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Post by Autolycus on Feb 17, 2014 2:33:37 GMT
Hey guys, I have not played a table top RP game in a long time. Afraid if I told you guy's I would be drug out of town and flogged. Anyway's I have 2 questions I could use some help with.
1st ) My son has been wanting to get into RP'ing.He seen me watching DM's Craft / The DMG.info youtube channels and he's like I want to do that. Problem is when I played it was just pencil and paper. I never delved into "The Grid". I would like to but don't know where to start. Need something easy enough for my son and his friends as well for myself. Like what would your recommendation be for Gaming System, Buy Miniatures ( I wanna keep it cheap in case he thinks its not for him, he is a teenager after all lol ), etc....
2nd ) I currently play Heroclix, I have decided to make 3d Map's as well as Theme'ed Fight Scenes using the same Technics found here. Has anyone here tried this with Heroclix? They currently use squares 1.5" in size. I was thinking of doing the Measuring Stick Method. If anyone has what was some trick's you used or some helpful tips. Actually any tips would help, seeing it's probably the same as other grid games ( you move x amount of squares and you have a range of x amount of squares).
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rifken
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Posts: 112
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Post by rifken on Feb 17, 2014 3:12:59 GMT
Personally quickest easiest to get into without spending money, would be Savage worlds. Grab an explorer's guide you can print out some flats (little pictures of the bad guy/good guy) and maybe be out 15 bucks total.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2014 4:29:19 GMT
Yeah, printing pictures of monsters and using the images pasted to chunks of cardboard is very cheap, and you can search around the internet to find images you like. Find a free copy of the D&D Next playtest, print that and use it, the system is very fast and easy to learn (also very adaptable). Remember, D&D started as a spin off from War Gaming, so it blends well with representative miniatures, but, they are not essential (they do make combat easier though). You can use 2.5D miniatures with your 2.5D terrain, and save big bucks.
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Post by DMNate on Feb 17, 2014 4:37:16 GMT
Quick, high quality, and cheap. You can only pick two at a time.
Sent from my SGH-T679
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Post by wilmanric on Feb 17, 2014 4:53:01 GMT
Hey guys, I have not played a table top RP game in a long time. Afraid if I told you guy's I would be drug out of town and flogged. Anyway's I have 2 questions I could use some help with. 1st ) My son has been wanting to get into RP'ing.He seen me watching DM's Craft / The DMG.info youtube channels and he's like I want to do that. Problem is when I played it was just pencil and paper. I never delved into "The Grid". I would like to but don't know where to start. Need something easy enough for my son and his friends as well for myself. Like what would your recommendation be for Gaming System, Buy Miniatures ( I wanna keep it cheap in case he thinks its not for him, he is a teenager after all lol ), etc.... 2nd ) I currently play Heroclix, I have decided to make 3d Map's as well as Theme'ed Fight Scenes using the same Technics found here. Has anyone here tried this with Heroclix? They currently use squares 1.5" in size. I was thinking of doing the Measuring Stick Method. If anyone has what was some trick's you used or some helpful tips. Actually any tips would help, seeing it's probably the same as other grid games ( you move x amount of squares and you have a range of x amount of squares). If you are wanting to play and aren't committed to combat "that must use" a grid, I'd recommend Swords and Wizardry (you can get it free) and/or Microlite20 (also free online). Both are lean, easy systems (IMHO)
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dmbrad
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Post by dmbrad on Feb 17, 2014 11:15:24 GMT
The Pathfinder pawns are an excellent and relatively inexpensive substitute for actual minis. You might also consider picking up the Pathfinder beginners box, it has everything you need to get started (including a nice selection of the pawns) and is only about $25or $30 if I recall correctly.
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sadric
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crafting not enough, not enough time. :-(
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Post by sadric on Feb 17, 2014 11:44:12 GMT
Yeah, Savage worlds is my system of preference, too.
