From: warren@Apple.COM (Chris Warren) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd Subject: REC.GAMES.DND - Frequently Asked Questions - Read before posting Summary: This file should be read by anyone who wishes to post to the rec.games.frp.dnd news group. It contains the following: 1 a list of frequently asked questions about games for the IBM PC and compatabiles, 2 Keywords: questions,hints,faq,info Message-ID: <71700@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 26 Aug 92 21:47:59 GMT Reply-To: warren@apple.com Followup-To: rec.games.frp.dnd Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 693 Archive-name: dnd-FAQ Last-Modified: 1992/08/26 Posting Frequency: Once a week -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- rec.games.frp.dnd ------------------------- ----------------------------- FAQ in 4 Parts ----------------------------- ---------------------------- Rev date 8/26/92 ---------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Administrivia/Soapbox: Hello, here is your friendly neighborhood FAQ [person, sacrafical orc, slave to Asmodeus, ??? :] Here is the first pass at the FAQ! We need YOUR help. This FAQ will be great if you help make it great. The answers here are my initial guesses at what they should be. Please email me additions, corrections, or whatever to any of the questions that already have answers. Also please email me answers to the questions I have left black. On controversial issues this FAQ will try to present the different points of view that exist on the issue. If your point of view is missing from an answer please send me an addition. If you help, you will earn eternal fame (but not fortune, sorry:() by getting your name in a credit in the FAQ. When it is done, the FAQ will be posted every week or so. Cheers Chris Warren (editor without cause) PS: should we post this to rec.games.frp.announce? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: Note: if you want to skip to a later part of this document search for the string "Part " where n is 1 to 4. On UNIX, using rn or more type "/Part " (example "/Part 4:" to go to the section on Game Spoilers) Part 1: General Questions The folowing questions are covered in part 1. You can search for the coresponding number with your editor if you want to skip to that question On UNIX, using rn or more type /: (example "/4:") 1: What is rec.games.frp.dnd? 2: What should I be aware of when posting to rec.games.frp.dnd? 3: What are these other rec.games.frp.* newsgroups? 4: How do I join the Ravenloft mailing list? 5: What is Munchkinism, and what is Monty Haul? 6: What is Powergaming? 7: What is the difference between ROLLplaying and ROLEplaying? 8: What is game balance? 9: Why are there level limits on demihumans? 10: How do I FTP? 11: From where can I download D&D related stuff? Others? Part 2: Player Questions If you are playing or are thinking about playing in a D&D game, look here for info that might be usefull. 1: What do I look for in a Dungeon Master? 2: What should I be aware of when creating a character? 3: I want to run a Palidan. What should I know? 4: I want to run a human multiclass or I want to run an unusual character. What do I do? 5: The Rulebook says X and my Dungeon Master says Y what do I do? 6: Why can't my ranger sneek while wearing plate armor? Others? Part 3: Dungeon Master Questions If you are running a campaign or are thinking of running a campaign look here. If you are a player, particularlly a relatively new player, looking here may spoil some of the surprises that you may have in store for you. Proceed at your own risk. 1: How do I become a Dungeon Master? 2: What should I know in designing a campaign? 3: I don't agree with a rule in the rulebook, what do I do? 4: How do I fairly abjudicate a wish? 5: How do you deal with a that damned stoneskin spell? 6: A player wants to bring in a character from another campaign. What do I do? 7: How do I deal with a player who wants to have a stronger character than the characters in the party? Others? Part 4: Glossary Did you ever wonder about the meaning of DM, IMHO, THAC0, PBEM or any of the other funny acronyms that fly fast and furious in this group, look here for info. ------------------------ Part 1: General Questions ----------------------- 1: What is rec.games.frp.dnd? A: The charter of this group is to provide a forum for the discussion of the official rules and settings of the D&D family of roleplaying games, produced by TSR, Inc., including Collector's Edition Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), Basic D&D, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D), and AD&D Second Edition. This proposed newsgroup would include discussion of TSR's rules and products and compatible products, such as: character classes; character races; monsters; magic spells; weapons; Greyhawk; the Forgotten Realms; the Known World; Dark Sun; Spelljammer; RavenLoft; Hollow World; City State of the Invincible Overlord; and so on. Crossposting between this group and other groups in the rec.games.frp hierarchy is discouraged, however issues of general interest that happen to involve a D&D rulebook or setting are more than welcome. For example (not comprehensive): o Discussion of rulebooks, modules, or playing aids o Discussion of TSR and other related companies. o Discussion of conventions o Discussion of favorite characters and adventures o Discussion of game mechanics o Requests for help o Personal sales and trading of modules