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Jinura
2007-06-19, 01:55 PM
Hey guys. I am a no-one from Denmark who wants to know if there is some way to play online pen and paper D&D? 3,5 version i would prefer.


If there was a free online guide on the rules becuse the closest i have played on D&D was Neverwinter Nigts 2.

On beforehand thanks.

LoopyZebra
2007-06-19, 01:58 PM
The most common way on these boards is, well, the boards.

Here's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=51) the recruitment forum for hosting new campaigns or joining them. It also has guidelines for posting for the games. There's also other sites dotted around the internet for Play by Post.

Last_resort_33
2007-06-19, 02:00 PM
If you want to make it more like a "real" game, then Fantasy Grounds (http://www.fantasygrounds.com) is very good... cost money though, but not too much.

It's not for everyone, but I like it.

Caduceus
2007-06-19, 02:01 PM
For core rules, there's always the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/).

martyboy74
2007-06-19, 02:02 PM
D20srd.org (http://www.d20srd.org) has (almost) all of the core rules, psionics, divine rules, and Unearthed Arcana. However, it is a very poor way to learn the rules. I reccomend that you borrow/buy/download the PHB. Reading through it still is the best way.

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2007-06-19, 02:13 PM
Have you tried finding an experienced group in your area?
(That is teh easiest way to learn the rules)

Jinura
2007-07-06, 03:02 PM
Have you tried finding an experienced group in your area?



Let me say something... In my area ( Valby ( a part of Copenhaqen the capital of Denmark) I know only one person who realy plays D&D and its usualy maybe once a month so... Neverwinter Nights 2 isnt enough for me

Diggorian
2007-07-06, 03:39 PM
Try to get into that guy's group. Silvanos is right, face to face is the best way to learn.

Xuincherguixe
2007-07-06, 03:53 PM
I've done a bit of IM games. http://www.openrpg.com/ is reasonably good too. You can find dozens, if not hundreds of D&D MUDs if that's you're thing.

I'm not so much a fan of playing on the boards, since things can go really, really slowly. But it seems to be popular if that's your thing.


For a future game I'll be doing I may end up programming my own client. There is nothing remotely sane about me :P I seriously doubt that many people go that far.

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2007-07-06, 04:34 PM
Let me say something... In my area ( Valby ( a part of Copenhaqen the capital of Denmark) I know only one person who realy plays D&D and its usualy maybe once a month so... Neverwinter Nights 2 isnt enough for me

Well there are certainly more than one playing, you just have to find them.

Going to the closest gaming store and asking the staff and maybe leaving a message there if they have a message board could help you track them down.

They probably also do some gaming there from time to time, a good game is certainly worth a bit of commuting.

NWN 2 is very poor compared to the real thing.

A lot of other online alternatives have been pointed out here already.

Callix
2007-07-06, 05:19 PM
I have to say that NWN2 has remarkably little to do with standard D&D. No CRPG can match the oversight of a DM who just says "No, you can't rest every five minutes", and NPCs to which you can say precisely what you wish, and they react appropriately. Also, NWN2 takes the most overpowered campaign setting I know (Forgotten Realms) and then gives it a boost. Spells particularly, despite already being spectacularly overpowered, are much stronger.

Lapak
2007-07-06, 06:07 PM
If you want to make it more like a "real" game, then Fantasy Grounds (http://www.fantasygrounds.com) is very good... cost money though, but not too much.

It's not for everyone, but I like it.I'm running a campaign in Fantasy Grounds II right now, actually. (Well, not right this minute.) It's been remarkably helpful for keeping people in- and out-of-character contributions clear, allowing for maps to be laid out complete with DM-controlled fog of war, and that sort of thing. It has streamlined a lot of what makes playing online a pain otherwise for us.

Pauwel
2007-07-06, 06:11 PM
Ja, det er klart nemmest at lære spillet hvis du spiller med nogen du kender, og som ansigt til ansigt kan forklare reglerne.

Held og lykke med det, i al fald. NwN er okay, men ikke nær så godt som den virkelige ting, som andre har sagt. :)

Flawless
2007-07-06, 06:16 PM
Ja, det er klart nemmest at lære spillet hvis du spiller med nogen du kender, og som ansigt til ansigt kan forklare reglerne.