The test Drive rules are totally free, and its enough to create characters for a short dungeon crawl. I use it with my son and his friends soemtimes since he is 11-12 years old (now 16 years).
I use it even with my 6 year old daughter that like to move miniatures trough a dungeon, get some treasure and free cute miniatures.
There are a lot of free paperminiatures, with different complexity, Simple trifolds or A-Frame miniatures. Or the Onemonk cutouts that looks better in a 2.5D World then Trifolds.
Savage Worlds have bennies as touchable "luckpoints", playing cards as initiative system, you could use counter for magicpoints. All are haptic elements that helps for Teenagers with a short attention span. :-)
Emphasize that RPG is story telling, too. My first games where Savage worlds Star Wars game- A few battle droids, a few yedis and a battlemap and I had some problems to get from this wargame approach to the storytelling. They aksed when the game starts and we draw the battlemap/use miniatures and stop talking. :-)
Take a look at what he likes to play on PC/look in the movies. I know I hooked them with short Star Wars battle's. Today we play sometimes a Zombie apokalypse setting.
My daughter likes to play animals or a elf princess that could talk with animals and nature spirits. I have to find a way to get them to play together, but the style is to different to get them playing together.
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Post by sgtslag on Feb 17, 2014 13:11:43 GMT
1) I'm going to go against the grain here: use what you know -- less of a learning curve; possibly cheaper because all Editions of AD&D/D&D are available on e-Bay for pennies on the dollar; even 1st Ed. AD&D can be learned, if taught by someone who knows the rules already, and learning those quirky rules was part of the fun, IMO. If you will be DM'ing, it will be best to concentrate on the game, rather than the rules, so go with what you know, already. One of the very best modules, for beginners, is N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God: detective work needed to figure out what is going on within the village, who can be trusted, who cannot; the plot is not static, so if the PC's dawdle, things will happen around them; the village detective work will lead them to an underground dungeon after they make a short romp through a swamp wilderness; the dungeon crawl is classic D&D, with a Boss battle at the end. I've played it four times, and every time it was different, because of the players (mostly different people each time, but some folks played is a secnod time -- they were amazed at how different it was each time, too); it is designed for beginning DM's, as well as beginning players. No matter what Edition, or fantasy RPG you decide upon, give N1, above, a look-see. It can be adapted to any rules set. It is a fantastic adventure, covering most of the bases for RP'ing. 2) The measuring stick is probably your easiest method of going gridless: wrap masking tape around it, 1.5" wide, and apart, then paint the exposed sections. When dry, remove the tape, and you will have a banded measuring stick. Movement is quick, and easy. The 2.5-D system is easy, fun, and dirt cheap! Get as crazy as you like with it. It's a blast to craft amazing stuff, from mostly scrap, and recycle materials. Be sure to share with us how things go, and what approaches you decide to take -- we 'game' vicariously through such posts... Cheers!
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Post by thedmg on Feb 17, 2014 13:16:01 GMT
Here is a simple system "10". The player describes what they want to do. The DM decides how difficult it will be from 1 to 10. The player must roll equal or higher (1 requires no roll). The DM describes what happens based upon the roll.
The character sheet is the story of what the character has done so far.
That's it. The rest is up to you.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2014 2:39:57 GMT
DMG, that reminds me of Star Wars from west end games back in the day, or worse Shadowrun 1st and 2nd edition. Anyway I have to agree with sgtslag, go with what you know. The books are cheap, or maybe free if you can find someone to loan you one or two, and surf the web for some resources. Sometimes you can find other DMs who don't mind sharing their fantasy world and adventures. Having said that, I haven't actually look for some time.
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Post by DMScotty on Feb 20, 2014 15:08:38 GMT
I must say I love me some Savage Worlds
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Post by kokigami on Feb 22, 2014 5:22:15 GMT
You already have heroclix minis. Run a supers game.
