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Its been nearly twenty years since I played DnD. Where should I start?? I used to love the game, but when I moved back to florida. I left behind everyone that I played with.. Could use some help

ruff wrote:Its been nearly twenty years since I played DnD. Where should I start?? I used to love the game, but when I moved back to florida. I left behind everyone that I played with.. Could use some help

Well, I've only played 4e (which I loved), but D&D 5e is coming soon so you might want to wait. A lot of people seem to like Pathfinder and 3.5 so they might be worth considering. For nostalgia, you could stick with old

school editions as well if you want. Things to get would be a monster manual, dungeon master's guide, player's handbook and some dice (at least one d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20). Make sure the books you buy are

relevant to the edition you play unless you want a really confusing game.

Depends on what you are looking for. My RPG experience goes back to 1st ed so I tend to favor that. Lots of used book stores around here so books are not a big problem. Even Ebay has good deals on older editions.

I want to grab all the feel of the old-school games with some of the new mechanics. I am loving the Dungeon Crwal Classics RPG. It reaches further back to the original Little White Box era with a healthy dose of "appendix N" material. Appendix N refers to the list of books that influenced E. Gary Gugax when he wrote AD&D. Plus while the rise of OSR RPG there are many free rulessets in this same vein.

Threre is a 5th D&D due out possiably next year. You could wait. I would not touch 4th ed with a 10ft pole.

If you want to play the same version (or a very similar one) to the editions you knew, you may want to check out Old School Revolution online. Sites like Dragonsfoot.org, for example. In the past five years or so, especially, there's been a resurgence of interest in TSR-era editions of the rules, and a bunch of small-press publishers releasing close variants or reproductions of those games with better organization, clearer phrasings of the concepts (helpful both for in-play reference and for teaching new players, like if you want your kids to get into it), and newly-printed books.

You may want to check out the wiki about the history of D&D editions for a refresher.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons

Since 4th edition came out four years ago, there's been more splintering of the fanbase around three main versions of the game. The OSR stuff, the 3rd edition style (and Pathfinder, which is basically 3.75 edition, produced by an independent publisher- Paizo), and 4th edition, which is a seriously revamped take on D&D, with a simplified core rule set and more clearly defined tactical grid-map-based combat system.

Wizards of the Coast is now working on a 5th edition, which is in early beta-testing, with some playtest materials already out. I've played some of it. It's kind of a mix of the editions, seeming to try to maintain the simplicity and clarity of later stuff and combine it with rules concepts from the older editions.

In terms of getting back in, you can easily learn all about the different editions and versions of the game online, and where to get them. The bigger issue is normally players. Do you have people who are getting into it (or back into it) with you? If not, then the two main places to look for players are either in your local gaming store (which may have a bulletin board and/or local web forum, and/or RPG events and open gaming days), and online. You can check out forums for gamers in your geographical area, or gamers into the same genre or version of the game which interests you, and look for folks on those sites who are near you.

It was second edition that I played back in the early 90's. I have looked at the rules for the players handbook, while browsing books at barnes and noble. They seemed more streamlined and simplified. I have heard over the years that there was a big rift when WotC took over the game. I have about 4 people looking to get into it with me, mainly close friends. Seeing its much cheaper for us to play this instead of buying large units for 40K lol.. I am going to look at the sites you gave, and check out some of the free games to see if they pique my interest also.. Thanks for the answers so far.. What are the main differences between 3.5 and 4E so I can weight which one I want to focus on.

This link has a good discussion on the differences without it being an Edition War.

Have the other people in you starting group played a PnP RPG before? If not I would recommend the Essentials line. It is 4E streamlined rules with a bit of 2nd edition feel, and, is pretty cheap to get going. The two PHB's can easily be found for $13 dollars, and the rule book/dmg is around there as well. For the Price of the 6th Edition 40k book you should be able to get Heroes of the Forgotten Lands and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, Rulebook(DMG), and Monster Vault box set.

Thats pretty awesome for the books Its hard to wrap my head around 5-6 books for the price of one. So I checked amazon and sure enough it comes really close to the 40k rule book. The link was really informative as well, so I have some basis to wrap my head around.

If you get the DM's Kit you don't need to get the Rule Compendium*. The DM's Kit comes with the Rule Compendium, DM Screen, an Adventure, and Tokens. The Monster Vault comes with an Adventure, tokens, and the Monster Vault Book.


*Previously referred to as Rulebook.

Find some players, make the 'version decision as a group.