Held og lykke med det, i al fald. NwN er okay, men ikke nær så godt som den virkelige ting, som andre har sagt. :)

Wow, I almost understood that... ;)

EDIT: On-topic, I agree with lord silvanos. A gaming store is your best bet to find some players that you can join.

Starsinger
2007-07-06, 06:33 PM
If you can't or don't want to buy Fantasy Grounds, AIM works well enough.

Peregrine
2007-07-06, 11:05 PM
Want to learn the rules, but can't find a group, and can't get into a play-by-post on the boards?

Hang around the gaming and (possibly) homebrew forums here. Seriously. It worked for me. :smallsmile:

Here's my little secret: I've only ever played in, well, four D&D games now I guess. But really only two. One was an abortive play-by-post, the other was a quick one-player game I threw together for my little brother when I was visiting family last weekend. The two proper D&D games were through my university gaming group, and I didn't start until last year.

Before that, I'd heard of the game, and I knew a couple of people online who'd played. Their interest, and playing NWN, got me more interested. And then I got into the forums here, and read the SRD, and stuff.

By the time I actually got to play a game for real, I knew the rules better than anyone who'd never really played had any right to. I'd been homebrewing spells and feats and monsters for months. These forums are really quite an educational experience. :smallsmile:

But knowing lots about the game still isn't much good if you don't get to actually play, so just reading and posting in the forums isn't a substitute for that.

PS I only just last week received my first ever copies of the PHB and MM in the mail. (I already had a DMG -- some time ago, I had the opportunity and the money to buy just one book, and I figured the DMG had more essential, non-SRD material for running a game than the PHB or MM.)

endoperez
2007-07-07, 05:32 AM
As many others have said, face-to-face is good. I suggest keeping your eyes and ears open, and asking around. For years now, I've been wanting to play rpgs and known that there's no chance for that in this little place I call home. Recently, I learned that a family living almost next to mine has tried out various rpgs, including Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, and most lately D&D. Just because none of your friends have heard of D&D doesn't mean that there aren't more players in your area.

Jinura
2007-07-07, 09:44 AM
Seeing as how i am turning 12 in under a month ( i know im just a kid, but many thinks i am older ) and my mom and dad isnt much for me using my money online ( It was hell of a battle to get them to allow me to play a MMORPG)... You know guys i´ve never got this much help on any forum or message board anywhere. I´ll try playing it here maybe. Thanks guys.





Jinura the wannabe Lawful evil villian

Mordokai
2007-07-07, 10:00 AM
Starting with evil campaign is a bad idea in my experience. Yes, being evil can be enjoyable, but it is hard for a first time player. People don't know how to be evil. A story from a friend in our gaming group comes to mind. He was DMing the evil group, and they came upon this farmer estate which was beset by orcs, or some other monsters. The group killed the monsters, and the most evil thing they were able to do was to take all of the farmer money. While this is by no means good act it is not very evil. So take my advice, start with the good/neutral party and wait at least for few games before you start playing the evil PCs.

Actana
2007-07-07, 11:38 AM
Theres the Tangled Web (http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/index.php). Its where I play. It uses the before mentioned OpenRPG, which I haven't tried, and to a lesser extent, MapTools, which is a great program. Both are free. There are many games to play, and a very friendly community.

(Yes, that might sound a bit like a commercial. :smalltongue:)

Pauwel
2007-07-07, 01:53 PM
Seeing as how i am turning 12 in under a month ( i know im just a kid, but many thinks i am older ) and my mom and dad isnt much for me using my money online ( It was hell of a battle to get them to allow me to play a MMORPG)... You know guys i´ve never got this much help on any forum or message board anywhere. I´ll try playing it here maybe. Thanks guys.

Du taler sgu da god engelsk i forhold til din alder, så. Not bad, not bad at all. :smallwink:

Som sagt, held og lykke med det. Jeg håber du finder en god gruppe; pen-and-paper rollespil er en fantastisk underholdende hobby.

