To this day, I do not advertise I play D&D to other people in general. One person at work knows, who also plays D&D, and is in my game group. My very good friends know. But I wouldn't say it out loud to other people at work or in my profession. Maybe that's silly now, but it is a gut instinct at this point. Only people I can trust with that information know I play D&D.
"THIS is the best kept secret in mankind's history. If it ever is revealed to the public, whole civilizations will be brought to their knees." *Opens massive vault door, and inside is......BioWizards collection of 4e books* (Even the 5e players gasp)
If he had 4e books I would certainly be disappointed.
The big issue I've seen when it came to gamer geeks socially interacting with girls was the sheer number who'd watched all the various comedies from the 80s and 90s and thought that they were an accurate depiction of human interactions so that if they just kept hitting on a girl, the "no" would eventually turn into a "yes."
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I'm currently in high school, and last year one of my classmates started a D&D club. There were more boys than girls, but not be a large margin. I was actually surprised to see the number of people that showed up, considering that they weren't part of the nerdy crowd. My school isn't very large, so everyone pretty much knows everyone else, and the cliques are rather fluid. I didn't experience any sexism or gatekeeping, or actually anyone treating anyone else different due to gender. I don't know how typical this situation is, but I hope it is more common than sexist, gatekeeping groups.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
I'm currently in high school, and last year one of my classmates started a D&D club. There were more boys than girls, but not be a large margin. I was actually surprised to see the number of people that showed up, considering that they weren't part of the nerdy crowd. My school isn't very large, so everyone pretty much knows everyone else, and the cliques are rather fluid. I didn't experience any sexism or gatekeeping, or actually anyone treating anyone else different due to gender. I don't know how typical this situation is, but I hope it is more common than sexist, gatekeeping groups.
When I was in school, D&D and being an unpopular kid were a bit of a recursive loop: D&D was unpopular because the uncool kids played it, and letting it be known that you played D&D would kill your social standing. So chicken or egg problem.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
OMG I hated Champions!! Like taking a calculus exam just to create a character, nvm play. Just listening to an hourlong Champions character story practically put me to sleep.
Too many 80s and 90s RPGs thought that having character creation and gameplay rules that were highly complex just for the sake of complexity was a good thing.
Too many 80s and 90s RPGs thought that having character creation and gameplay rules that were highly complex just for the sake of complexity was a good thing.
I much prefer storytelling games like Vampire and Trinity Continuum. My friend played Champions a couple times and didn’t hate it but the only reason she even tried it was because her new boyfriend was into it and they were still in the honeymoon phase at the time. I think it was Champions 5e she tried, but I’m not 100% sure. Idk the game well enough to know the difference between editions.
Everyone: thank you so much for all your posts on women DMs and gender equality in D&D. Really appreciate the discussion.
@Seldarine801: no lol. Not that kind of relationship. I just meant like how do they get along? Best friends? Romantic lovers? Rivals?
Oh haha okay. Well, then my first point stands. They aren't of the same "sphere", so I don't know how much they would interact, but I don't see why they would be rivals.
And which system needed a calculator? Lol.... Even Champions and Rolemaster only needed a bit of math on character creation.
Phoenix Command wasn't terribly playable without a calculator, but it wasn't terribly playable with one either, and in any case is super obscure. Champions with a variable power pool where you were coming up with on the fly powers could require a fair amount of math at the table, but GMs generally solve that by either outright banning variable power pools or requiring the player come up with power selections ahead of time. Champions to hit (roll 11+OCV-DCV or less on 3d6) wasn't the best of designs (3d6+OCV with a DC of 10+DCV would have been the same odds and significantly easier to play) but hardly required a calculator.
Complexity without a thorough explanation though is bad.
I remember thinking in 1E that with each level up I would get an extra die of hit points. So, for example at second level I rolled 2d4 and added the result to the 1d4 I had rolled for 1st level.
When I finally found a group, they set me straight, but they had a good laugh at my expense (I was 11 or 12)
Complexity without a thorough explanation though is bad.
I remember thinking in 1E that with each level up I would get an extra die of hit points. So, for example at second level I rolled 2d4 and added the result to the 1d4 I had rolled for 1st level.
When I finally found a group, they set me straight, but they had a good laugh at my expense (I was 11 or 12)
That was pretty clear in the PHB, though... nor is that particularly complex nor any more complex than 5e HP
Well, I think they way it was presented got me confused.
1st lvel 1d4
2nd lvl 2d4
3rd lvl 3d4, etc, etc
So, based on the chart I thought that I got to roll 2d4 for hit points at 2nd level.
Now that I think of it, it was the purple/pink box (Pre 1e)
Seldarine801: I was reading thru some old Planescape stuff I bought on DTRPG and I read this one this that said that Aphrodite and Hanali Celanil lived on the same Outer Plane and shared a magical fountain of love called Evergold. I was wondering if that was still a thing in 5e and if so what their relationship was like.
