Bay Area/California meetup

[averagejoe]

THis sounds interesting, i live in North Bay but there is the parent paranoia prolblem, not that it isnt stupid. I am interested to actually play a real DnD game...

Nah, it's perfectly rational. Just keep in mind that we will be meeting in a public place.

[Icewalker]

With regard to a dnd game, more time is always useful...

Hmm...actually...If we do it at the right time...

There is a guy in Berkeley who runs a dnd camp kind of deal. It's at a small cafe near where I live. For the after school one, people come once every 2 weeks, 4 hours, to continue the year long adventure. 1st edition. During the summer he does week long ones where you go for most of the day. It costs a bit of money.

He also occasionally does single day adventures, usually as a bonus thrown out if he has to cancel one of the after school sessions or some such, sometimes as a birthday adventure...

I think it might be possible to have him run us a game, as he is also the only person around I'd expect could run a significant (and AWESOME) adventure in one afternoon.

As a side note, best DM ever.

It would probably cost some money, but probably not much. The afterschool thing is $75 a month at 2-3 four hour meetings each month, which is more time than we'd have for an afternoon one.

[SilentNight]

With regard to a dnd game, more time is always useful...

Hmm...actually...If we do it at the right time...

There is a guy in Berkeley who runs a dnd camp kind of deal. It's at a small cafe near where I live. For the after school one, people come once every 2 weeks, 4 hours, to continue the year long adventure. 1st edition. During the summer he does week long ones where you go for most of the day. It costs a bit of money.

He also occasionally does single day adventures, usually as a bonus thrown out if he has to cancel one of the after school sessions or some such, sometimes as a birthday adventure...

I think it might be possible to have him run us a game, as he is also the only person around I'd expect could run a significant (and AWESOME) adventure in one afternoon.

As a side note, best DM ever.

It would probably cost some money, but probably not much. The afterschool thing is $75 a month at 2-3 four hour meetings each month, which is more time than we'd have for an afternoon one.

That sounds cool if we can all get the cash.


I just found out that I might be out of town on the 16th so I'm throwing out the 23rd as another possibility. How's that sound to everybody?

[Poison_Fish]

Sounds like the roleplay workshop, except with D&D.

[Icewalker]

The way he runs things, because it is usually the same people coming, is with the same characters all the time. His large world is very centralized, so upon determining what characters will be in the game he manages to set up circumstances to bring them all together.

Because it takes so long to make characters, we'll probably use already existing ones. There are a lot of em...

A few notes:

• 1st edition
• Pretty high power...lots of really powerful items and enemies, but well used.
• Large parties, so it is ok that there will be like 10 of us. Our group right now is something like 14.

[Felixaar]

23rd would be cool with me, as long as we have it settled atleast a few weeks in advance so I can arrive on time.

[averagejoe]

I just found out that I might be out of town on the 16th so I'm throwing out the 23rd as another possibility. How's that sound to everybody?

That should be fine for me, although school might be started by then.

[Felixaar]

hmm. that could be trouble. not for me, but, y'kno, others.

...okay, yeah, this was a shameless bump.

[SilentNight]

Just a quick poll.

1.Should we do name tags?
2.If yes, should we use our usernames or our real names and have people try to guess?

[averagejoe]

1. Call me old fashoned, but I'd like to do it the old fashoned way. (i.e. introducing ourselves)
2. I don't have a strong preference, but I would like to note that I'd have trouble calling anyone "Felixaar" with a straight face.

On the same vein, would it be a good idea for some of us locals to meet beforehand, just to reduce the potential craziness?

[Icewalker]

Might not be a bad plan.

[Pocketa]

1. Introductions and tags. Some people forget names quickly.You might not want strangers knowing your real name (i.e. non-GitP people that are in the vincinity) though.

2. Whatever you're comfortable with. I have multiple personas/screennames, and my LARPing buds greet me on the street with my persona name and my real name. It's just an online nickname, but it's also much more.

I support the meet-up. Somewhere public, safety and all.

[averagejoe]

Some people forget names quickly.

That's half the fun, though; realizing you forgot someone's name and trying to play it cool when you need to get their attention adds spice to any otherwise boring social event. (Incidentally, I not only forget names quickly, but multiple times, so I tend to be quick to forgive on this.) The fact that it's in public is what makes me wary of name tags, however.

[Pocketa]

That's half the fun, though; realizing you forgot someone's name and trying to play it cool when you need to get their attention adds spice to any otherwise boring social event. (Incidentally, I not only forget names quickly, but multiple times, so I tend to be quick to forgive on this.) The fact that it's in public is what makes me wary of name tags, however.

Especially in Berkeley. Last thing we need are more crazies.

[SilentNight]

Especially in Berkeley. Last thing we need are more crazies.

Good point. No name tags it is.

[Icewalker]

I talked to Jon about running us this game. He's done similar things before, one afternoon games. Last time he said it was $150 total, so split between everyone coming that'll be pretty cheap.

[Felixaar]

He's not going to be annoyed if some of us have no idea as far as DnD goes, is he?

Also, I'd have to say no to nametags - its' more fun if we're all just generally hanging out.

And most people just call me Felix, for that matter.

[Icewalker]

As long as you know the general idea of what it is. Also, preferably, how it's played. That doesn't mean the rules, so much as generally how it is done, you know?

Also, he runs 1st edition, so I'm guessing nobody here will know the rules anyways.

[Felixaar]

*nods* I get what you mean. I've played the occasion computerised DnD but its always a bummer cause you suceed or fail but dont know why because you dont know how the dice rolls work - I.E., I know how to roleplay and fight a battle, but I dont know how to actually work out what happens.

[SilentNight]

So if everyone who's said they'll come comes, we're looking at about 9-12 people which comes out to about $10-$15 per person. Sounds good to me.

[Icewalker]

*nods* I get what you mean. I've played the occasion computerised DnD but its always a bummer cause you suceed or fail but dont know why because you dont know how the dice rolls work - I.E., I know how to roleplay and fight a battle, but I dont know how to actually work out what happens.

Yeah, that's all you'll need. He rolls most of the dice anyways.

[Felixaar]

Sweet. I'd be more than happy to kick in my share, especially since it's old school first edition stuff.

[Pocketa]

How long does the average game take?

[Icewalker]

Probably at least 4 hours.

[averagejoe]

About what time? Do we want to do something after?

[SilentNight]

Well, I'm back for the weekend to fence nationals but then I'm gone for another week. I'd be down to do something afterwards or before, Arinells is close by. Or there's the aforementioned Apples to Apples.

Since the date is fast approaching, a brief recap.
To my knowledge we'll be meeting at this cafe on August 23rd, which I among others will need directions to. We'll be playing an awesome first edition session, after which we may or may not do something else which may or may not involve food.
What we don't know is what time and what, if anything, to do before and after. I'd also be glad to meet with the other locals ahead of time to figure things out. Any other takers?

[averagejoe]

Any other takers?

Yes. I'll be gone for a week later this month, though.

[Pocketa]

I'm going to Burning Man, and I'll have classes till around 5pm every day before that, basically, so something in the evening would be nice.

[averagejoe]

I'm going to Burning Man, and I'll have classes till around 5pm every day before that, basically, so something in the evening would be nice.

When is burning man?

Evening works well for me.

[Pocketa]

August 25 through September 1st, all week, all day.