Sidste råd, fordi jeg af en eller anden grund synes det er sjovt at tale dansk på et engelsktalende forum: Hvis nogen stempler dig som en nørd, så skid på dem. Verdenen er sgu for lille til sådan nogle snæversynede røvhuller. De ved ikke hvad de går glip af. :smallamused:


Sorry about all this Danish talk. What can I say, I'm a patriot. :smalltongue:
(I'm not, but it sounds like a reasonable excuse. Sort of.)

Jinura
2007-07-08, 07:06 AM
OpenRPG is quite complicated to use i think.

Piggy Knowles
2007-07-08, 02:49 PM
When an old gaming group had to part ways for a while due to business trips, we ran two sessions over IRC. It was actually not too bad.

IRC is free, just get a client (look up mIRC if you're on a PC or X-Chat/X-Chat Aqua if you're running Linux or on a Mac).

You can make multiple rooms, the DM can privately message some or all characters, it's relatively well organized. Also, you can hammer together easy scripts for just about everything, from die-rolls to initiative trackers.

I'm sure if I was more savvy with that sort of thing, too, I bet I could make an easy grid for combat encounters, too. This way characters can easily see where everyone is, and specifically say "Elan retreats 15 feet backwards, to square G4, and begins playing his lute" without the DM going crazy trying to keep track of it all and the players trying to figure out where everyone is.

Actually, if someone does put together a decent IRC script to do the above, let me know, I'd be very interested in it :P

PinkysBrain
2007-07-08, 04:42 PM
I'm sure if I was more savvy with that sort of thing, too, I bet I could make an easy grid for combat encounters, too.
If you were even more savvy you'd just download maptool (http://rptools.net/doku.php?id=maptool:intro) instead ;)

Piggy Knowles
2007-07-08, 05:31 PM
If you were even more savvy you'd just download maptool (http://rptools.net/doku.php?id=maptool:intro) instead ;)

Wow, that's the first I've seen of that, but it seems like it beats the daylights out of the IRC approximation of a game I'd been doing in the past. Have you used it before? How decent is the chat client that comes attached (ie, is it best primarily as a mapping tool, with another chat client used primarily, or is it a pretty decent chat client)?

If it's a decent chat client and not horribly slow or full of any other bugs, it looks like that just about takes the cake for free online dnd options, no? I'd imagine there has to be a reason as to why it isn't more popular...

PinkysBrain
2007-07-08, 05:47 PM
It's not a chat client, it's only used to get a shared battlemap (and tokens). If I were to run something like this online I'd use it with voice chat or IRC and IM for the equivalent of passing notes.

I've only used it with a projector in a normal session, with edited maps for RoHD from the WotC site (low rez, but then the projector ain't all that high rez either). For that it worked fine. Didn't try to use automatic fog of war yet ... I'll wait for 1.3 to be stable for that.

Piggy Knowles
2007-07-08, 05:52 PM
I was under the impression when reading its features and the forums that the software also included a chat client (as per the Chat Client/Macros section listed under Features). Oh well - it's not like it'd be particularly hard to use it alongside an IRC client or the like.

Anyhow, I'll just have to try it out and see how it is for myself. Who knows, maybe I'll start hosting an online game soon - it has been a while since I've gamed at all, and even longer since I've DMed. Thanks for the link!

PinkysBrain
2007-07-08, 05:54 PM
Oops, I didn't know it even had those :)

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2007-07-09, 01:38 AM
I have also used it along with voip-software. It works really well (including fog of war).

The chat feature we used to script rolls using the numerous short cut keys for fast and easy play.

The only problem is if you have conflicting versions of teh program. So ask the others before you upgrade. :smallwink:

Lolth
2007-07-14, 12:31 AM
Well, I am one of the owners/DMs of an online, real-time chat game set in the Underdark.

The link is in my .sig, it's friendly, active at all kinds of odd hours, and free.

The DigiChat client is pretty simple to use too, just a Java applet in your browser.

Please do come by and give us a try some time. Tell them Lolth sent you. :P

Kizara
2007-07-14, 12:40 AM
I'm running an IM campaign that is meant to replicate the tabletop pnp style.

The campaign is still in it's infancy and I'm looking for more players.

If you're into roleplaying and character development, check out my thread:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50555