Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dragons

Where are all the good D&D websites?

kpmcguire — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:57:05 -0800

Give me your recommendations for good sites/articles about playing roleplaying games. After about 10 years away from roleplaying, I just started up a new D&D 4e campaign. I'm DMing, which is fun, but hard, so I want all the help I can get. I know there must be some good websites/blogs out there devoted to the topic.

So far I've come across dungeonmastering.com and roleplayingtips.com. These seem like a pretty good start.

It doesn't necessarily have to be about D&D. I'm not so much looking for rules reference, but ideas/advice on how to make the world realistic for my players, and how to make sure the game is fun, that sort of thing.

Donations and Dragons

Parasite Unseen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:23:29 -0800

How can I contact local high school roleplaying game clubs? I've been reflecting recently on my early experiences as a fan of roleplaying games, and how much of the enjoyment that I got out of them as a teenager wouldn't have been possible if one of my friends hadn't had an older brother who allowed us to use all of his gaming books that he was no longer using. I'm currently in possession of a considerable collection of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd (and 3.5) edition game books, and I'll likely never use them again. With that in mind, I'd like to pass them along to a group of worthy teens who'll put them to good use. There's only one problem... I don't really know any teenagers.

I'd like to figure out a way to donate the books in question to a local (Los Angeles) high school roleplaying game club. I know that such clubs exist; my old high school had one way back when. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get in touch with any of them. Google hasn't provided me with any useful contact information, and I suspect that no school administration will give me contact information for a student group. Frankly, I'd like to keep my contact as minimal as possible, as I don't want to come across as being that creepy guy who's always hanging out with teenagers half his age. I tried doing something similar with Craigslist when I made the transition from 2nd edition to 3rd, but the guy who showed up to get my books was in his thirties, and I'm fairly sure he just turned around and sold them on eBay. I'd like to avoid something like that.

Help me out, hivemind. Is there any way for me to locate and contact a local Los Angeles high school roleplaying game group? If there isn't, is there some other worthy cause to which I can put my books? Shipping isn't exactly an option; at 40+ hardcover books, it would be too costly.

Pimp My Beholder

Parasite Unseen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:54:15 -0800

Alright, nerds: Help me mod my upcoming D&D campaign. It appears that I will in the near future be running a D&D 4th Edition campaign for a group of my friends. We've been playing the system since its release, and while we're pleased with the core mechanic, we feel that the system in place for roleplaying and character development leaves a bit to be desired. With that in mind, I'm looking to integrate rules from various other systems in order to make the campaign a more satisfying one for us.

In the past, we've had a great deal of success cherrypicking rules from roleplaying-heavy indie systems and shoehorning them into our campaigns. Aspects from Spirit of the Century worked very well in Star Wars: Saga Edition, Beliefs and Instincts from Burning Wheel worked well in a previous D&D campaign, and Drama Dice from 7th Sea gave our Vampire story a little extra bite.

What other lesser-known rules could be used to make my upcoming campaign a more memorable and enjoyable one, and how best to integrate them?

Where can I find good D&D podcasts?

daveqat — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:11:18 -0800

I need a good D&D-themed podcast. The only one I've found that's still updating is a recording of a game group's actual sessions, but that's not what I want. Ideally, it'll be about running a good game, creating campaigns, &c. Any links for me? I love podcasts, since they are a way to keep my ears busy at my somewhat brainless job, and I'm looking for just one more of my interests to listen about. I need a good D&D podcast. WotC was running one for a while, but it stopped updating a year ago. I found one on a podcast directory, but it's the uncut audio transcript of one group's gaming sessions. The ITMS podcast directory for games and hobbies only has podcasts that talk about video games, which I read a lot about anyway. Something about good 'ol dungeons and dragons, wizards, etc, is what I'm after. Any suggestions?

I need help finding a really nice set of dice for playing D&D

paulus andronicus — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:17:31 -0800

D&DFilter: I want to buy my girlfriend a very nice set of dice for her to use when she plays D&D. But I don't know what kinds of dice she needs, nor do I know what separates nice dice from very nice dice. Wikipedia says most role playing games use 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d12, 1d20, and 2d10. She showed me what she called a "standard set" of dice once and I seem to recall 2d8, and no d12, but I am probably misremembering. What should I be looking for?

What makes nice dice nice? I've talked to her some about what kind of jewelry she likes (because I figured some nice dice may be made of stone). Her birthstone is emerald, but she doesn't like it very much, she prefers opal or turquoise. I googled a bit and saw some dice made of bone. I asked about that and she thinks it's kind of creepy.

At one point she had some "Aurora Borealis" dice (or maybe just "Borealis") that she was really in love with.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Killer D&D campaign

baphomet — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 13:16:22 -0800

How can I, as a first-time D&D 3.5 DM, make my campaign completely kick ass? I'm starting up a campaign with a group of friends who will be taking an extended stay in Ravenloft. I'm an experienced player, having done everything from D&D 2nd ed to Paranoia! to Rifts to the whole White Wolf series (circa 2000ish), but I've never run a game before.

What sort of embellishments and experiences did you, as a DM, think got the best responses from your players? What did you, as a player, think made your game totally kick ass? Some of the players in this game are fairly experienced, which is not intimidating as they're friends, but all the same I want them to walk away from our first few sessions thinking, "Man, this is why D&D is fun," instead of, "Business as usual in Barovia...yawn".

Any answers would be great; they can be as specific as particular encounters that really stick out in your mind, or as broad as general points on style and game composition, pacing, etc.

Anything specifically tailored to Ravenloft is great, but feel free to opine even if you've never played there.

Help me figure out which dragon-themed C64 game this was.

ostranenie — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:25:21 -0800

What was this Commodore 64 game? You're a dragon and you start out in a brown underground cave. There's a rainbow-flashing egg you can pick up. You flap your wings by tapping the fire button on the joystick. The cave has two or three rooms and has an opening into an overworld, which you can fly around in. On certain screens there's a very fast moving pegasus(?) that kills you. That's about as far as I got..

Games it is not:
Dragon Hawk
Dragon Skulle
Dragon's Den
Rainbow Dragon
Saint Dragon
Joust

Original question here:
http://www.google.com/answers/threadview?id=727813

Looking for quotation information.

initapplette — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:26:33 -0800

I'm trying to track down author and source for a specific quotation. I am trying to find the author and source of this quote: "How many fish have turned into dragons while the frogs are still croaking?" I've checked Google, bartleby.com and various library reference resources and have come up with nothing. Any and all assistance appreciated!

memory spell needed

greedo — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:44:04 -0800

What was the name of the D&D store on Yonge Street (T dot) that sold lead figurines to be painted. I think it was south of Bloor and definitely on the east side of Yonge. It had elves and orcs and fighters etc in lead or some other metal that were about an inch tall.

I can't remember the name of this store. Any dungeon masters out there that solve this for me?

Seeking Kung Fu Knowledge

iced_borsch — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 17:30:35 -0800

What can you tell me about sheng hun kung fu? I'd also appreciate some info on the role of dragons in Chinese history (e.g. are Chinese dragons generally considered benevolent?)