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  1. #1
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    New D&D game starting in January!

    I will be running a modified 3.5 game set in my own world. For now, this is a Mystery/Heist adventure that will take characters from level 1-5, but as interest allows, it will continue much beyond that—this, and all future games that I run for the foreseeable future, will be part of what is essentially a living system. Your actions will have consequences, and your decisions will impact not only your group, but other groups as well. Your character will remain available for use in any future campaigns or adventures, or can be retired (permanently or temporarily), to come in to future events as your time allows.

    This game will have a heavy emphasis on Role Play, often with multiple sessions in a row without initiative being rolled. That’s not to say combat will not be important: when it occurs, it is often lethal, and death is (almost) always permanent. The setting itself is low-magic-item (ie—don’t expect any Ye Olde Magick Shoppes), but players will have the opportunity to find, create, or quest for equipment that fits their needs; it just involves quests instead of “Oh, I have these gold coins, give me world-breaking power!”

    Why do I charge? Every map and every adventure is tailor-made for the group and characters I am running with, and frankly this takes time—a lot of it. NPCs, equipment, side-stories, and even the main stories of plots all revolve around the characters and personalities that the players create, and for every hour of game time, I expect to spend 2 hours of preparation. The setting, and even much of the system, have been hand-crafted by me, and in many cases, I’ve created feats and even entire classes to match player needs so that the character they are playing mechanically matches the vision they have in place.

    In short, I love DMing, and based on feedback over my 18 years of doing it, I’m good at it. I want to do more of it—I love making peoples’ lives better by bringing entertainment that they also create. It’s a wonderful experience to not only see my own visions take place, but to help others realize their own imaginings—to tell their own stories in a way they never thought possible.

    The game will be Tuesday evenings, from 5:45 until 9:45 Pacific (8:45 pm – 12:45 am Eastern) time, starts August 1st, and should last approximately 3-4 months. Cost is $5/session; discounts available for payment in advance.

    Feel free to ask any questions here, or to PM me for more information. I’m currently looking for two players to fill out a group of seven. Send me very rough character ideas

  2. #2
    The Anti Miz
    The Anti Miz of the House of Weave

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    This is a cool thing to see in BST Forum. Good luck!

    Also how to people with ADD do at this? I feel like I would zone out and not know what is going on every 4 minutes and everyone would get SO mad. Is that something you run into a lot? SORRY TO GO OFF TOPIC JUST CURIOUS

  3. #3
    You wouldn't know that though because you've demonstrably never picked up a book nor educated yourself on the matter. Let me guess, overweight housewife?
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    I feel every boss encounter with tyven is going to follow the exact same scenario:

    "Does this pudger drop yeezys? What kind?"

    "No. Tyven. Those don't exist in this game."

    "Then wtf are we doing with this chub? Just fucking move around him and find some lit boot bitch."

  4. #4
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    Quote Originally Posted by tyven View Post
    This is a cool thing to see in BST Forum. Good luck!

    Also how to people with ADD do at this? I feel like I would zone out and not know what is going on every 4 minutes and everyone would get SO mad. Is that something you run into a lot? SORRY TO GO OFF TOPIC JUST CURIOUS
    Well, I have ADD, and I do pretty well with it. Like I said, I've been DMing for close to two decades, and I've lost track of how many people I've DMed for. The pace tends to be slower than IRL games, in large part because the role play and descriptions are done in type; combat, clarifications, and just general palling around is done in voice. For folks with ADD who I know aren't going to be able to pay attention for four hours with a plot line that isn't tied to their character, I'll periodically prod them a few minutes before it's their turn so that they have a chance to catch up, and don't hold things up too much.

    It's really going to depend: the more you enjoy it-- either the character, the chatter, or plot-- the easier it is to get into it and have fun.

    What I'd suggest for anyone interested in joining, but unsure if they'd be able to handle it... sit in on one of my free sessions. See what it's about, see if you like what's going on. If it's for you, great-- even if I can't find a place for you in this next game, I'll be adding more games over the coming months as my framework is almost completed for my needs. If not, no worries; no DM is for every player, but I'll at least be glad you gave me a shot, even if we aren't a fit.

  5. #5
    Atheist Douchebag.
    Pony Slayer of the House of Weave

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    I wish I wasn't already in a game on Tuesday. I would join up immediately.

    Best of luck! BGers you should play with Maroot! GIVE HIM YOUR MONEYS

  6. #6
    The Shitlord
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    My girlfriend and I will be playing in this game. I have been running with Maroot for almost a year now, though I've only recently begun playing my own characters. To be fair, I joined right at the start of a major boss encounter, involving more than 100 monsters, and it's the free group so we've sorta been his beta-testers for both the game system and the playing framework, which obviously entailed some speedbumps.