and books. Not for commercial sales. Any risk assumed is your own. o Discussion of locations of ftp sites for D&D materials. If you want to talk about other game systems and you are not talking about D&D please post to rec.games.frp(or is it rec.games.frp.misc?) If you have insights from another game system that apply to D&D then feel free to post them here. If you want to talk about how D&D is better or worse that any other game system please post rec.games.frp.advocacy (and bring a +5 vest of fire resistance:) 2: What should I be aware of when posting to rec.games.frp.dnd? When you post an article there a few things you can do to make life easier for others. a) Subject Headers: Please try to use a subject header that indicates what the topic of discussion. Subject headers like "Test", "Question", or "Help wanted" are vague and put some in a bad mood. If you need to do a test to make sure you can post works, try posting to news.test. b) Understand about SPOILERS. If you post something talking about something in a module or a D&D novel that is supposed to be a surprise, please put the word SPOILER in the header to indicate that the message contains a SPOILER. This will usually apply to modules in this group. 3: What are these other rec.games.frp.* newsgroups? A: go to rec.games.frp.announce and read the FAQ over there 4: How do I join the Ravenloft mailing list? A: If you are interested in talking about Ravenloft, or the Gothic genre, please mail a subscription request to rl-request@ais.org. It'll actually be handled by a (*gasp*) real live person! :-) If you have any questions, either mail me directly (I'm one of the moderators), or mail to rl-request@ais.org, and it'll get bursted to the three moderators. Jeff Gostin Ravenloft Mailing List Co-Moderator 5: What is Munchkinism, and what is Monty Haul? A: Munchkinism is another name for "Monty Haul" gaming; i.e., playing at incredible power levels purely for the sake of watching the terrain get blown away by player characters who are unstoppable. There is nothing wrong with this per se. If you are having fun playing this way by all means continue with it. Some people find this kind of play boring and prefer to focus on the roleplaying aspect of the game. Munchinism can sometimes be confused with serious campaigns that happen to run at a very high power level. These games require a lot of skill and imagination on the part of the Dungeon Master to keep the players intersted and chalenged. 6: What is Powergaming? A: Powergaming is the practice of playing for the purpose of gaining the most power possible. This can happen even in non-munchkin campaigns where a player tries to squeeze every possible advantage out of the rules. A powergamer, for example, might take a weapon specialization in long sword, combine it with ambedexitity and two weapon style specialization for a first level character that gets two attacks per round with a longsword at +1 to hit +2 dammage (+ any strength bonus). They could might choose a race just to get racial bonus that will maximize their to hit and to get the strongest character possible. 7: What is the difference between ROLLplaying and ROLEplaying? A: ROLLplaying refers to the practice alluded to in question 6 where a player see D&D as a dice rolling game and the goal is to get the best possible dice rolls. ROLEplaying refers to the practice of building a character conception that has depth and almost a life of its own. 8: What is game balance? A: Game balance is the notion that different elements (races, character class, etc) within D&D should balence each other out in such a way that each element has its particular advantages and disadvantages. This encourages players in a party to have different types of characters that can work together to achieve their party goals. Teamwork is an important part of a group oriented fantasy role playing game such as D&D. If one character class or race was much better than all the others then every player would want to play that type and parties would start looking like groups of clones. Another aspect of balance is that if one character in the party is much stronger than the rest of the party then the game can become boring for the weaker members since the stronger member is less dependant on the rest of the party. Some people belive that game balance lies more in the Dungeon Master than in the rules, since it is nearly impossible to create a perfectly balanced game. These people will often change the rules to suit their own fancy. Remember the rules are guidelines that a Dungeon Master can change as they wish. It is just that they need to take a certain amount of care not to unbalance the game or they will wind up with a game that is either Monty Haul or opressive/deadly to the players. 9: Why are there level limits on demihumans? A: TSR did this primarily to give players motivation to play plain old humans. Unlimited level advancement and the freedom to play any class are the advantages of humans over demihumans. If you are uncomfortable with this try the sugested variations in AD&D 2nd Edition. 