I thought a location for news about our reunion might be a good idea and a free blog seemed simple enough to set up quickly and flexible enough to have some content.
I'm delighted that some of you have indicated you are coming. The idea for a reunion was as simple as this...I asked Kyle "Hey, do you think if we had a D&D reunion anyone would come?" Now I'm trying to put the pieces in place.
So far:
1. It will be memorial day weekend.
2. It will be at my house. (211 W. Williams, Wyoming Il 61491).
3. There will be D&D (4th edition) Pug (Richie Bainter for those who don't know he went into the government protection program after his car crash with Aaron Ruey)has been kind enough to host an ftp site where you can download the key books in pdf form. You can get that link from me via email (dhaffner@multiad.com)
4. Throwback Mountain Dew and Pepsi (it's like walking back into the arcade and getting a bottle out of the cooler every time I drink one of these).
5. Foosball (I have a decent table in the basement greased and ready for action).
6. Pizza and BBQ
Still to decide:
- Who is going to DM? I know we'd probably all like Dave to do it, but I can understand why that might be daunting. Let me be the first to say that even a pre-made adventure would be fine and if Dave's willing to drive...any one of us can look up the rules (you know we're going to bend them anyway).
- Characters? Pre-rolled? Roll them there? If we're able to get David to run it, you know some characters are going to die...it wouldn't be bad to have at least a couple.
- Old school maps or Doug's digital gaming table? I made a table where the maps are projected up from the bottom onto the white plexi surface...1" mini figures are then used. I'm cool with either way.
- When to play? We could make this a one day deal or 2...I'm ok either way. I thought maybe a general cookout/reunion might be nice on Sat if it's 2 days and then gaming on the second day...but I'm also ok with one big day of eating and gaming. Thoughts?
- Who can come? You can bring anyone you want...assuming you understand that this kind of reunion may involve candid memories and mild language. If we can convince Mike Clark to come, the language may be more advanced than "mild".
Other than that, let me know what you'd like...
If you have any memories you'd like to post...great. Images, pictures, and drawings are all welcome.
I'll see what I can gather an post it in the next few days. It might help David to remember what we looked like back then. Heck, it may help me too.
Mark Smart asked: "Will there be an appearance by Captain Studly and Boy Macho?". I'm not at liberty to divulge that information at this time.
First. Whoo-hoo!
ReplyDeleteSecond, my thoughts on the options.
DM - Dave... you know you want to... Really, we're all much more mature and focused now. :) I can virtually guarantee there won't be any petty crime or arrests.
Characters - 2 each, pre-rolled if possible, w/ a set of 'cooked' characters for backup or if someone prefers. I can help with that.
Table - digital, baby
Days - I'm open to either. I've got the weekend cleared, so I could do 2. I recognize that others may in fact have lives, so will defer to the majority.
Attendance - I explained to my s-o that, as much as I'd like her to know more about my past and meet more of the people that influenced the great man that I am, the nature of the stories / language / activity / testosterone might not be the most rewarding for her (actually, I told her that it would be like spending the weekend in an old gym locker). She politely declined, and sends you all her best.
I'm in!
ReplyDeleteI would love to DM but it would be daunting. I haven't played for almost 25 years. Ouch - that's a long time and makes me feel old. Not mature mind you. I've never really grown up (just out). I'll look into reading rules and "stuff" and we can decide how to proceed with a DM when we get together. I do have my dice in the same container I used at Denney's Dry Cleaners and Arcade.
Kyle - at least bring pictures and stories of your wife (and kids?). I want to know more about you boys and your families.
Doug - you did invite Stephen didn't you? We can bring his step stool that he used at the arcade so he can reach the table. We still have it.
Hey, Scott Christensen here! If you remember me, that is. (Especially since I moved to Montana after freshman year in high school, but I used to be King of the Naughty Boy video game!)
ReplyDeleteIf I can get out of jury duty on the 26th, I'll make the trek to IL. I still have plenty of family up north of y'all to visit and some friends in MI and TN, too! Let me know the date(s) of the game and I'll show up! Maybe I can get another character killed by laughing at a dragon's name!
I am definitely in for the whole weekend, and it will be just me since Robyn didn't think it would be that much fun for her because of the reminiscing. I think grilling for dinner is in general a good thing, but think we can socialize while playing since we're going to anyway.
ReplyDeleteAs for DM'ing, we can just go through the freebie at:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4dnd/dndtestdrive
this site includes a character generator for first through third levels. Unfortunately my favorite character generation tool (PCGen) isn't licensed for D&D 4.
Doug, while I've had the 4.0 docs, I haven't had time to get up to speed on them all that well. If you're familiar with them are you willing to DM? Otherwise I'll pick up something either at the local game store or off the WotC website. Do we want to start at 1st level or something higher? They have modules up to at least 23rd level.
If David is up to it....I was going to set him up with a module. Kyle suggested that 1st level characters wouldn't necessarily be as fun as something more along the lines of 4-6...thoughts?
ReplyDeleteIf David turns down DMing, I'll do it. I'm kind of stoked to show you all the digital mapping...using photoshop to do layers for secret doors, etc. I was going to offer the same thing to David...I'll set up the maps for him. And besides, at 40, I finally don't feel tempted to cheat and pre-read the module if I'm not DMing. Heh.
This seems reasonable. Those who want can then use the character generator for 3rd level and only have to figure out how to level up to 4th by hand.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how excited I am to get together with all of you. Doug - thanks for putting this together and thanks for the books and CD. I'm reading them now and getting back up to speed. This should be a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteSad news - I can't find my dice. Hard to believe that I would misplace something so precious. Good news - eBay is great. I bought 3 new sets (not expensive ones. Some of the available dice were really coooool and realllllllly expensive.) Better get back to studying. 300 page Player's Handbook - WOW!
I picked up a few extra sets just in case. BTW...anyone who wants can stay at our house. I should have made that clear earlier. We have several inflatable beds, as well as a pop-up camper that can hold several people. Big Red can sleep quite a few.
ReplyDeleteI had definitely planned on staying at Doug's and will be sending him my flight info for Friday evening.
ReplyDeleteAny idea on how to generate our characters? I'll be playing tonight with our local group and may have time to work on it then. I will be bringing my dice with me.
I'm ok with whatever Dave would like....I don't know if anyone has done the "point buy" system, but I'm ok with that...or we can do any other variant.
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to do them however.
ReplyDeleteI've done "point buy" system, but generally don't like since it ends up with middle of the line characters. The old role the dice system ends up with more variable most of the time. Typically still doing the 4D6 keep the best 3.
Sounds good to me. Back in the old days didn't we sometime also do an extra roll and you dropped the lowest one?
ReplyDeleteI know that we did it many ways. I think either 4d6 six or seven times is the best way to get some characters people will like for this weekend.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I am bringing a bag-o-dice with me for those who may need some. Not sure what all is in it besides my main set, but there will be a mix of dice available. I've also got aleast 5 figures that I'll have as well.
I borrowed about 6 boxes of miniatures (the plastic painted ones) to use. And, of course, we can always use pool cue tips for Bobbarts.
ReplyDeleteI will bring along a couple copies of the 'Quick Start' guidelines for people to get a basic understanding. I will also have the PDFs on my laptop and bring a couple copies on CDs for those who want them.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm gonna use 4d6 (best 3) 6 times and generate a bunch of characters. If I have time, I will generate some others with 4d6 (best 3) 7 times (best 6).
ReplyDelete