    The pacing is definitely slower than IRL tabletops, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The RP is mostly done in text channels on Discord (though if you prefer to do voice RPing, I see no reason you couldn't! Most people, in my experience, prefer text, though), which gives you more time to formulate in-character dialogue. Combat moves at a more familiar pace, though obviously when there are 100+ monsters, it takes longer than only a few monsters.

    I've had a number of different GMs over the last couple years I've been playing tabletops. Some are very clearly better than others, and each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Maroot is definitely the best GM I've had overall, though I have had a couple who were slightly better at their own strengths. Maroot's greatest strength is, I think, in his interactions with players. When you build your character concept, he takes it and builds the campaign story with it. His NPCs react to the peculiarities of the PCs. He works with you on your concept to accomplish what you want to do.

    I know there's likely to be some hesitancy about paying to participate in a campaign, so I thought I'd explain why I am eager to do so. First: The entry cost is actually less than the food/dice/mini/book cost I accrue IRL. Second: It's crazy fun. The RPing is more intense than IRL, and since the GM/system designer is working with you on your concept, you get what you want to do without later coming across some source material you didn't know about that would have worked a lot better. So the character concepts do what they're supposed to do with fewer compromises. Third: Having heard the stories from the other free group players about how that campaign has played out (we're at level 15 right now) and the stories that unfolded, I'm eager to see how our characters will grow and change, and see their story.

    Anyway, GF has also participated in a couple sessions of the free group now and it all kinda came at her cold, so I thought you might appreciate some words from her:

    So I am new to the whole RPG gaming as a group and at first, I was really scared that I was going to do something wrong or that I wasn't going to fit in with the group but Maroot really made me feel welcome and he was very accommodating to helping me shape a character that not only got me really excited to play but he also helped in making my character exactly the way I wanted her to be. I was concerned about the text format in terms of playing the game because I'm more used to conversation RPG than I am anything else but the text format is really immersive and even more so than conversational table top gaming. Because of the text format, it does make the game a slower pace than normal table tops but I actually really appreciate the pay off of the immersive role-playing versus the pace of the game because you really feel like you are your character rather than you speed your way through a battle or a campaign. You feel like you deserve your rewards just like your character would at the end of a real quest.

    As a female coming into not only a hobby that is male-dominated but coming into a group that I have never met before was a little unnerving but again, Maroot made the transition so easy for me and he made me feel so comfortable that I already felt like I was part of the group. I certainly don't feel like the outsider of group which is how I have felt in some of our past groups.

    I'm really excited to see how our characters grow and how the stories unfold. Maroot is a very skilled story-teller with a lot of details that I think most of the time go unnoticed and underappreciated in most table-tops. In his settings, you really have to pay attention to details and that's one of the reasons I love this style of RP than any other. Five stars all the way!!!

  7. #7
    Atheist Douchebag.
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    As to the paid aspect of the game:

    I pay to play in one of my games ($15 a session, $50-60 a month depending on # of weeks in the month) and the DM is a professional who kicks a serious amount of ass. I don't think there should be any stigma against paying for a really good experience. I play in a free game (Well we pay for table usage at the same shop so $10 a week) with most of the group from my other game and while it's definitely a fun experience, it's not as dynamic as the other game. Paying for a highly experienced DM just guarantees your fun in my opinion.

    +1 to Maroot again. Dude knows what he's doin.

  8. #8
    Duplicitous Jew with Political Aspirations
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    Hmm. Never done this before, kind of interested now based on testimony here.

  9. #9
    Micronesian Thunder
    Get Down On It

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    If I had Tuesday night free I would jump in on this. Been missing playing D&D after the majority of my regular group moved away last year. Good luck!

  10. #10
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zealot View Post
    Hmm. Never done this before, kind of interested now based on testimony here.
    It's not a common thing-- if by "this" you mean pay-to-play D&D. But if there's anything you'd like to know, I'd be happy to answer whatever I can; Zet or Bane might be better able to answer questions from a player's perspective, if they're willing to.

  11. #11
    Duplicitous Jew with Political Aspirations
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    I mean play D&D at all.

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

  12. #12
    Atheist Douchebag.
    Pony Slayer of the House of Weave

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zealot View Post
    I mean play D&D at all.

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
    Go roll dice. It's good for your brain and it's fun as hell.

