tuf Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 46 minutes ago, atarialoha said: However, to be honest, I never really liked the negative Armor Class thing. It was so counterintuitive. I think for 3rd edition they made it a positive thing, and then later changed it back. I lost track over the years. It's pretty crazy it's in 5th edition now or maybe even more, but the older and more cynical me can now understand they just want to make people pay money to buy new books. So sad! That's how the world works! LOL Heh, I'm just the opposite with AC. I grew up with THAC0 so the current rules seem childish in comparison (I mean, who doesn't love charts) Personally I own the complete 1e set and the 5e set - I skipped all the bloated stuff in between. Dig deep and find that utility! I was thinking about writing some sort of D&D toolset that'd run on the 8bit and use Fujinet in a client/server sort of mode. I'd rather give yours a try first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 14 minutes ago, tuf said: Au contraire, 1e is alive and kicking! There's tons of people running old Basic and AD&D as the rules have been converted to many different clone systems. If you look up OSR and B/X you'll see what I mean. What's old is new again Wish that applied to our bones and eyes! LOL especially my eyes! Actually make that my whole body. I can't play video games for hours and hours anymore. Hands hurt. Yes, youngsters, if any of you are reading this, one day you too might not be able to play anything other than boardgames LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 8 minutes ago, tuf said: Heh, I'm just the opposite with AC. I grew up with THAC0 so the current rules seem childish in comparison (I mean, who doesn't love charts) Personally I own the complete 1e set and the 5e set - I skipped all the bloated stuff in between. Dig deep and find that utility! I was thinking about writing some sort of D&D toolset that'd run on the 8bit and use Fujinet in a client/server sort of mode. I'd rather give yours a try first Hahaha I wish I can dig deep somewhere and find my old program! It's not like there was cloud storage back in the day! Cloud storage meant something going up to the clouds! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 Remember this cutting edge product? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 (edited) $25 in 1980 = $80 in 2021 Edited April 30, 2021 by atarialoha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuf Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 WANT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 10 minutes ago, tuf said: WANT! Haha! I found it for you on eBay if you want to try your luck bidding https://www.ebay.com/itm/274777860186?hash=item3ffa09685a:g:h48AAOSw4p5giioA and no, this is not me selling it!! I just happened to find it! 15 watchers so far. I guess maybe there will be more haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 It's pretty wild that it just so happens to have one on eBay. Surely they can't be so common that they pop up on eBay all that often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 (edited) Man, looking at these suddenly brought back a wave of nostalgia for me https://www.ebay.com/itm/293968337751?hash=item4471e0db57:g:xuoAAOSwnm1gCz-W I remember having to use that black or white wax crayon thingie to rub and fill in the embossed digits. Edited April 30, 2021 by atarialoha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzspeed Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 I actually bought a brand new D&D starter set not that long ago, never used it however... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollumer Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 22 hours ago, Pokeypy said: Do people still play D&D these days? Friend of mine had the idea to bring the old group together again using Zoom or the platform "Roll20" maybe. So I wondered. If we start playing again (I doubt it though, we probably don't have the time any more), your program could be interesting. It's enjoying quite the renaissance. 5th edition has sold more than 3rd and 4th editions combined, and sold more in the time it's been around than the early editions did in the same time period. There are quite a few very popular live streams, and game stores have (well, had, pre-covid) weekly D&D nights. The great thing about 5e is they greatly simplified (*not* dumbed down) things like to-hit and whatnot. If your number (to-hit roll + any modifiers) is equal to or higher than their number (AC), then you hit. Simple. It's been very popular with a lot of old grognards (like myself...I started with the first Basic Set - the blue box by Holmes - then moved on to AD&D when it came out). If you're looking to get your group into online play, take a look at Foundry VTT. I've used Roll20 since the beginning (I was a Kickstarter backer), but they've stagnated. Foundry is better, IMO. https://foundryvtt.