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Post by runningwolf on Mar 4, 2014 19:30:17 GMT
Hehe, worse comes to worse and cheap comes to cheap use coins, printed tokens (phone pix your face, scale it down, print it in a circle), or some of the clip art heroes as a paper stand up counter.
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Post by brokentoy on Mar 23, 2014 18:44:08 GMT
I used to like Savage Worlds a lot. Used to. But it's a bit too... 'tactical' and keeps track of too many details that get in the way of storytelling. Here is a simple system "10". The player describes what they want to do. The DM decides how difficult it will be from 1 to 10. The player must roll equal or higher (1 requires no roll). The DM describes what happens based upon the roll. The character sheet is the story of what the character has done so far. That's it. The rest is up to you. This. I'm using a core similar to this system, (Numenera), with two classics from Savage Worlds (Using a deck of cards for initiative and giving Bennies for player re-rolls), but am brewing my own, simpler version in the meantime. Having only the players roll dice is very freeing. Also, stat pools that are used both as health and energy for powers/effort makes the game very dynamic and interesting.
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Post by earlteagrey on Mar 24, 2014 2:27:05 GMT
The Pathfinder pawns are an excellent and relatively inexpensive substitute for actual minis. You might also consider picking up the Pathfinder beginners box, it has everything you need to get started (including a nice selection of the pawns) and is only about $25or $30 if I recall correctly. I concur.
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Post by waynekarrion on Apr 15, 2014 16:14:21 GMT
Thread necromancy, but as an aside to what's already been mentioned there are some other thoughts to hopefully help. For minis, Among my minis I also have these tokens from D&D game days a while back that are just PC1, pc2, etc and monster 1-10 or whatever and a colored ring so that red monster 1 and green monster 1 are two different guys... You could always take an approach similar to that (I like them for traveling games since they fit in a small bag but can pretty much represent anything). As for system, there are many free available on the web, legally mind you. There are a few very similar to basic d&d and 1e, as well as the bulk of the Pathfinder and 3.5 D&D rules being available on their respective websites (the 3.5 may not be on their website anymore I haven't checked) but basically all of pathfinders rules are available on their website for free in the form of a reference document. Just an fyi if free is your thing.
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Post by gnomezrule on Apr 15, 2014 23:42:38 GMT
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leolad72
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I am a DM; it isn't in my job description to "kid around"
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Post by leolad72 on Apr 17, 2014 0:15:18 GMT
Drivethrurpg.com is a decent resource too. Some of their offerings are a bit limited, but I've nabbed more than a couple games, minis and resources out of their Free section that cater to a variety of interests. More than worth a look.
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Post by 1999robur on May 2, 2014 21:33:34 GMT
I use tokens and cardboard measuring sticks for my dnd campaign. It's a good solution because you can print out tokens or use the official monster vault ones. When buying the monster vault you get a lot of tokens, as well as a monster book.
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Post by skunkape on May 5, 2014 21:11:53 GMT
As far as measuring, there's nothing wrong with use HeroClix, Reaper, MageKnight or any minis. If you go grid-less then it doesn't matter what the size of the base on the figures is, all that matters is what scale you're using in between them. Decide on a particular scale, 1 inch, 1.5 inch whatever and then make a few measuring sticks out of dowels. What I did with mine was to paint the sticks red, then wrap a piece of 1 inch painter's tape at alternating 1 inch increments then paint the exposed areas black. Instant measuring device that I don't need to worry about converting.
The same would work for using 1.5 inch increments, and when I finally get around to running a Car Wars game at my local convention, I'll be using Matchbox cars, which are 3 inches long roughly and Car Wars original scale that I have used 1 inch long cars. So I'll make measuring sticks with 3 inch increments and then not have to worry about converting from a weapon in the 1 inch scale that hits a car up to 8 inches away, I just lay down the scaled up measuring stick and if it's 8 increments away on the stick, 24 inches, the car will hit!
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