Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Which D&D Charater Are You?

I took the test twice and got the same score. I'm not sure I agree with being true neutral but it is all in good fun.

I Am A:
True Neutral Human Sorcerer (5th Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-12

Dexterity-12

Constitution-10

Intelligence-14

Wisdom-14

Charisma-13


Alignment:
True Neutral A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Monday, October 13, 2008

D&D + a non-gamers POV = 4e?

I was having a discussion about D&D with a non gamer acquaintance of mine the other day and discovered something interesting. His idea of what D&D is like resembles 4e a great deal. At least in a general sense.

His only exposure to the game is some reruns of the old cartoon on cable and the Dungeons & Dragons movie, the one with the Wayans brother, so edition wars and things of that nature played no part in our discussion. He had seen Lord of the Rings, but wasn't a fan and prefers Madden to World of Warcraft. So while LotR and WoW both may have had some influence on his opinion I don't think it was substantial. His knowledge of table top roleplaying games is so limited that he didn't even know there were multiple editions, or even that any RPGs existed besides D&D.

I'm not really sure what got us on the topic, but he started asking me questions about how the game is played, what the purpose of the game was and why I played. After explaining myself and the game in very general terms I asked him what he thought and knew about D&D.

His idea of D&D consisted basically of a a game of superheroes living in the middle ages. He didn't know that you rolled up your own PC, but assumed you chose one of several characters that came straight from the book. According to his view these characters were like those in movies, super strong and nearly indestrucible fighters accompanied by godlike magic users who fought dragons and demons. Every character had some kind of power and super powerful weapons. Now this may not be too far from the truth, but the level of power he was talking about was more along the lines of Superman than Conan.

As our conversation continued, with me correcting several of his misconceptions, it hit me that what he described was incredibly similar to D&D 4e. Characters with incredible powers and magic weapons aplenty fighting horrible monsters sounds like a 4e game to me.

After thinking about this a little more I actually could see the broader appeal of 4e. To people who don't play the game, 4e gives them what some non-gamers may expect from the game. As a long time D&D player I like 4e but agree with many of my fellow gamers that it doesn't feel like D&D to me. As a system it is solid and fun to play, but it seems off when labeled as D&D. However, from the perspective of an "outsider" 4e would be pretty much what they envisioned the game to be.

None of this proves or disproves the worth of 4e, but it did give me a little something to think about.