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollumer Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 22 hours ago, atarialoha said: I think most people, especially youngsters, just play those online MMORPGs these days, and nobody really thinks very much about die rolls. Just click click click. There's nothing "wrong" with that, just that it's not the same even though it's called an RPG. Don't forget, we used to actually ROLE PLAY (not talking about the LARP stuff). Pre-covid I was the area coordinator for D&D Adventurer's League where I live. I overlooked 4 stores that each hosted D&D two nights a week. Anywhere from 10 to 30+ people per night, depending on the store. A good half of them were in their 20's, and on the weekends we'd get some even younger. At the conventions there's a good mix of old farts (like myself) and younger kids. This was all in-person, at the table D&D...just like the old days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 3 minutes ago, gollumer said: It's enjoying quite the renaissance. 5th edition has sold more than 3rd and 4th editions combined, and sold more in the time it's been around than the early editions did in the same time period. There are quite a few very popular live streams, and game stores have (well, had, pre-covid) weekly D&D nights. The great thing about 5e is they greatly simplified (*not* dumbed down) things like to-hit and whatnot. If your number (to-hit roll + any modifiers) is equal to or higher than their number (AC), then you hit. Simple. It's been very popular with a lot of old grognards (like myself...I started with the first Basic Set - the blue box by Holmes - then moved on to AD&D when it came out). If you're looking to get your group into online play, take a look at Foundry VTT. I've used Roll20 since the beginning (I was a Kickstarter backer), but they've stagnated. Foundry is better, IMO. https://foundryvtt.com/ Interesting! So this is an ONLINE cloud based service? I thought it was an actual tabletop using a screen, where everyone sits around. Imagine we had that in our teenage years. But I think the true next generation will be headset VR. In fact we could all sit around in VR and discuss this exact topic, while having a virtual dungeon around us, and you would see people actually firing Magic Missiles and hitting monsters. I reckon 5 more years before this can happen. The headsets nowadays are still too bulky. I have an Oculus Go. It's a very basic starter VR thing, and mostly I just use it for the Wander app (Google Streetview in 360) to virtually visit places (it's good for COVID lockdown haha!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 4 minutes ago, gollumer said: Pre-covid I was the area coordinator for D&D Adventurer's League where I live. I overlooked 4 stores that each hosted D&D two nights a week. Anywhere from 10 to 30+ people per night, depending on the store. A good half of them were in their 20's, and on the weekends we'd get some even younger. At the conventions there's a good mix of old farts (like myself) and younger kids. This was all in-person, at the table D&D...just like the old days. Well now that we are SO FAR OFF from my main topic (lol) I will just add, the only kind of in-person gaming thing I ever got back into as an adult, after AD&D, was the Magic the Gathering card game. There would be many stores holding similar gaming sessions, alongside RPGs. It's also a great game to keep on hand and it's easy to teach someone. I used to keep a pack with me (with sufficient variety of cards for a 2 person game) when traveling, even on business trips. I guess I'm still geeky in that way haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollumer Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, atarialoha said: Interesting! So this is an ONLINE cloud based service? I thought it was an actual tabletop using a screen, where everyone sits around. Imagine we had that in our teenage years. But I think the true next generation will be headset VR. In fact we could all sit around in VR and discuss this exact topic, while having a virtual dungeon around us, and you would see people actually firing Magic Missiles and hitting monsters. I reckon 5 more years before this can happen. The headsets nowadays are still too bulky. I have an Oculus Go. It's a very basic starter VR thing, and mostly I just use it for the Wander app (Google Streetview in 360) to virtually visit places (it's good for COVID lockdown haha!) It's both! Or either, I guess. I converted a TV into a tabletop screen for in-person use, but since COVID started my regular groups (one weekly, one monthly) have been fully online. We use Discord for voice and Roll20 (for now... planning to migrate to Foundry once the current campaigns end) for the maps and whatnot. We also use DnDBeyond for character sheets and dice rolling. (There's a browser plugin that links Beyond with whatever VTT you're using...) And yeah, VR would be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 By the way, in case some of you folks are interested, Neverwinter Nights has been re-released (remastered) and you can get it for the Apple iOS devices. It joins the Baldur's Gate series, and Planescape Torment. NWN is actually playable multiplayer. It's not "massively multiplayer" but I did play that when it was out in the early 2000s, online. If you learn the NWScript language, you can develop or edit your own modules and levels. It's actually an entire operating system and world