Tag: D&D

Pathfinder Game Arrives

On By Michel McDonaldIn GamesLeave a comment

pathfinder box.jpgCall me a happy nerd, because my Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Boxcame in the mail today.

pathfinder soloI’m really excited to learn this game, but what makes me really happy is this. It says:

“If you are on your own, but still want to experience an adventure before reading the rules of the game, grab the Hero’s Handbook and turn to page 2. Inside, you will find an adventure you can play by yourself that teaches you the basics of the game.”

YES! That’s what I wanted with the D&D Starter Set. I want to be able to learn on my own without having to ask strangers to teach me. I’m not exactly outgoing, I’m the kind of person who likes to do things alone, you know, soloing. When I play video games, I play by myself. I’m not anti-social, I’m just an introvert.

What I want to do is learn the basics of the game so that if and when the day ever comes when I can start a group at the Bakersfield Gay & Lesbian Center, I’ll know exactly what to do. They don’t have a D&D or Pathfinder group that meets there, they told me that if I wanted to start a group, I could, but I’d have to find some people who also want to play the game, otherwise, I’d be there by myself once a week lol. But I figured if I am going to start a group, I should at least know how to play the game. I can’t expect a bunch of people to show up and not one of us has ever played D&D or Pathfinder. If I can’t find anyone who has played, then it is up to me to be the Dungeon Master, so I will not only have to learn the game as a Hero, but I also have to learn to be a Dungeon Master as well.

The instructions in the Hero’s Handbook are easy to understand. It’s like they wrote this book specifically for me to understand. Then again I haven’t really read the entire book yet, so I’ll save my judgement or review for later when I’ve actually read the entire book(s) and have played the Solo Adventure. But from what I’ve read so far, it is like they knew that D&D was hard, so they made it easier for people with a learning disability to understand and remember. At least I hope so.

So let me read and play the solo adventure and I will get back to you. Otherwise, if you want to learn Pathfinder, this is a great place to start. Click the image or the link above and it will take you right to Amazon.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Box

On By Michel McDonaldIn Games, GayLeave a comment

I am very excited because I finally bought the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Box. I bought the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set: Fantasy Roleplaying Game Starter Set (D&D Boxed Game)in July, but it didn’t have everything that the Pathfinder beginner box has, which is probably why the Pathfinder beginner box was more expensive.

The D&D starter set came with 2 books, 1 book was the player handbook and a quest book that teaches you how to play the game up to level 5. The Pathfinder beginner box comes with a Hero’s Handbook, Game Masters Guide and a transition guide to bring your characters into the Pathfinder world. I assume that means to bring your D&D characters into the Pathfinder world. Both come with dice, D&D has 6, Pathfinder has 7. What sets the Pathfinder Beginner Box apart is the 80 full color pawns of heroes and monsters including a dragon. Pathfinder also includes a huge map to play on that you can also write on with dry erase markers and a blank map on the reverse side to create your own map.

The problem that I had with D&D is that I couldn’t understand what I was supposed to do. I asked for help and people answered my questions, but I do better when I’m in a room with people who are teaching me face to face rather than reading in a book or reading someone’s text. I learn by doing.

I know of a store in Bakersfield called “Otto’s Video Games and More” who have game nights, but I would feel more comfortable with people I can be myself around. You know what I mean? I am sure the random people who go to a video game store are good people and you have to get to know people before you judge them, but I don’t know that they or one or two aren’t homophobic. I’ve had many experiences in my life where I have tried to do things with people who turned on me when they found out I was gay, so I would much rather find a group of people who are gay and gay friendly and join or start a D&D/Pathfinder group at the Gay and Lesbian Center here in Bakersfield. It’s just easier to go where you know 100% that you are accepted and you aren’t judged, well, unless you wear the wrong belt with the wrong shoes of course. Just kidding.

I have already asked someone at the Gay and Lesbian Center and they said that there is not a group like that, so I would have to start one. I think it would be a great way to get people who have the same interests together to play a game for a couple of hours every week. I think it would be fun. Even if people aren’t interested in that kind of game, they could try it and see if they like it. And no one has to bring anything because I have spent a few bucks here and there on D&D and Pathfinder stuff and I can even bring all the character sheets and blank note cards and I already have 2 sets of dice and the Pathfinder Beginner Box will have a 3rd set. I also have a bag full of fake gold and silver coins, and a box of pencils and a bunch of erasers. I’m all set lol.

Now it’s just a waiting game and I hope to find people who are interested in starting a D&D/Pathfinder game night. I think it will be fun.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

On By Michel McDonaldIn GamesLeave a comment

pathfinder beginner boxI was so excited about playing Dungeons & Dragons, but I have a hard time comprehending everything I’ve read in the player’s handbook and dungeon master’s guide. They just aren’t explaining things in the way that I can understand. I have a learning disability, so I need things to be broken down for me to make it easier to learn.

Amazon has the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Beginner Boxfor only $25. I’ve read a few reviews saying this is much easier to learn than D&D, and that’s enough to convince me.

I was looking at the description and this is what is in the box.

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Beginner Box includes: a 64-page Hero’s Handbook, a 96-page Game Master’s Guide, a 16-page Transition Guide to bring your hero to the full Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, a complete set of seven high-impact polyhedral dice, more than 80 full-color pawns depicting tons of heroes, monsters, and even a fearsome black dragon, four pregenerated character sheets to throw you right into the action.

