Feasibility Check for Online D&D 3.5 Campaign for Community Members

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Endarire, Feb 25, 2018.

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  1. Endarire

    Endarire Ronald Rynnwrathi

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    Greetings, all!

    Considering ToEE was released 15 years ago this September in the US, and since we're still here due to our love for D&D 3.5 and ToEE, what about an online campaign for long-time community members? (I'm aware that this time would likely detract from time otherwise expected to be used on modding ToEE for PC.)

    After reading about Allyx's Live Tabletop Pathfinder Game, I felt a tinge of inspiration. I'm unsure if this has been offered before on this board (and if so, I don't recall seeing it), but this is a way to - at least briefly - celebrate our community, its members, and our shared love for D&D, as well as to better understand who each of us is as a person.

    This post is a feasibility check since this campaign or scenario requires a bunch of logistics to consider first.

    -Who's running it? (Preferably not me.)

    -Who's joining it?

    -When would we play?

    -What platform would we use? (I like Roll20, but maybe there's a better one available for us.)

    -What campaign/scenario would we play? (We already know what happens in the ToEE module, but playing it or Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as a community may still be interesting. I'm a big fan of the potential of the Greyhawk/Oerth setting and have barely played in it, but this requires a GM call.)

    -What source material would be allowed?

    -What character creation rules would we use?

    -What else should we discuss about this?
     
  2. Allyx

    Allyx Master Crafter Global Moderator Supporter

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    I must admit, I have thought of doing the same thing a few times. My personal stumbling block is finding the time myself to do it though. I work 5 nights a week ( Sunday night/Monday morning to Thursday night/Friday morning) here in the UK, Fridays I get little sleep, collect my daughter from school that is 90 minutes of travel away each way and crash early due to lack of sleep and fucked up sleep patterns. We play our games on Saturday afternoons from 2pm till 6pm every 2 weeks. then back to work on the Sunday night, which doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else.

    It would be great to get a game (or a few different games) going for members of this group, It would be nice to get to know more of you by voice, but personally finding the time to play or run a game might prove difficult for me. :(

    I think I briefly tried Roll20, (it could have been D20 Pro instead/as well) it sure looked nice, given time I'm sure I could figure out how to use it properly, especially with the experiences I've had with Maptool and Fantasy Grounds, I'm not a fan of having to pay a subscription for continued use of a VTT, especially since revoking that subscription also revokes your access to the material and work that you put into your campaign.

    Personally I've grown quite fond of the Pathfinder setting world Golarion, it's a pretty fucked up place, despite not looking too fucked up on the surface. the Varisia region quite reasonable, but with ancient historical horrors stirring from their slumber, and preparing to embark on a new reign of terror on an unsuspecting populace (this is where my last year of roleplaying sessions has been set), but other areas in the world have their own more apparent problems. The Worldwound where demons spew forth from a hideous scar on the land and corrupt the regions flora, fauna and waterways, and the knights and cavaliers who attempt to beat them back to hell. Or the perpetually warring nations of Geb and Nex who are now strangely dependant on eachother, Geb being a nation populated primarily of the animated undead of the armies of old brought back to smash Nex, and Nex being unable to sustain themselves without Geb's trade due to their own spell blighted farmlands, both separated by a sizable no-mans land of Wild Magic Zone where lies an ancient Sky Citadel, built by Dwarves, but now populated by people of all races who distrust magic, and instead have invented firearms to combat the people of Nex and Geb and anyone else who pays them too much interest. Not to mention the alien presence at Starfall, or the Nazi-like Cheliax Empire or or or...

    If a game (or many games) should spring forth from this inquiry, perhaps I could request that they be recorded and uploaded? Or even broadcast live via Twitch? Now that I've devoured a good portion of Golarion's lore, history and 3 complete Adventure Paths so far, I've started listening to podcasts of adventures while I'm at work (Critical role for example), my job doesn't require an awful lot of thinking about, and listening to music gets boring after you've heard all those songs a few hundred times each.
     
  3. Daryk

    Daryk Veteran Member

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    Given the logistics hurdles, I think a play by post game might work best. I'm running a Pathfinder game (that's more on life support these days) that way over on Myth Weavers. MW is free, but you can buy a small subscription to kill the ads. In general I love this idea, and still have a full shelf of 3.5 rules in the same room where I'm typing this. Like Allyx implies above, I'd prefer Pathfinder (which is the spiritual successor to 3.5 in ways 4e and 5e just aren't). I'm going to start a new job some time in June, and would rather play than DM.
     
  4. Endarire

    Endarire Ronald Rynnwrathi

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    I've tried play by post, but the slow pace made it unfeasible to progress beyond the first in-game day or so in our games when such required days or weeks of real time.
     
  5. Daryk

    Daryk Veteran Member

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    The pace is slow, but it can go long beyond that with dedicated players. My game on MW has been going (at various paces) for about four years now.
     
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