Periodic Update

[macmaxbh]

I apparently have issues with this whole "using LiveJournal regularly" thing. I do want to use LJ more frequently in shorter bursts instead of very infrequently in long bursts.

So, things of interest in no particular order:

• I'm currently up in McLean, Virginia (outside of Washington DC) staying with my grandmother for a week. I've been doing this

Comments

[mandaria]

Oh, another random comment about the D&D:

I personally own the 3rd ed. books (Players guide, DM guide, Monster guide), but have never played a pen and paper game. There was no interest in my HS.

BUT, I can recommend some D&D computer games. If you've never played them, you need to pick up Baldur's Gate (1&2) and Icewind Dale (1&2). They are a bit old (BG is now 10 years old, wow), but most certainly worth playing. They are based off of a variation of 2nd ed. rules.

And if you want to go beyond that, I can highly recommend some literature for you. Pick up any of RA Salvatore's books.... he has a very large series based on a character named Drizzt (a good dark elf ranger). They are in chronological order, but broken down into trilogies so you can start wherever you like. He also wrote another series called the Cleric Quintet. He is also the guy who wrote the book on the death of Chewbacca. But really, you can't go wrong with many Forgotten Realms book. Another good series is by Ed Greenwood about Elminster, a very powerful wizard.

Anywho, I could ramble forever about this, let me know if any of it catches your interest.

[macmaxbh]

There was interest in DnD at my HS, but I never managed to get into the right circles. Need to look up some of those people and see if any of them went to UNC. :P

I have a copy of BG2 and tried to play it a couple of times, but for some reason I couldn't get through it. The graphics / tile system just really confused/horrified me and the battle system when I was attacking some rabid rat or something just was flat-out bizarre. I've heard it's really amazing, and will probably try it again sometimes.

I've played Neverwinter Nights / parts of NN2. I really liked NN, NN2 I didn't get too far in before RL took back over.

I could start reading Forgotten Realms books--I've read a couple of Weiss/Hickman Dragonlance trilogies which are set in a similar fantasy reality. Any recommedations from where to start in Forgotten Realms (RA Salvadore, I guess)?

The thing I really want to find a DM for, however, is just that I really get involved in the game I'm listening to via podcast; just the interactions between the players, between players and DM, the tension from the dice rolls, etc. It makes me sad I have to wait to next week to get my next installment (I've caught up on the weekly installments last night) I've read a lot of fantasy and while I love the role-playing part of it as well, what was really tugging me was the environment, the friends playing together, learning and reacting to the game and the DM.

[mandaria]

Oh God, I grew up on DL. You'll pretty much love any Forgotten Realms book you pick up. RA Salvatore or Ed Greenwood are good starting points, but don't be afraid to just pick up any book that interests you, I've read quite a few from less notable authors in the genre and haven't gone wrong yet!

Ahhh NWN. I never got much into the newer one (but I totally digged the old one that was hosted on AOL a long, long time ago....).

You should def. try BG2 again. My only tip is to pause often. Usually the game flows around pausing, making a decision, unpausing, and then re-pausing when you need to order your party around again. The game has some simple AI scripts to make some of it more automatic, but most of the time you should be giving the big orders. And saving often is also another good tip.

The biggest difference in BG and Icewind Dale is that BG is more quest oriented, Icewind Dale is more hack and slash. They play exactly the same, it is just that there are way more quests in BG than Icewind Dale.