10: How do I FTP? A: First of all Those without FTP access should send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources" in the body to find out how to do FTP by e-mail. [Thanks to John Gordon and Stephen M. Smith for most of what follows] [We are assuming that you are on a UNIX machine. If you are using something else, you are on your own. Sorry :( ] Directions 1) From your system prompt, type "ftp ", where is the name of the host machine that you are trying to get to. Example: "ftp cica.cica.indiana.edu". Note: In some cases you may not be able to use the name, you will have to use the IP address number. This number is 4 numbers separated by dots, i.e. "135.56.9.2". If you have to do it this way, you would type "ftp 135.56.9.2". Presumably you can obtain the IP number from the same place you got the host-name. Or use the /usr/etc/nslookup command to find the IP number from a machine name. 2) When you connect to the host, you will have to enter a login and probably a password. Most sites support what is called "Anonymous FTP", this means that you enter "anonymous" as your login and then enter your real login as you password, i.e. "joe@comp.node.whatever". Some sites accept "ftp" as an anonymous login rather than "anonymous". I have heard that sysadmins rarely check what you entered for your password, but it is courteous to be truthful. NOTE: Most sites don't want you using anonymous FTP during prime-time, which is usually 7am-6pm *local* time. Note: Local time can often be hard to determine just from a site's name. You can use the command "telnet daytime" or, failing that, "telnet 13", will give the system time at . 3) After you have successfully logged on, you can use "cd" and "ls", among other commands, to get where you want in the directory tree. 4) Once you are in the correct directory and know what files you want, you can use "get" to copy single files, i.e. "get file1.c", or "mget" to copy multiple files, i.e. "mget *.zip". NOTE: If the files you are copying are not plain-text files, i.e. compressed files, binary data files, etc. you will want to set the transfer mode to binary. You can do this by entering "type binary". "binary" or "tenex" may also work. 5) If you get stuck, you can type "help" or "?" and get a list of FTP commands that you can use. "man ftp" from your system prompt will also be helpful. 6) If any of the files you copied have a .Z, .shar, and/or .tar extensions, you will have to play around with the files a bit before you can use them. Check out the man pages for the commands "uncompress" (for .Z files), "shar" (for .shar files), and "tar" (for .tar files). 7) Software obtained this way will probably not have viruses, but you never know. Be careful out there. Note: I say that "it will probably not have viruses" because there is simply more "clean" software out there than there is "dirty" software, not because FTP is somehow inherently safer. Note: [thanks flee@guardian.cs.psu.edu] About ftping, what "binary" means is that the remote system is compatible with your system, and ftp will send an exact image of the file (Type I stands for Image). If, for example, both systems are Unix systems, then you can always use binary mode, even for retrieving text files. Binary mode will be a little faster, because the systems will not have to convert back and forth between local ascii and network ascii. Type tenex (L 8) is used to talk to DEC-10s and DEC-20s and other machines with 9-bit bytes. Machines with 8-bit bytes (which is nearly everyone else) need to specify the "L 8" type to send binary files to and from those machines. Of the ftp sites you list, I think WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL is the only host that needs type tenex. Example FTP session with Anotations > ftp wuarchive.wustl.edu Connected to wuarchive.wustl.edu. 220 wuarchive.wustl.edu FTP server (Version 6.11 Fri Aug 16 07:53:21 CDT 1991) Name (wuarchive.wustl.edu:myname): anonymous [enter "anonymous" or "ftp" for sign-on name] 331 Guest login ok, send e-mail address as password. Password: ["guest" usually works, otherwise put in your real email address for the password] 230-Welcome, archive user! This is an experimental FTP server. If you 230-have any unusual problems, please report them via e-mail to 230-root@wuarchive.wustl.edu. If you do have problems, please try using a 230-dash (-) as the first character of your password -- this will turn off 230-the continuation messages that may be confusing your ftp client. 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. ftp> cd /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/demos [change to the appropriate directory with the "cd" command, and make sure your directory dividers are "/" not "\"] 250 CWD command successful. ftp> ls ["list" the contents of the directory; for a full description use "dir" or "ls -l"] 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list. hover.zip lemmings.zip vectdemo.zip swotl.unp.txt.Z 226 Transfer complete. 56 bytes received in 0.03 seconds (1.8 Kbytes/s) ftp> binary [for any file OTHER than a text file, change to binary transfer by entering "binary"; some sites use the word(s) "tenex" or "type L 8" instead of "binary"; to change back to make a text (ASCII) transfer enter the word "ascii"] 200 Type set to I. ftp> get hover.zip [enter "get (filename)" to transfer the file to your site from the remote site] 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for hover.zip (424060 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. local: hover.zip remote: hover.zip 424060 bytes received in 38 seconds (11 Kbytes/s) ftp> quit [enter "quit" or "bye" to leave the ftp session] 221 Goodbye. > [you are returned to your system prompt] 11: From where can I download D&D related stuff? A: here are someplaces. [???please supply me with some sites. I had a list at one point. but now I am unable to find it] NOTE: A simply massive ftplist can be downloaded from the Document Site: typhoon.Berkeley.EDU(128.32.184.254) in pub/Library This place has a lot of other documents also. ---------------------- Part 2: Player Questions --------------------------- If you are playing or are thinking about playing in a D&D game, look here for info that might be usefull. 