play D&D when he was at Rick's College. (It may have been Rick himself that invited him. Not sure.) His avatar or character or whatever you call him was an owl, who had the power of flying above the melee and emitting a Sonic Scream that knocked everyone out (except his adventuring party, who judiciously plugged their ears). It always worked, always knocking out everyone who heard it, 100% of the time. No immunity to Sonic Scream, which produced unconsciousness for like three turns and then took a turn to wake up from. Also, his Whatever Status was high enough that he always got to attack first in melee. His only other attack was using his talons—he's a raptor, remember—to do a couple of points of damage to someone.

The game was getting increasingly boring, and his character was becoming increasingly irrelevant. He tried several times to inject new and creative ways to do things, but the DM shut him right down, and the other players told him to shut up and just go along for the ride. So, not being able to participate in any meaningful way and not really wanting to play any more, my brother decided to have some fun.

He told the DM that he was flying above the group, which was fine. Then without warning, he told the DM that he emitted a Sonic Scream. "Great job," the DM said sarcastically. "Everyone is unconscious." So then he told the DM, "I fly down to Thus-and-such fighter and tear at his face." Sure enough, he did a couple of hit points of damage to the defenseless fighter. Then, when the party was waking up, he flew up high again and emitted another Sonic Scream.

You can see where this is going.

Of course, so did everyone else, and they were not happy. The DM, sensing doom, quickly decided that the other characters were developing a "resistance" to Sonic Scream. Which was bogus, of course. But I guess they dispatched the owl, my brother finished his first (and last) D&D adventure, and the group continued merrily onward, sans owl, while my brother went next door to talk to the cute girl in his FHE group.

Not sure what game he was playing, but it sure wasn't D&D.

[Vort]

2 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

Not sure what game he was playing, but it sure wasn't D&D.

I'm sure you're right. It was a role-playing game, and therefore D&D to us unwashed.

[jerome1232]

Brings back memories. I liked to play a paladin the few times I was not DMing. But I quickly got annoyed that my buddy did everything to pigeon hole me into that "boy scout" paladin you describe. If I so much as looked at a peasent wrong *poof* powers gone. It was stupid.

[unixknight]

14 minutes ago, jerome1232 said:

Brings back memories. I liked to play a paladin the few times I was not DMing. But I quickly got annoyed that my buddy did everything to pigeon hole me into that "boy scout" paladin you describe. If I so much as looked at a peasent wrong *poof* powers gone. It was stupid.

One of the issues that's been going on for 40 years in D&D is DMs who look for opportunities to put a Paladin into an impossible moral dilemma.  It's almost like it's supposed to be a merit badge or something.  

[mirkwood]

3 hours ago, unixknight said:

One of the issues that's been going on for 40 years in D&D is DMs who look for opportunities to put a Paladin into an impossible moral dilemma.  It's almost like it's supposed to be a merit badge or something.  

I let my PC's run amuck and let the chips fall where they may.  It's more fun for everyone that way.  The whole idea is to have fun while playing.

Edited December 21, 2018 by mirkwood

[Backroads]

This may be a bit of a tangent, but our DM is moving to San Diego for the next year for a job and I have literally no experience with Roll20. Anyone have tips?

(Asks the lady who played a neutral good bard to simply escape her rogue habit and because her husband treats her little gnome as annoying has done her darndest to create the most obnoxious bard in all the Sword Coast)

[mirkwood]

A good story is important.  The dice rolls can be fudged behind the DM screen as needed...and at times you will need to, unless the whole idea is to kill of the party.

[unixknight]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 10:04 AM, Backroads said:

This may be a bit of a tangent, but our DM is moving to San Diego for the next year for a job and I have literally no experience with Roll20. Anyone have tips?

(Asks the lady who played a neutral good bard to simply escape her rogue habit and because her husband treats her little gnome as annoying has done her darndest to create the most obnoxious bard in all the Sword Coast)

I hate to bring politics up, but I'd be reluctant to use Roll20.  There was some controversy with them earlier this year over political type issues with some users.

There are alternatives to Roll20.  Definitely check them out if you have a say in this.

So is the current DM going to continue, just from San Diego, or are you taking over DM duties?

[Backroads]

On 12/24/2018 at 8:23 AM, unixknight said:

I hate to bring politics up, but I'd be reluctant to use Roll20.  There was some controversy with them earlier this year over political type issues with some users.

There are alternatives to Roll20.  Definitely check them out if you have a say in this.

So is the current DM going to continue, just from San Diego, or are you taking over DM duties?

We will check out alternatives. We will be communicating with DM, but my BiL might be taking over. We shall see.

[mirkwood]

I picked up a +2 long sword, frostbrand, over the weekend.  Highly underrated weapon.  Our cleric got a flail of disruption and the wizard got a ring of protection +1.  The ranger has a beneficial magic item yet to be determined by the DM.

Edited December 30, 2018 by mirkwood

[NeuroTypical]

I haven't played D&D in 30 years, but I recognize something cool when I see it: