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D&D: 4th Edition and NWN2
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Author:  X2-PB [ Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:08 pm ]
Post subject:  D&D: 4th Edition and NWN2
For those of you who are interested Wizards of the Coast have announced that they will be releasing the 4th Edition of the D&D ruleset in 2008. This is actually fairly old news, but I only found out a few days ago and I don't recall anyone mentioning it on here.

The rules are supposedly going to be more streamlined for faster gameplay. This, it has been suggested by some, will make it more adaptable for PC games although no one has actually seen the new rules yet so we've yet to see! I intend to buy the new edition when it comes out. I actually have a fair number of D&D book despite never having played the tabletop game! One of these days I'll find a group of people with whom I can play!


The other aspect of this post is relating to NWN2. I don't know how many people have or play NWN2 but it has been around for just over a year now and appears to have a lot of it's bugs fixed. The Devs Blog has lots of updates about what's going on and most include a spotlight on various Persistent Worlds (PWs) that exist for NWN2. These appear to be much like community built MMOs and we, as a group, might be interested in investigating some of them. Alternatively, the tools are available and, if we fancy a challenge, we could create our own. I'm just throwing the possibility out there as I would certainly be interested though such a thing is far beyond my abilities to do solo.
Author:  Talon1977 [ Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:36 pm ]
Post subject: 
Good to hear they are making it faster to play.

As for NWN2, I was just looking at it the other day. Was thinking of finding a copy and giving it a go.
Author:  X2-PB [ Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:59 pm ]
Post subject: 
Talon1977 wrote:
As for NWN2, I was just looking at it the other day. Was thinking of finding a copy and giving it a go.
Make sure you update it completely before playing, will make a lot of difference. I'm also thinking of buying the expansion pack for it: Mask of the Betrayer. Not for the new campaign (I tend not to play those through) but for the extra stuff it gives you to play with in the toolset!
Author:  Acritus [ Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:41 pm ]
Post subject: 
I just played my first D&D game (rolled a character with actual dice) a few days ago with some friends who are wayy bigger nerds than me :wink:

It was fun, though we didn't do everything by-the-book, as the world we were playing in, the one the DM created, had very little magic in it, kinda like 3rd Age LotR I guess. It was alot of fun and reminded me of being a kid and using my imagination, rather than something being shown to me.

I'll keep an eye on the new ruleset and I've been looking into NWN2, the same D&D friends highly recommend it
Author:  Daishus [ Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:35 pm ]
Post subject: 
Never played D&D itself but have enjoyed some of the othe rpen and paper games like Rifts, and Spelljammer. Lots of fun
Author:  Angelus [ Tue Jan 01, 2008 2:56 pm ]
Post subject: 
Daishus wrote:
Never played D&D itself but have enjoyed some of the othe rpen and paper games like Rifts, and Spelljammer. Lots of fun


ZOMG, I think you are the first person other than me to ever refer to Rifts here. We had tons of fun with that game as kids. I still have a bunch of the expansion books. What was your fav character?

My first was a Cyber Knight. He was cool, but my fav was when the DM allowed us to use Heroes Unlimited as well. Had to roll like under 5% on a 100-sided die to get powers but I did. Random rolls gave me heightened hearing, and alter-form into metal (think Colossus). Damn good abilities in a pinch where you had to get the initiative or take a huge beating (600MDC armor from the metal form :D )
Author:  Flyoc [ Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
I happen to be in the process of finishing the solo part of NWN2 and the extension.

The game is good, but not as fun as Baldur's Gate 2 for me. Moreover, the team you play is kinda small, and I HATE being forced to take characters with me (which is the reason I stopped playing in the middle of the game the first time).

About the multiplayer aspect, I never tried any (BG2, NWN1, NWN2) but I don't think I would like it.

How would compare BG2 and NWN2 from a solo perspective, and from a multiplayer perspective ? (I'm not even sure you can create dynamic content in BG2 multi)
Author:  X2-PB [ Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:15 pm ]
Post subject: 
I've never actually played either in multiplayer! And, to be honest I've probably spent more time playing around in the toolset in NWN2 than I have playing the game, so I'm really not qualified to say!

