Dungeons & Dragons (or your RPG of choice)

[Pirate Bill]

Originally Posted by frodo potter

Also the last edition of D&D (3.0-3.5) was open source... <snip>

What exactly does that mean? I know what open source means, but does this mean that the copyright of 4E prevents other companies from make games that use 4E mechanics/characters/monsters/etc?

[flippyshark]

I do love "Settlers." As long as we're talking Eurogames - I am totally charmed by Agricola. (Stress the second syllable - aGRICola - to avoid it sounding like a new soft drink.) Here, you get to be a peasant farmer - build fences, raise cows and sheep, have a family, etc. The sheep and cows are little wooden cubes. It makes me giggle every time I see it.

[Prudence]

Has anyone else here ever played "The Farming Game"?

[Disneyphile]

For those who love Settlers, you might also like Candimir.

It adds a bit of adventure and discovery aspects to it, in addition to resource gathering and building.

[frodo potter]

Originally Posted by Pirate Bill

What exactly does that mean? I know what open source means, but does this mean that the copyright of 4E prevents other companies from make games that use 4E mechanics/characters/monsters/etc?

yes that is what it means. Traditionally each game company uses its own system exclusively though there are some similarities across systems. That is, white wolf uses a D10 system, GURPs uses a point buy system and so on. D&D 3.0 allowed any body to use and adapt its system to any setting so, for example, White Wolf stated a division to write D&D worlds and moduals as did many others.

4E does not allow that, all add-ons will come from Wizards of the Coasts and some updates, rules, and advancement for character classes will only ever be available on-line. (for a monthly fee)

[Pirate Bill]

Got another game tonight that I'm looking forward to.

[Pirate Bill]

I guess the DM really can make a huge difference in the game.

The DM last night ran things...I'll just say, less entertaining. I'll cut him some slack though because everybody has a different personality and runs things differently. We also had a full table with some new players (even newer than me) who needed a lot of coaching. So we ended up being really short on time and I think that stressed him a bit.

Now that I'm getting more proficient at understanding the mechanics I'm going to make a better effort at role playing my character to try to pick up the slack from (and maybe help encourage) boring DMs.

[flippyshark]

Yeah, a good DM really makes a game soar, and a bad DM can create confusion, tedium and aggravation. I recall a game from my distant past in which the players essentially mutinied the hapless (and inexperienced) DM and appointed a new one.