LawfulGoodness

vynessia361:

lawfulgoodness:

vynessia361:

How tonight’s DnD session started:

How tonight’s DnD session ended:

#the evil dm in me is laughing on the inside #screw it I’m laughing on the outside too #i was this close to a total party kill

…or some GMs.

In light of last night’s game, this seems incredibly relevant.

(They have forty days to stop a continent-specific apocalypse.)

Lightweight.

My players have 3 and a half weeks to keep a planet from blowing up.  I’ve got a Google calendar for the campaign and  every time we get together I point to the date and remind them how far away they are from total Imperial domination.  

(Just because “Return of the Jedi” ended one way, does not mean my campaign will end well.)

redcaptainnickel:

So my mum is convinced that D&D is satanic, which sucks because I really want to start playing and it’s basically the only foreseeable way that I’ll have friends next year. And it’ll be hard to explain that it’s not evil, it’s just fantasy, because in her mind it’s one and the same. That’s also why I didn’t read Harry Potter as a kid, my mum thinks it’s evil.
Yeah, my mum is that Overbearing Christian Mom stereotype. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mum and I even get why she’s like that, I just wish she was a little more open-minded about these sort of things.

Anyone out there have some advice on how to show her that I’m not selling my soul? It would really help me out :D

I had a hard time getting my parents comfortable with the idea I was playing roleplaying games.  They had been told all the same things and heard all the horror stories about occult activity and the like.  However, there were several things that helped alleviate their concerns when I started playing:

1. I told her about it.  I found out as a teenager with my folks that their imagination is 100% more terrifying than reality, so I always told them what I was into it, both the good & the bad.  When they found out I was interested in RPGs, they predictably got worried about it, but I talked about who I played with, the kinds of stories we played, and the kinds of characters we had, and their paranoia settled down.
2. I played with other Christians.  There are nerds at church and school Bible studies just like there are everywhere else.  I still ask around the youth group at my church to see who’s into science fiction / fantasy stuff, and ask them to join my campaigns.  The kids are excited about getting to do something nerdy, and parents usually feel more comfortable when they know you didn’t just find a bunch of metal heads at a Pantera concert to spend your Friday nights with.
3. I played a “known universe.”  This is probably the BIGGEST factor in getting my parents over the RPG hump.  My first game was a Star Wars d20 campaign.  My parents knew & were comfortable with Star Wars, even though they were capable of pointing out all the unbiblical philosophical points to it.  It wasn’t an “unknown,” so it wasn’t cause for concern.  Once they were over that hump (my dad even played with us a few times), they realized RPGs were just an excuse to hang out with friends and eat too many pizza rolls.

If your mom is really worried about “Dungeons and Dragons,” I would highly recommend starting with a setting that is already familiar to her.  So long as she isn’t outright opposed to ALL science fiction/fantasy, you should be able to find something that doesn’t have the baggage of D&D’s name: Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, etc.  There’s all kinds of systems revolving around comic book superheroes, both Marvel & DC has licensed “official” games in the past, although “Mutants and Mastermind” probably has the biggest following right now.  

Once you play these for a while and your mom sees you haven’t painted your room black and sacrificed the family cat, it’s usually a pretty small step to something like D&D.

gamakami:

So I’ve been listening to the Penny Arcade D&D podcasts, and I love them. I now soo want to run a campaign. My only problem is, I live in MS where nerdiness is pretty much frowned upon.

How do you guys think I should ask people if they want to try dungeons & dragons with me?

A couple of suggestions:

1)  I have a tendency to promote Meetup.com pretty hard.  Not sure what part of Mississippi you’re in, but if you’re near Hattiesburg or in the southern portion of MS, it looks like there’s a pretty active group there.

2)  If you don’t have any luck with that, I suggest using a “Gateway” game with your friends.  There’s lots of RPGs based on recognizable movies & TV shows that don’t have the baggage that D&D has. Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer… chances are, if it’s a well-known science fiction / fantasy franchise, then there’s a tabletop roleplaying version of it.

Of the list my best recommendation would be Star Wars.  The Revised Core Rulebook is based on D&D 3rd Edition, so once people have warmed up to the idea of roleplaying in general and enjoy the Star Wars campaign, there will be a very small step to transition into D&D.

Really having fun with my Star Wars campaign.  I never made my players start at level 1.  I just don’t like low-level characters; I’m always afraid I’m going to break them.

Of course, then I throw a dianoga at them and the scout takes it out with two shots, so maybe I need to rethink my strategy…