I did, however, waste several days playing BG1 and did actually watch my housemate waste several days playing BG2! The main differences between the BG series and the NWN series seems to be how you control your party. BG was very much more a control-the-party game where as NWN is more individual based. The storytelling in BG2 is probably the best I've seen in any game that I've played. The characters are believable and I've found that you actually feel for them. Also, if I recall correctly, you went into a town and there was actually stuff going on, you go there at night and the shops are closed and the streets are deserted, go there during the day and it's full of life. That level of detail can be scripted into the NWN engine but I haven't yet seen it done or done well (but I also haven't played that much).

NWN2 though has everything required to make an outstanding campaign, all the tools are there. Just looking at the toolset and the community everything is available to make any D&D-based game imaginable. It's even possible to tweak it sufficiently that, with a lot of work, you could convert it for Starwars-based campaigns (although that's not actually surprising as I believe they used a previous version of the same engine to make KotOR2).

I think that making a NWN2 project would actually be a perfect activity for our current lull in gameplay. There's a lot of people here who like putting lots of effort into planning for future games. We could use those energies to create a campaign of our own using NWN2.
Author:  Master Gui-Jan [ Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Angelus wrote:
Daishus wrote:
Never played D&D itself but have enjoyed some of the othe rpen and paper games like Rifts, and Spelljammer. Lots of fun


ZOMG, I think you are the first person other than me to ever refer to Rifts here. We had tons of fun with that game as kids. I still have a bunch of the expansion books. What was your fav character?

My first was a Cyber Knight. He was cool, but my fav was when the DM allowed us to use Heroes Unlimited as well. Had to roll like under 5% on a 100-sided die to get powers but I did. Random rolls gave me heightened hearing, and alter-form into metal (think Colossus). Damn good abilities in a pinch where you had to get the initiative or take a huge beating (600MDC armor from the metal form :D )

lol. I'm pretty sure I have most of the Rifts books still. I know I've got Phase World, which was one of my favorites.

Still have Heroes Unlimited and Villains Unlimited, and I might just have Aliens Unlimited too.

Loved to GM those ones.
Author:  Daishus [ Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:36 pm ]
Post subject: 
Played several different characgters in Rifts in college, Cyber-Knight being one of them, dont remember what most of them were
Author:  X2-PB [ Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:06 pm ]
Post subject: 
Anyone so happen to have a D&D Insider subscription? They seem to be giving away a lot of information on D&D 4E that can't be accessed without a subscription.

EDIT: Nevermind, there doesn't currently appear to be any requirement to pay. You have to sign up for it though.
Author:  X2-PB [ Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:11 pm ]
Post subject: 
Just an update for you all.

D&D 4th Edition was released today. I actually stood in a bookshop for half an hour flicking through the player handbook!

Being the sad person I am and although I've never actually played a tabletop D&D game in my life, I pre-ordered the gift set of the core books on Amazon last week! Hopefully they'll arrive in the next couple of days. I'll write a review here once I've read through them for any one that is interested.
Author:  Onto Kracken [ Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:29 am ]
Post subject: 
I'm interested. A friend of mine mentioned a service that allows you to play pen-and-paper RPGs online, I forget what it is called. I think it handles dice rolls and character hits and stuff like that in a chat room type setting. Actually it seems like Metaplace would be well suited to take advantage of this type of thing when the time comes.
If anyone is interested in getting together a campaign, I would love to do some RP, but don't have access to any books here in Japan.
Author:  Cordalis [ Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:03 am ]
Post subject: 
I really enjoyed messing around with the first NWN, so I'm fairly interested in messing around with the second one! I made a small campaign with the first one but never really expanded past just playing with some simple world creation and NPC interaction options.

