Last Friday we had our first game night since... before Christmas? It's been so long, I can't remember. My friend Rubin invited his brother Ben and I over for a session of D&D3e. Rubin was running a pre gen module (Dungeon Crawl Classics, I think).

The rest of our group couldn't make it, so we decided to use the session as a sort of training primer for 3e. We've started a few scenarios with 3e, but they've all run aground on our unfamiliarity with the rules. We've all been playing since about the time AD&D first came out (or before), so I think we've wasted some effort comparing the two systems, rather than starting fresh. Friday's session reminded me a bit of the old days. We had to stop every few minutes to look up rules, but because Rubin only had to split his attention between two players, instead of the usual four or five, things went a lot easier.

Rubin started us with a party of six characters. He told us what races and classes they were (I think they were pre gens from the module). Ben and I each took two PCs, rolled up stats to customize them, and the remaining characters were NPCs. If our other players show up in the future, they can jump in with one of the auxilliary characters. I seem to grok the new rules best, so I wound up explaining a lot, or researching rules. Rubin, I think wisely, chose not to upgrade everything at first. He kept the old D6 initiative, and left out skills and feats. I explained how the new skill rolls are just like attacks or saving throws, and demonstrated using my rogue character as a guinea pig. This way, we can master the basics, then add new things in as our comfort level grows.

I think this is why our previous attempts at 3e failed. We felt compelled to swallow the thing whole, to jump instantly to the level of understanding we had for 1e, and sprained our forty- something brains.

A few observations:

1. Although it has many specific case rules, most of 3e boils down to the key mechanic: roll D20, add bonuses, beat a target. Becuse almost everything now uses this mechanic, the game feels less intimidating.

2. Because attribute bonuses and the like now all use the same progression, and the bonuses kick in sooner (at 12 rather than 15, as in AD&D), chargen seemed faster too. I explained the progression, 10-12-14-16-18, to Ben, and he got it without ever cracking the book.

3. The index is reasonably complete. Finding rules seems easier than in the old DMG.

4. The adventure was basic: old mine, goblins, kill'em all, yadda, yadda. I was mapping (how old school is that?), and it seemed like one of those random chart or computer generated dungeons. But that was OK, because it freed us to pay attention to learning the rules.

5. The biggie. We had to let ourselves play badly. We had to mess up, look things up, stop, go back, digress, etc. So it wasn't Raiders of the Lost Ark. Big whoop. We had fun.

Conclusion? This Friday, we're actually having our first second session of 3e. We've never gotten to a second session before!

Sounds like a lot of fun, Leo, I hope the second session is just as good!

I hope you get a good campaign going. Have fun!

Quote from: Leo Knight5. The biggie. We had to let ourselves play badly. We had to mess up, look things up, stop, go back, digress, etc. So it wasn't Raiders of the Lost Ark. Big whoop. We had fun.

This is kind of where I am right now, but I don't think of it as "playing badly".  That's because you're not playing badly, you're just playing without straining yourself to be awesome all the damn time.

Look, you can reach for that brass ring as long as you want, but you're more likely to strain your arm than you are to grab that grail.  So I say, "Nuts to you, brass ring!  I don't need you anyway, your grapes are sour and you smell like a poop donut.  Yeah, go tell it to the Marines, you stupGOTCHA!  Ha ha ha, you weren't looking, were you, brass ring?  Heh heh heh.  Dumbass, I snuck up on you."

Keep rockin', Leo.  I know what it's like to have those icky, scaly dry spells.

YAY for gaming!

I'm glad you got to play again.  It's always good to have a fun game after a dry time.

Leo, that's fantastic!  I hope we can hear about your next session as well!

Quote5. The biggie. We had to let ourselves play badly. We had to mess up, look things up, stop, go back, digress, etc. So it wasn't Raiders of the Lost Ark. Big whoop. We had fun.

If everyone at the table is having a good time, then whatever you're doing is working!

Thanks for the replies. I meant to log on last night, but I spent 6+ hours in the ER with my girlfriend. She was short of breath, and was afraid she was having an asthma attack. She may have been when we got there, but by the time she was seen by a doctor, she had stabilized on her own. The hot new treatment for asthma... neglect!

On the plus side, I had all the character notes for the characters and my Player's Handbook with me, so I spent the time working out each character's skills and bonuses. They also had Cartoon Network on the TV, So I got to watch Family Guy, Futurama, AquaTeen Hunger Force, and Stand Alone Complex.:cool:

Seriously, the ER was swamped. It's flu season, and St. Agnes hospital is in Southwest Baltimore, mostly poor and working class neighborhoods. Many of the residents use the ER as a family doctor. It was like an episode of "ER", only much slower. The staff eventually put out a "code red" to ambulances, asking them to divert to other hospitals. Some of the things I saw may become part of a game someday.

Tomorrow... games!