1: What do I look for in a Dungeon Master? The best way to find a Dungeon Master you like is to sit in on a few different games and find a style you like. Talk to the players in the game to find out more about the Dungeon Master and their particular style and quirks. 2: What should I be aware of when creating a character? A: First of all. Talk to your Dungeon Master and find out what they want from characters. This can range from simply rolling up characters and assigning equipment to working with the Dungeon Master on creating a richly developed character background and character personality. As a rule DMs like characters to be more flushed out rather than less. With some DMs a good story can go a long way to getting him to accept your fighter with the "family heirloom plate mail." These types of things give the character pesonality. Such a character would be loath to give up that plate mail later even when he or she comes across +1 plate. On the other hand, don't try to use character conception to get things that will unbalance your character with respect to the rest of the party. If you are sensitive to the DM's needs in this area, then you are more likely to get what you want. The goal here is to have fun. Also your character's weak points often represnt good opertunities for roleplaying. These can produce some of the funiest moments in a game. 3: I want to run a Paladin. What should I know? A: [???can someone give me info on this] 4: I want to run a human multiclass or I want to run an unusual character. What do I do? A: Talk to your Dungeon Master. Make sure you are doing this for roleplaying reasons and not for powergaming reasons and you will have a better chance of getting what you want. Be prepared to not get everything you want. 5: The Rulebook says X and my Dungeon Master says Y what do I do? A: The Rulebook is a set of guidelines. Your Dungeon Master has the right to do whatever they want with the rules. However it is in the DM's interest to make the game enjoyable to their players so most DMs tend to be reasonable. If your DM is unreasonable in your opinion, find a new DM. If your DM is reasonable. Talk to him or her. Present your argument clearly and logically and live by whatever ruling the DM makes. 6: Why can't my ranger sneek while wearing plate armor? A: The armor will make noise when the character tries to move. 7: Mages and Crossbows? A: [???this was listed as a FAQ in the request for the FAQ but I am not sure what this means? Someone please send me info?] ------------------- Part 3: Dungeon Master Questions----------------------- 1: How do I become a Dungeon Master? A: [???someone please add to this. I know this is pretty lame] First of all, you should have some experience playing D&D-- At least to the point where you consider yourself fairly familier with the rules, spells, etc. The Dungeon Master's Guide provides lots of info about how the game system works. You should read this. Talk to your DM. He/She might be willing to show you the ropes, and/or let you watch them DM. A good way to get experience DMing is to buy one of the pre-generated modules. They contain everything you need to run for several game sessions. Many even include pre-generated characters. It is a good idea to start with a low level module. Make sure you read the entire module and know it pretty well before you try running it. Get a group of friends together (4-6 is usually a good number). If this works out, give out experience and get a new module that fits them. And run them again. The other half of becoming of DM is that of creating a world. If you haven't already read heroic fantasy books. Running modules can get boring if they are not connected into a larger plot. Some modules come in series which can make things easier. But you should still design some larger world that contains the modules you are running. Over time you will populate that world with other modules and your own creations. Now if at any point, you have a great idea for an adventure and you feel ready to create your own dungeon feel free. 2: What should I know in designing a campaign? A: [???someone please add to this] Some of the biggest decisions involved in designing your campaign involve deciding whether the campaign will be combat intensive or roleplaying intensive, deciding the magic richness of the campaign, deciding the power level (sometimes called entropy) of the campaign, and deciding the rate of development of characters. Each of these decisions are not absolute, rather they represent a range. Some campaigns, for example, will be all combat. Others will have almost no combat-- where most of the campaign will invove political manuevering and intrigue. Most campaigns lie somewhere in the middle with a healthy mix of roleplaying and combat. There is no right answer except that which is right for you and your players. Magic richness is how common magic is in your world. Do you want to have a world which is much like our world was in the middle ages with virtually no magic or do you want a world where magic is as common and as freely available as technology is in the