  13. #13
    The Shitlord
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    We have a thread in Gaming for D&D and similar tabletop RPG games, if you wanna pop in and ask questions about the hobby in general. Otherwise I'd be happy to answer questions here or in PM.

    Just as a general genre review, if you've been trying to scratch the itch you got from your first RPG (i'd imagine for many here it would be final fantasy 7, etc- for me it was Skies of Arcadia. Maroot, take note- Airships are an easy win in my book!) then tabletop RPGs are a pretty solid way to do that. The base mechanics are ones you'll recognize from those RPGs: The stats (strength, dex, etc), Accuracy (to hit/attack), damage, damage resist, armor, etc. There's some learning to do in how those stats interact, but you'll have that in any game and the interaction isn't really too complicated once you break each stat down. Really the only complicated part comes from tracking your own bonuses and situational modifiers, which you'll be familiar with from XI. Situational shit is still situational. Being an odl XI player, you'll definitely see some familiar mechanics both in general tabletops and specifically in Maroot's system. Many of his classes were built to be analogues for XI jobs.

    Anyway, so you play as a Player Character, whose backstory, race, alignment, stats, everything is customizable. The GM plays as the monsters and NPCs that populate the world. A bad GM simply throws you in a room with these things and lets you figure out what the hell to do, or tells you exactly what to do. A good GM builds up the moment, gives the fight context, a story, and hints about what to do without outright stating it. I've heard stories where players have picked up on Maroot's hints, totally misinterpreted them, and completely misused magical items for years. That's very much a good thing because it's a fantastic story, and really, that's what the genre is about. Telling a story together.

  14. #14

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    When are your free sessions? I'm kinda interested in this. I'd like to sit in on one and see.

  15. #15
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    Since I've had a couple of PMs and Zeb ask, I'll just answer it here:

    My free sessions are every-other Saturday, from 7:00 - 11:00 pm Pacific time, with the next one being on the 15th. We do our chat via Skype, and as this session should be almost entirely a continuation of the culminating fight of the 3rd chapter of the story the PCs are on. If you want to sit in on one, send me your Skype information in a PM or via Discord (I'm Marootsoobutsu in the BG room as well).

    One of my players will share-screen so you can see what the players see. I'd ask that if you have any questions, to just send them to me in type for that session, or ask me when the session's done-- I'd be happy to answer them, and while I use this group to beta-test my ideas, I try to keep their session focused on them.

  16. #16
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    I will be running a game tonight, starting at 7:00 - 11:00~ Pacific time (10:00 pm - 2:00 am Eastern), if anyone is interested in spectating. Contact me on Skype (Corendelor), or Discord (Averien#2617, or as Marootsoobutsu in the BG Discord channel), if you would like to join in and watch. Several players have expressed a willingness to answer any questions about my system or their experiences playing with me. If you have any curiosity what it's all about, stop on by. We'd love to have you.

  17. #17
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    Thank you everyone who has expressed interest! We're full now at 7/7, with 3 BGers and a BGer girlfriend.

    I will be running more in the future, and I will be sure to update here if anyone has to leave the current campaign. Thank you again for all the support!

  18. #18
    Shootin' rocks at monsters
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    Updating!

    The campaign has gone great, and it's time to add more!

    Starting in January, on Mondays, 5:30 - 9:30 Pacific (8:30-12:30 Eastern), I'll have another game beginning. This one will be a bit more straightforward, beginning as a Barbarian-style coming-of-age. The closest thing I'll ever have to a hack-and-slash, role playing will still have a major influence as characters find their place within the tribe. Expect combat of some sort at least every other session on average for this adventure-- and, as before, a more full-fledged campaign is slated to begin once this adventure ends.

    This is the same setting as my first campaign, and part of a living setting-- for those unfamiliar, the gist is that your characters aren't tied to a particular campaign, but can freely participate in an adventure, a group, and rejoin in another adventure (provided the character could plausibly be in that location).

    At the advice of players in my previous games (and my wife's insistence), the price is $10/session.

    Additionally: due to real-life promotions and generally succeeding at real life, one of the players of the previous campaign has had to quit, and a spot is available there, Tuesdays from 5:30 - 9:30.

    As always, if you've any questions, please feel free to leave them here or to PM me. This is an extremely new-player friendly campaign, and the people already signed up are great. Happy gaming!

  19. #19
    The Shitlord
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    I am, again, one of the people in this campaign, which brings the total up to three Maroot-run games I'm participating in. My GF will not be joining this campaign (she's busy), but I know a few of the other players.

    I am also open to questions and PMs and whatnot.