I'm suprised to see how many of ye have never actually rolled up a paper toon and played around a table. My first experience was when I was around 6 years old watching some 9 to 10 year year olds play down the street from my house...I was kinda hooked after that. In a way, my fascination with D&D led me all the way to my wife...(who will one day inherit a castle from the Blackmoor campaign! woot! I can't wait to set up my pool table there)
Author:  Master Gui-Jan [ Sat Jun 07, 2008 2:03 pm ]
Post subject: 
The Core Rulebook set is currently on sale on Amazon.com. About 50% off
Author:  X2-PB [ Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:42 pm ]
Post subject: 
Onto Kracken wrote:
A friend of mine mentioned a service that allows you to play pen-and-paper RPGs online, I forget what it is called.
http://www.dndinsider.com perhaps?
Author:  Daishus [ Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:10 am ]
Post subject: 
X2-PB wrote:
Onto Kracken wrote:
A friend of mine mentioned a service that allows you to play pen-and-paper RPGs online, I forget what it is called.
http://www.dndinsider.com perhaps?


Or maybe OpenRPG? Heard of this but never looked at it, allows dice rolls, picture sharing, whiteboard ect.
Author:  X2-PB [ Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
Well it seems Amazon.co.uk got drastically more pre-orders for the 4th ed D&D books then they could cope with as the delivery on my has been delayed until the end of July!!!

I am somewhat miffed about that!
Author:  Onto Kracken [ Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:24 am ]
Post subject: 
Daishus wrote:
X2-PB wrote:
Onto Kracken wrote:
A friend of mine mentioned a service that allows you to play pen-and-paper RPGs online, I forget what it is called.
http://www.dndinsider.com perhaps?


Or maybe OpenRPG? Heard of this but never looked at it, allows dice rolls, picture sharing, whiteboard ect.


OpenRPG, that's the one. I guess they use Skype for voice chat and handle the rolls and everything through that.
Hmm, if it's delayed in countries that are likely to have it it's probably going to be impossible to find in Japan. Wired gave 4th edition a great review, although they didn't like the pricing system on dndinsider. It's about the same as a MMORPG for monthly fees I guess, and it allows you to make campaigns online and access all the magazine content and whatnot.
Author:  Daishus [ Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:13 am ]
Post subject: 
Yeah I have listened to a few playsessions on my iPod with a group that uses OpenRPG, seems to work pretty well.
Author:  X2-PB [ Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:53 am ]
Post subject: 
X2-PB wrote:
Well it seems Amazon.co.uk got drastically more pre-orders for the 4th ed D&D books then they could cope with as the delivery on my has been delayed until the end of July!!!

I am somewhat miffed about that!
It seems that Amazon have got their act together and my rule books have now arrived.
Author:  Master Gui-Jan [ Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:32 am ]
Post subject: 
X2-PB wrote:
X2-PB wrote:
Well it seems Amazon.co.uk got drastically more pre-orders for the 4th ed D&D books then they could cope with as the delivery on my has been delayed until the end of July!!!

I am somewhat miffed about that!
It seems that Amazon have got their act together and my rule books have now arrived.

My brother just told me he had the same problem with Amazon US. They told him that it was backordered due to too many orders, and later that same day he got his email stating that it shipped. He actually received the books this past Monday.
Author:  X2-PB [ Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:52 pm ]
Post subject: 
D&D Compendium is now live. Not sure if you're required to register for D&D Insider to access it, but doing so is free at the moment.


As a side note, I have been reading the 4th Edition Core Rule Books over the last few days. I'll put up a review on the new edition when we have a D&D forum (there's an incentive for you!).
Author:  Onto Kracken [ Thu Aug 07, 2008 10:33 am ]
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http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/insidernews/20080806
Not much new in this update, except the pricing. $7.95 for one month, $6.65/month for 3 months, and $4.95/month for 12 months. They also say about how far along they are for all of the online features.
Author:  X2-PB [ Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:26 am ]
Post subject: 
Those prices actually look quite reasonable to me, so long as they don't decide to hike them later. You'd pay more than that just for two magazines each month.
Author:  Onto Kracken [ Sun Sep 21, 2008 10:58 am ]
Post subject: 
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080917
Free trial will be ending some time in October, but I still don't see the use in investing in it until the Game Table is ready. You can make characters pretty easily with just the books, and the magazine content is not enough to make me pay for it.
Author:  X2-PB [ Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
I must admit I'm in two minds about it. I do find some of the magazine articles an interesting read and I am partially betting on general improvements down the line. Last I read there were some bad feelings in general from the D&D community, although that could just be the vocal munchkins. I'm also not investing in an MMO at the moment so it'll give me something to spend my money on!
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