Everyone: Sorry. Champions is probably a great game. It’s just I’m not that good at math and it took forever to make a character and this guy told me an hourlong story about his Champions character and it just wasn’t a very fun experience.
Everyone: Sorry. Champions is probably a great game. It’s just I’m not that good at math and it took forever to make a character and this guy told me an hourlong story about his Champions character and it just wasn’t a very fun experience.
"Let me tell you about my character" isn't a very fun experience regardless of game system. Champions was a good game for its time, but it really hasn't kept up with modern game design.
Everyone: Sorry. Champions is probably a great game. It’s just I’m not that good at math and it took forever to make a character and this guy told me an hourlong story about his Champions character and it just wasn’t a very fun experience.
"Let me tell you about my character" isn't a very fun experience regardless of game system. Champions was a good game for its time, but it really hasn't kept up with modern game design.
What do you think of Mutants and Masterminds? (Sorry. Getting way off topic here but I’m just curious.)
If he had 4e books I would certainly be disappointed.
The big issue I've seen when it came to gamer geeks socially interacting with girls was the sheer number who'd watched all the various comedies from the 80s and 90s and thought that they were an accurate depiction of human interactions so that if they just kept hitting on a girl, the "no" would eventually turn into a "yes."
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I'm currently in high school, and last year one of my classmates started a D&D club. There were more boys than girls, but not be a large margin. I was actually surprised to see the number of people that showed up, considering that they weren't part of the nerdy crowd. My school isn't very large, so everyone pretty much knows everyone else, and the cliques are rather fluid. I didn't experience any sexism or gatekeeping, or actually anyone treating anyone else different due to gender. I don't know how typical this situation is, but I hope it is more common than sexist, gatekeeping groups.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
I had the exact same experience.
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
When I was in school, D&D and being an unpopular kid were a bit of a recursive loop: D&D was unpopular because the uncool kids played it, and letting it be known that you played D&D would kill your social standing. So chicken or egg problem.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
When I was in high school it was still the last millennium and the world was just different back then.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
OMG I hated Champions!! Like taking a calculus exam just to create a character, nvm play. Just listening to an hourlong Champions character story practically put me to sleep.
Too many 80s and 90s RPGs thought that having character creation and gameplay rules that were highly complex just for the sake of complexity was a good thing.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I much prefer storytelling games like Vampire and Trinity Continuum. My friend played Champions a couple times and didn’t hate it but the only reason she even tried it was because her new boyfriend was into it and they were still in the honeymoon phase at the time. I think it was Champions 5e she tried, but I’m not 100% sure. Idk the game well enough to know the difference between editions.
For a lot of us, the complexity made it fun.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Depends on the type of complexity.
Good complexity: having a variety of actions my character can take in combat.
Bad complexity: needing a graphics calculator to figure out whether a roll of 11 succeeds in any of those actions.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Oh haha okay. Well, then my first point stands. They aren't of the same "sphere", so I don't know how much they would interact, but I don't see why they would be rivals.
Phoenix Command wasn't terribly playable without a calculator, but it wasn't terribly playable with one either, and in any case is super obscure. Champions with a variable power pool where you were coming up with on the fly powers could require a fair amount of math at the table, but GMs generally solve that by either outright banning variable power pools or requiring the player come up with power selections ahead of time. Champions to hit (roll 11+OCV-DCV or less on 3d6) wasn't the best of designs (3d6+OCV with a DC of 10+DCV would have been the same odds and significantly easier to play) but hardly required a calculator.
Complexity without a thorough explanation though is bad.
I remember thinking in 1E that with each level up I would get an extra die of hit points. So, for example at second level I rolled 2d4 and added the result to the 1d4 I had rolled for 1st level.
When I finally found a group, they set me straight, but they had a good laugh at my expense (I was 11 or 12)
Well, I think they way it was presented got me confused.
1st lvel 1d4
2nd lvl 2d4
3rd lvl 3d4, etc, etc
So, based on the chart I thought that I got to roll 2d4 for hit points at 2nd level.
Now that I think of it, it was the purple/pink box (Pre 1e)
Seldarine801: I was reading thru some old Planescape stuff I bought on DTRPG and I read this one this that said that Aphrodite and Hanali Celanil lived on the same Outer Plane and shared a magical fountain of love called Evergold. I was wondering if that was still a thing in 5e and if so what their relationship was like.
Everyone: Sorry. Champions is probably a great game. It’s just I’m not that good at math and it took forever to make a character and this guy told me an hourlong story about his Champions character and it just wasn’t a very fun experience.
"Let me tell you about my character" isn't a very fun experience regardless of game system. Champions was a good game for its time, but it really hasn't kept up with modern game design.
What do you think of Mutants and Masterminds? (Sorry. Getting way off topic here but I’m just curious.)
It has its flaws, but it covers the same basic design space as Champions with less clunky mechanics.
Cool. I may check it out. Thanks.