Author Topic: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion  (Read 7313 times)

Offline nijineko

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Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« on: January 24, 2012, 10:42:16 PM »
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2100.msg22533#msg22533


Please discuss, especially missed content. More to be added.

Offline PlzBreakMyCampaign

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2012, 03:06:01 PM »
Still not sure why posts are added to handbooks themselves instead of updated OP, etc but

BAH I CAN'T GET AT THE POST. Its here: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10871.0

Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2012, 05:56:21 PM »
i'm not sure either, but oh well.

thank you for the link. there seems to be some useful stuff there.

i am taking the stance that if it was once licensed, it still counts as legal, unless specifically superseded.

for purposes of superseding, i am not counter major version changes, ie: 3.x to 4.x.

Offline zook1shoe

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2014, 09:45:43 PM »
Am I blind, or is the Dragon Compendium not on there?
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Offline PlzBreakMyCampaign

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2014, 06:05:31 PM »
Its on mine
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Offline zook1shoe

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2014, 07:55:45 PM »
I dont really agree w the location of some of those choices, but it's your list.

I think you forgot some too...

Birthright and Planescape
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Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2014, 10:09:37 AM »
dragon compendium added - wonder how i forgot that, i even own that book.

birthright and planescape have been on there since the beginning, however it was the official 3rd ed versions only that i put on there. i don't think i had full lists at the time of the 2nd ed content, that is intended to be added once i get a hold of some lists.

i am very interested in any reasoning as to why something should be moved and or spread across multiple entries. please elaborate, zook1shoe.

Offline dither

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2014, 10:45:27 AM »
In your list of definitions, you may wish to include B/X and BECMI.


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Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2014, 11:06:44 AM »
In your list of definitions, you may wish to include B/X and BECMI.


--Dither

thank you... i must confess that i've either forgotten those, or actually do not know them - and i don't have time to look them up right now, can you elaborate, please?

Offline dither

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2014, 12:15:39 PM »
In your list of definitions, you may wish to include B/X and BECMI.


--Dither

thank you... i must confess that i've either forgotten those, or actually do not know them - and i don't have time to look them up right now, can you elaborate, please?

They're kind of like the difference between E6 and... whatever you call the game in its entirety plus 21HD+ from EHB and Divine Ranks from Deities & Demigods.

B/X is Basic/eXpert (levels 1-14ish)
BECMI is Basic Expert Companion Master Immortal (levels 1-56ish? I forget where it caps exactly)

Your list seemed pretty inclusive, so I thought they might be of benefit to you. The OSR community divides itself into a number of groups and these two are pretty significant among them. Notable, in that Gygax tended to stick with B/X in his games.


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Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2014, 03:38:04 PM »
In your list of definitions, you may wish to include B/X and BECMI.


--Dither

thank you... i must confess that i've either forgotten those, or actually do not know them - and i don't have time to look them up right now, can you elaborate, please?

They're kind of like the difference between E6 and... whatever you call the game in its entirety plus 21HD+ from EHB and Divine Ranks from Deities & Demigods.

B/X is Basic/eXpert (levels 1-14ish)
BECMI is Basic Expert Companion Master Immortal (levels 1-56ish? I forget where it caps exactly)

Your list seemed pretty inclusive, so I thought they might be of benefit to you. The OSR community divides itself into a number of groups and these two are pretty significant among them. Notable, in that Gygax tended to stick with B/X in his games.


--Dither

oh, yes, of course. =P i did know that, and had forgotten.

if my recollection is correct, i hadn't used those as at the time i was initially setting up the list was unable to find a comprehensive listing of which books were considered exclusively or partially under those umbrellas as compared to the existing categories. weak google-fu perhaps? which, as i recall, bothered me at the time, because that was what i played when i was younger myself.

Offline dither

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2014, 11:10:32 AM »
if my recollection is correct, i hadn't used those as at the time i was initially setting up the list was unable to find a comprehensive listing of which books were considered exclusively or partially under those umbrellas as compared to the existing categories. weak google-fu perhaps? which, as i recall, bothered me at the time, because that was what i played when i was younger myself.

I'm admittedly new to the concepts in OSR myself, I only found them because I've been doing research into the development of the game and its mechanics through the editions. It's amazing how arrogant and narrow-minded the 3e/PF crowd can be in light of having never played outside their particular edition.


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Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2014, 05:08:38 PM »
well, i guess people in general tend towards elitism in various ways, gamers are certainly not immune.

myself, i've gamed every version of d&d except original, 4th, and 5th, though i do own a boxed set of the original books, and i was in the beta of 5th.

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2014, 05:38:41 PM »
My kitty avatar's Tail is (adjective) than your kitty avatar's tail ...  :P ... but certainly not cleaner.  It had a run-in with the wrong end of the internet, just the other day.
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Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2014, 12:33:24 PM »
My kitty avatar's Tail is (adjective) than your kitty avatar's tail ...  :P ... but certainly not cleaner.  It had a run-in with the wrong end of the internet, just the other day.

...other day?


surely you mean every day? ;D

Offline dither

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #15 on: September 25, 2014, 01:43:25 PM »
well, i guess people in general tend towards elitism in various ways, gamers are certainly not immune.

The topic comes up at my game table from time to time, and it's something of an ongoing issue. There's this weird sense of entitlement or superiority than can build up if nerds-performing-solitary-activities go too long without contact of others within their fandom. And the Internet most certainly doesn't count. I think it's probably related to the whole social-animal thing, but it's undoubtedly a complex issue.

Suffice to say, when a person spends too much time alone, their social skills suffer. And reading (rulebooks or otherwise) is largely a solitary activity. :p

myself, i've gamed every version of d&d except original, 4th, and 5th, though i do own a boxed set of the original books, and i was in the beta of 5th.

Right after I got started on 3e, I played in BESM and Vampire: the Masquerade games. Maybe a year later I joined a Star Wars d20 game, and in the following years I tried a whole bunch of different systems. I've played every version of D&D to some extent, and a variety of retro-clones just 'cause. :)

I prefer d20 system games in general because they're more structured and game-able, and overall tend to rely less on GM fiat. My experience with more freeform games is that they tend to be dominated by the strongest personalities in a group.

D&D doesn't do everything well, and some games do some stuff better. I have yet to see a game that does everything well -- even on a "jack of all trades" level.

Most games have really crappy skill systems. I mean the same skill system. No, I really just mean crappy skill systems. They're mostly all just variants on, "try to explain to me what you're doing and then roll some arbitrary number of dice."

That might sound like all roleplaying, but really... 3e/4e have pretty explicit aims with their combat system. An attack roll is an attack roll. A saving throw is a saving throw.

A skill check by comparison, is an interpretive dance.

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« Last Edit: September 25, 2014, 01:45:03 PM by dither »
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Offline nijineko

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Re: Handbook of Official D&D Content Discussion
« Reply #16 on: September 26, 2014, 10:52:07 PM »
oh, well, if we're going to add in non-D&D games, we're going to be here a while as I try to remember all of them. =P