Recently, a few friends had approached M'Colleague, expressing an interest in tabletop RPGs, as they had honestly never encountered them ever, aside from whatever cultural osmosis. Having had gaming as a part of my life for ages, this is an exceedingly foreign thing to me.
Of course, sitting down to play tonight will be just as foreign, if not moreso, to our mates. This hit me hardest when, just a bit ago, I observed M'Colleague scanning the character sheets and setting aside the specific die types each new player will need. Of course! Presenting them with our jar o' dice and letting them rummage through it is one approach, but as this is meant to be an educational evening, it seems appropriate to say, "Here are the tools you need [dice and character sheets] let's take it from here." If the game continues and levelling happens, along with the acquisition of bigger and better weaponry, dice rummaging can happen.
We're breaking them in with a 1st level 4th Edition D&D game that, according to M'Colleague, was partly inspired by that Red Riding Hood movie that came out a couple years ago. While I can't recommend it purely for the story (it was just too cliché for my taste) the setting and atmosphere is really great, and I'm excited to see what comes of the game.
The players described what they wanted to play and characters have been pre-generated from there. One wanted to play Arwen Undomiel, and she's ended up with an Eladrin Warlord. Another wanted to also play an Elf, but to be a magic user, and good with the fightings; she'll be a Hexblade. Our third newbie spotted Sir Bearington in a forum post and was inspired. He's ended up with a Longtooth Shifter Druid.
I'll also be playing, since S.P. is running. I was on the fence on what I should do. The party already has a Leader, Striker, and Controller, so we were in need of a Defender. I want to be helpful, but I also want to try something new. And, let's be honest, I want to mess with my friends a little, because that's always fun. So I drew up a Paladin.
A Pixie Paladin.
A Pixie Paladin who is pretty much a literal interpretation of Sunflash from The Mighty Boosh's Future Sailors live tour. M'Colleague let everyone pick Themes and Backgrounds, so I took the theme of Seer (he's from the fyoocha after all) and the background Born On Another Plane (from a planet called Camden, in another dimension). Check out Noel Fielding in glammy action as Sunflash here:
Yeah, I'm a dick.
I am envious, have a blast!
ReplyDeleteI still regret that I never got to play D&D 4th ed more.
You're welcome to come play in one of my games sometime. My long-running 4e game welcomes a floating sixth "guest star" for a session or two, and the game Nicole describes here could accept another player or two.
DeleteFor all the flack that it gets, I have found that I really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know, we can always do a one shot or something if you've got a craving for some 4E.
(Hmmm, my phone seemed to eat my reply, let's try again on my desktop).
ReplyDelete4th Edition is my favorite of the editions that I've played, so we should talk sometime, especially with us living close enough for it to be good exercise to walk. :)
I've actually picked up 13th Age, which is sort of a love child between 3rd and 4th edition with some narrative tricks thrown in, that I will probably end up running at some point when I am ready to run games again.