Pathfinder also has a huge map that is basically a dry erase board with a dungeon on one side, and blank on the other side so you can draw your own dungeon. You can erase it and draw another one, and so on.

pathfinder beginner box minisWhat I love the most about the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box is that it comes with 80 full-color pawns depicting tons of heroes, monsters, and even a fearsome black dragon. I was disappointed with the D&D starter set because it didn’t come with these. These are what make the game playable in my opinion. I mean, I have the D&D Wilderness Tiles and I was forced to buy all these plastic toys like skeletons and what have you. I’m sure those will still come in handy, but these are what I actually wanted because they fit in the little squares. The skeletons I bought are too big and take up 4 squares.

This video is from the publisher. He shows you exactly what you get in the box so you can see for yourself. I personally think that this is going to help me learn to play better than D&D’s starter set did. Enjoy and thanks for reading.

D&D Starter Set

On By Michel McDonaldIn App, GamesLeave a comment

20150724_113040_3rd StIt has taken a couple of weeks, but I have nearly everything I need to play a game of D&D with my Wilderness tiles that my partner bought for me at Barnes & Noble. When he first bought me the Wilderness tiles, I thought that it was a starter set because it said on the back

“For use with these Dungeons & Dragons products:

Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game Starter Set

Dungeon Master’s Kit

Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures

Other Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Tiles sets.”

I guess I just misunderstood because I thought it came with all those things, I guess I just wasn’t thinking. Oh well. At any rate, I have bought a few things on that list. I went to Amazon and bought the Starter set which came with the starter set rulebook you see in the picture along with the blue dice and another book called Lost Mine of Phandelver, which is a walkthrough quest with maps that I can scan and add to an app on my Nook called 3D Virtual Tabletop. It’s just easier to do that since the maps aren’t very big to play on in the booklet. The starter set also came with some character sheets which I actually printed last year and put in my notebook. Yes, I have a notebook with line and graph paper that I printed since my printer offers that option.

 

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The miniatures that I bought aren’t all miniature, even though they say they are on Amazon and even on the packaging. Some of the green and grey ones are heroes and some are monsters, and oddly enough some are cavemen lol. The skeletons are a bit smaller and I’ll probably get more use out of those. I also bought from Michaels a set called “Knights and Dragons.” It comes with 4 knights with a red and gold flag and shields and 4 knights with a blue and gold flag and shields. They are all wearing silver armor and 1 of each has a guy sitting on a horse. Oh and it comes with a catapult and a little dragon lol.

20150724_115301I also bought a D&D Lego guy. I thought I was getting a set of 12, because that’s what the picture showed, but I guess I was wrong because I only got 1. He’s called a fighter and has a sword. I think what I’ll do is say he’s my main tank and the guys in the silver armor are the other characters. I also have a Lego Minecraft Steve and zombie as well as a Lego Robin from Batman and Robin. That one is a keychain, so of course I’ll have to remove that.

The wizard that I bought on Amazon isn’t exactly what I was looking for, but he does fit and he does look cool, so I guess I did good. I was looking for a gnome wizard, actually I was looking for anything in gnome size, but all I saw were miniature garden gnomes. That’s not exactly what I had in mind. This guy is actually a hell wizard named Damien lol. He even has a demon tail. He’s all white because he is meant to be painted. Yeah, that’s never going to happen. I don’t exactly have steady hands. His eyes will be way off if I tried. He’ll look either cross-eyed, or one eye will be looking up and the other will be looking to the left. Either way, I’m fine with him being all white. It would be cool if his coat and staff were brown and his base was green. I wish I had more patience and a steady hand.

I’m not quite ready to play yet because I still have to finish the starter set rule book and then I want to start reading the Lost Mine of Phandelver book and play according to the directions. I also want to read the Players Handbook because the Starter Set rule book didn’t give me ALL the information I think I need to start playing. I like to be thorough. Also, I’m having a hard time getting started, not just as the DM since I’m playing by myself, but also as a person who is playing 5 characters lol.

Screenshot_2015-07-28-21-29-58 1It would be awesome if I had some people to play with. I have an app on my Nook called 3D Virtual Tabletop, and that allows me to use existing characters and existing places (like a tavern or house) or I can upload my own pictures, which I did. I scanned all the maps from the Lost Mine of Phandelver book and imported them into the app. 1 square = 5 feet, so I had to put a 5×5 grid into each square. I asked someone if that is right and they said yes.

I saw on the character sheets that each character has 5 or 10 gold, so I figured it would be easier to keep track of who has how much gold by actually having gold in a little pouch, so I looked online for days for pictures of gold and silver coins to print so I could glue them onto cardboard, but then I thought about play coins, so I Googled plastic gold coins and found them at Party City, so I went and bought a pack of 144 gold coins and a pack of 72 silver coins. I was looking for Gold Doubloons, but they only had gold casino coins with dollar signs on them. The silver coins have pirate ships on them, so those are at least a little more authentic. I was also looking for copper, but they didn’t have any of those. I figure I’ll just sand some of the gold coins to create copper since they are gold painted on black plastic. Maybe I can buy some copper paint.

I hate that it has taken me this long to want to learn to play the game. When I was 15 years old and my step father kicked me out of the house (aka trailer), I moved in with a schoolmate who lived with his older brother who worked. One day they were playing D&D and asked if I wanted to play, but I didn’t know how because I’d never played before, and I didn’t want to play because I already had a target on my back for being gay, I didn’t want the target to get bigger because I was playing D&D, which everyone thought at the time (1985) that it was a satanic game and that players were all in satanic cults and were killing animals for sacrifice for their game. I really wish I had more of a back bone and was able to stand up to the bullies, but that’s all in the past and better late than never.

This is going to be fun learning and playing and I hope I can get a lot out of this game so I can use it to write my fantasy fiction novel. Writing fiction was a dream I’ve had since I was a kid, so I hope this works to get me started with my writing.