editor, all in one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 1 minute ago, gollumer said: It's both! Or either, I guess. I converted a TV into a tabletop screen for in-person use, but since COVID started my regular groups (one weekly, one monthly) have been fully online. We use Discord for voice and Roll20 (for now... planning to migrate to Foundry once the current campaigns end) for the maps and whatnot. We also use DnDBeyond for character sheets and dice rolling. (There's a browser plugin that links Beyond with whatever VTT you're using...) And yeah, VR would be cool. Ah, Discord voice is smart. I can see how it can work very well with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollumer Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Ok, back to the actual topic. I never saw your program, but sounds awesome. I wrote a D&D character generator in basic back in the day (on my 800XL). I've looked for it, but think maybe it was on one of the floppies that didn't survive. It was pretty basic (sic)...it output directly to a printer. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tillek Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 On 4/29/2021 at 8:34 PM, Pokeypy said: Do people still play D&D these days? Friend of mine had the idea to bring the old group together again using Zoom or the platform "Roll20" maybe. So I wondered. If we start playing again (I doubt it though, we probably don't have the time any more), your program could be interesting. The local game store still hosts some events. Some of my former co-workers also still have a group. Mostly, it's D&D5, but there is a resurrection of the older editions. In fact, a popular product now at the game store is the re-writes of the original AD&D modules for the newest edition. /s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tillek Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 2 hours ago, Mazzspeed said: I actually bought a brand new D&D starter set not that long ago, never used it however... Was thinking of getting a D&D going on TVAG BBS... just not sure if it can gather enough interest. Was going to do a Gurps Star Trek (or something sci-fi) for SFHQ. /s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Of possible interest to the readers of this thread ... early in 2020 while working from home and trying to fill the silence that heretofore had been filled by coworkers and office blabberings, I discovered the YouTube channel of Seth Skorkowsky, a very smart, very funny, and very experienced long-term RPG gamemaster, RPG player and author. His game reviews, war stories and generally delightful nerdy storytelling have been mainstays for me ever since. He has videos, module reviews and stories related to Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk:2020, Mongoose Traveller, Conan, Alien and yes, Dungeons & Dragons. https://www.youtube.com/c/SethSkorkowskyAuthor/playlists 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollumer Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 On a related note: I saw today that filming has begun on this: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2906216/ Great cast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Memory Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) Detective work! How did you distribute your D&D dice rolling program? You mentioned BBSes, but which ones? Compuserve? Any other online services? Did you ever post it to Usenet? We may not be able to find it, but if we knew more about how it was initially distributed it might provide vital clues. If it was only ever on floppy disks handed to friends, it's probably gone, but if it was uploaded somewhere some detective work might be possible. Edited May 1, 2021 by Dr Memory clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarialoha Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, Dr Memory said: Detective work! How did you distribute your D&D dice rolling program? Upload to BBSes? Which ones? Compuserve? Any other online services? Did you ever post it to Usenet? We may not be able to find it, but if we knew how it was initially distributed it might provide vital clues. If it was only ever on floppy disks handed to friends, it's probably gone, but if it was uploaded somewhere some detective work might be possible. Hello! I uploaded it to BBSs. I lived in the Toronto (Canada) area at the time. There were some major North American BBSs that I frequented although I forget the names. I think one of them was called A.L.I.E.N. BBS? It had like 5 or 10 lines to call in. You had to pay a fee I think. I didn't upload to CompuServe but CompuServe took a lot of my teenager money LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Memory Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I ran a pretty big BBS in SoCal but I doubt if it migrated that far. Still, I'll try and find my archives and see if it made it here. Unfortunate that you didn't try distributing on CI$ - I'm sure there are archives of that around. They got a lot of my money too. People tried to mirror the big pay sites as they went down, or so I've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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