Some games you might want to consider, given you played 20 years ago:

Labyrinth Lord (free rules download!)
http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Swords & Wizardry (free rules!)
http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/ebookfinal9.pdf

DCC RPG
http://www.goodman-games.com/dccrpg.html

Castles & Crusades
http://www.trolllord.com/cnc/why_play_cnc.html

Adventurer Conquerer King
http://www.autarch.co/

Manchu wrote:Some games you might want to consider, given you played 20 years ago:

Labyrinth Lord (free rules download!)
http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

Swords & Wizardry (free rules!)
http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/ebookfinal9.pdf

DCC RPG
http://www.goodman-games.com/dccrpg.html

Castles & Crusades
http://www.trolllord.com/cnc/why_play_cnc.html

Adventurer Conquerer King
http://www.autarch.co/

Swords and Wizardry caught my attention. The rules seemed very straight forward and I picked up a mental version of how the game played quite easily. Will do some play testing to see if the group likes this one. Making up the world would be a must seeing they don't have a lot of extra campaign settings from what I saw on there site.

Labyrinth Lord is even simpler, although it does have the side-based round structure (missile attacks, then spells, then melee, etc).

Truthfully, I feel that Pathfinder is the way to go. It takes 3.5 and revamps it, making it the so far best version of the d20 system I've yet seen.

ruff wrote:Its been nearly twenty years since I played DnD. Where should I start?? I used to love the game, but when I moved back to florida. I left behind everyone that I played with.. Could use some help

Where abouts in Central Florida? I know several great shops in Orlando/Space Coast.

If you're in the Orlando Area, try www.amorousarmadillo.com/aaf - its in the Oviedo area just north of UCF. Above and beyond one of the best stores for RPG's, WH40K, WHFB, and Warmachine/Hordes. There are several people that run Pathfinder missions and an ongoing D&D Mission. Just talk to Mike on the forums as he is usually "in the know" when it comes to all things RPGs. Their forums are pretty active as well if you're looking to join or start a game.

If you're in the Kissimmee Area, try Colliseum of Comics (not too sure of their role playing side but they have a pretty good Table Top Gaming Group).

There is also Sci Fi City for Table Top Wargames and they have a large supply of RPGs. I'm not entirely sure how they set their RPGs up as their forums don't have anything but Table Top Games.

If you're on the Space Coast in Melbourne, check out The Wizard's Wall. They run weekly D&D, Werewolf, and Vampire games as well as Table Top Wargames. In Brevard County, they are the top shop when it comes to any and all RPGs. Just talk to Kent - as he is the ring leader and the best person to talk to there about when their RPG events are.

boyd wrote:

ruff wrote:Its been nearly twenty years since I played DnD. Where should I start?? I used to love the game, but when I moved back to florida. I left behind everyone that I played with.. Could use some help

Where abouts in Central Florida? I know several great shops in Orlando/Space Coast.

If you're in the Orlando Area, try www.amorousarmadillo.com/aaf - its in the Oviedo area just north of UCF. Above and beyond one of the best stores for RPG's, WH40K, WHFB, and Warmachine/Hordes. There are several people that run Pathfinder missions and an ongoing D&D Mission. Just talk to Mike on the forums as he is usually "in the know" when it comes to all things RPGs. Their forums are pretty active as well if you're looking to join or start a game.

If you're in the Kissimmee Area, try Colliseum of Comics (not too sure of their role playing side but they have a pretty good Table Top Gaming Group).

There is also Sci Fi City for Table Top Wargames and they have a large supply of RPGs. I'm not entirely sure how they set their RPGs up as their forums don't have anything but Table Top Games.

If you're on the Space Coast in Melbourne, check out The Wizard's Wall. They run weekly D&D, Werewolf, and Vampire games as well as Table Top Wargames. In Brevard County, they are the top shop when it comes to any and all RPGs. Just talk to Kent - as he is the ring leader and the best person to talk to there about when their RPG events are.

I have been to most of the stores you mentioned.. I live in Brevard County. I have known Kent for many years.. I used to be his delivery guy.. I need to stop in and talk to him about coming in on a few D&D games.. Where abouts are you by chance??

I'm in Orlando - I grew up on Merritt Island though.

I know his shop relocated from Hibiscus to Apollo? I know he's closer to Melbourne HS now. I used to game at Wizards Wall in Merritt Island (back in 96/97ish). I swung by there a couple of months ago when I was in the area and they still do a ton of role playing.

I usually game at the Amorous Armadillo when I have the time to game. They are a very active forum so if you have any questions or comments about anything going on in Central Florida (conventions, tournaments, etc) they usually are up to date on all of that

boyd wrote:I'm in Orlando - I grew up on Merritt Island though.

I know his shop relocated from Hibiscus to Apollo? I know he's closer to Melbourne HS now. I used to game at Wizards Wall in Merritt Island (back in 96/97ish). I swung by there a couple of months ago when I was in the area and they still do a ton of role playing.

I usually game at the Amorous Armadillo when I have the time to game. They are a very active forum so if you have any questions or comments about anything going on in Central Florida (conventions, tournaments, etc) they usually are up to date on all of that

I called and talked to the guy that runs the D&D events.. I might go sit in on it weds to get a grasp of the new rules.. Probably play in a few weeks..