late 20 century. These two extremes present a very different feel to the players. They can both be fun to play in. It should be noted that as you move towards a more magic rich universe that high power items don't have to become commonplace. In a magic rich universe you have a lot of everyday items that happen to operate because of magic. For example, lanterns might operate off of magical "batteries" instead of oil. Power level is where a lot of DMs get into trouble. Power level is determined initially by the average stats of characters. So you need to be careful about how you have the characters roll up their stats. A good way to estimate the power level of a character is to add up the characters six stats (max = 108, average using 3d6 = 63) and look at the following chart: Stat Sum Power Rating Heroism Rating Roleup Method --------------------------------------------------------------- <70 Average Normal DMG Method I,III 71-79 Above Average Low Heroic DMG Method II,IV,VI 80-89 Exceptional Heroic DMG Method V 90-99 Powerful High Heroic 100-104 Very Powerful Super Heroic 105-108 Mega Powerful Super Heroic The last column relates somewhat to the Hero system terminolgy for rating the powerlevel of a campaign. It is fairly easy to keep an Average or Above Average character chalenged without making the game too deadly. However if you run Mega Powerful characters you will have to use higher level monsters to present a chalange to these characters. However, the higher level monsters can kill the characters more quickly, the Mega Powerful characters must actually live closer to death's door to be chalenged. So the DM must be adept at what they do to run a Mega Powerful game. Campaigns that run at a power level much higher than 90 are at risk to devolve into a Munchkin type game. A DM should be aware that whenever characters' stats change, the power level of the game changes. Personally I prefer to run at the Exceptional to the low end of Powerful depending on my players. As a campaign develops one of the other factors that affects power level is at what level certain magic items are obtained. If you give powerful magic items to first level characters, then you are raising the power level considerably. On the other hand, if the characters have no magic items at 10th level then you have lowered the power level. They will be at somewhat of a disadvantage with respect to the monsters that 10th characters nominally face. Rate of development is how generous or stingy you want to be with handing out of experience. In one extreme you have games where characters go up a level after every gaming session and at the other extreme you have it take many months or even a year of weekly gaming to go up a level. If the game goes up too slowly, this can cause frustration and a feeling of stagnation on the part of the players, although this is less of a problem in a roleplaying oriented campaign than a combat oriented campaign. If the develop too quickly, then some of the roleplaying and personal development on the part of the player is lost. 3: I don't agree with a rule in the rulebook, what do I do? A: Feel free to change it. Better yet, talk to the players about it and solicit input. Then change it. If you do run with house rules it is nice to tell players up front about it. Obviously, this is not always possible. So at least once you make a change do it in a consistent way. 4: How do I fairly abjudicate a wish? A: [???I have my ideas, but I would like to hear other people's opinions] 5: How do you deal with a that damned stoneskin spell? A: [???someone, please send me a response] 6: A player wants to bring in a character from another campaign. What do I do? A: Feel free to refuse it or modify it in anyway to match the power level, magic richness, and general quality of your campaign. It is generally a good idea to not to bend a rule because the player's old DM allowed them to bend that rule, unless you rule the same way as the old DM. It is often a good idea to take all the magic items or rule that they do not work in your world. This may seem severe but the alternative of generating a new character is even more severe. 7: How do I deal with a player who wants to have a stronger character than the characters in the party? A: [???someone, please send me a response] Others? -------------------------- Part 4: Glossary ------------------------------- AC Armor Class AD&D Advanced Dungeons & Dragons AD&D2 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition BTW By The Way DM Dungeon Master DMG Dungeon Master's Guide FAQ Frequently Asked Questions FTP File Transfer Protocol -- Tool used to transfer files between two machines (usually UNIX machines) GM Game Master HP Hit Points IMHO In My Humble (or Honest) Opinion IMNSHO In My Not So Humble/Honest Opinion NPC Non Player Character OA Oriental Adventures PBM Play By Mail -- Game (often RPG) that is played by mail PBEM,PBeM Play by EMail -- Game (often PRG) that is played by EMail PC Player Character PH Player's Handbook RL Ravenloft RTM Read The Manual -- Phrases used by people who don't have RTFM Read The F_CKIN Manual the time/patience/desire to help those who have a question. This editor personally dislikes this because it sends the message Read the Manual Stupid. Some things are not always clear to others and they have as much a right to ask their questions as we have to ask ours. THAC0 To Hit Armor Class 0 XP eXperience Points [???Please post additions and corrections]