Dungeons & Dragons and Other Tabletop Games

[Roarin]

So, I've recently started listening to a bi-weekly podcast (bi-weekly being every other week not two times a week) that featured a small group of people playing Dungeons & Dragons. And well... I was surprised by how entertaining it was just to listen to other people banter, plan attacks, and tell a story together. Since it's a hundred or so episodes long and they're still in the process of making more I have a healthy amount of content to listen to before I catch up. But, that aside.
The podcast really sparked my interest in these kinds of games. And so, my questions (much like a four-piece jigsaw puzzle), comes in four parts.

1. What tabletop games do you like to play?
Whether it be online or offline. Are there any favorites you have? Do you play tabletop games at all?
I personally haven't played many of them, putting aside anything made by Hasbro (Monopoly?) I think the only one I've ever played for an extended period of time with a group of people is Settlers of Catan.

2. Do you know of any tabletop games that can be played online?
I know that Catan can be played online... But besides that I haven't heard of any others.

3. Is there any good place to start when it comes to playing these sorts of games?
To me D&D feels like a behemoth when it comes to rules and mechanics! Though the fun seems worth learning it all! I'm not sure if "point in the general direction" is a good analogy but sometimes I feel I get lost in it all. Is there a good place to start?

4. Would anyone be interested in forming a group of tabletop players to explore/learn/play in this exciting genre of gaming?
New or experienced lets all play and explore together! It'd be fun to have a weekly game night with some HP friends over a session of D&D or something of the like!

So yep, just some thoughts and a lot of rambling questions! Thank you very much for reading!
-bows-

[Civilization]

Hehe... This again. Love playing board games, though didn't think that was considered a tabletop style game... But then, hey, what do I know.

Though I would still love to be able to play games like that with other people, since I'm used to playing all by myself, hehe... D&D, I have the 3.5 books for that, got to reread them now. But, Face full of information on D&D. Enjoy, look forward to seeing anywhere it goes this time.

[Roarin]

I wouldn't know either to be honest! One of reasons why I ask. I figure that D&D fit in with other tabletop games considering it's a sort of strategy-ish oriented game that involves a board of some sort and a few dice. Catan, Trouble, Risk, kind of all involve the same materials and pieces, though each games' rules differ vastly!
And it doesn't nessesarily have to be D&D. Just something a few people could do over the interwebs!

P.S: Thanks for the link! I'll do a bit of reading from there to expand my knowledge XP.

[RashallVetkay]

Do miniature war games count too? Just asking because I play Warhammer 40,000, yes Space Marines, but I'm also trying to get into Dropzone Commander.

Board game wise, I've played monopoly and risk the most.

I just got into D&D, we have a play time this Saturday, and I must agree it is formidable at first. I have also played Call of Cathulu which was a ton of fun.

I would be interested in helping, or joining a group that plays these games online as well. So long as my internet connection is up to the task.

[CosmicCoyote]

D20-wise, I was part of a Pathfinder group for a good long while. Wouldn't mind getting into something like that again.

Like regular board games-wise? Clue/Cluedo was always a favorite, but that might just be because as my sister would say, "He (I) always wins." Similarly, games like Trivial Pursuit inevitably become races to land on the right squares between me and my father, heheheh. Other than that, pretty much the standards. Random side note while we're talking about it - does nobody else play Monopoly the quick way (i.e. how it is in the actual rules, where Free Parking is literally just Free Parking, you auction off any property landed on but not purchased, etc etc)?

[Douglas Collier]

My favorite game to play with friends is called Betrayal At House On The Hill. It begins by 3 to 6 players (the more the better) exploring an old house by drawing and placing tiles, with some rooms having events, items, or omens. Every time an omen card is drawn, you have to roll a value higher or equal to the number of omens that have been drawn, otherwise the haunt begins. The haunt is determined by the omen and the room it was found in. When the haunt begins, one of the players (determined by the haunt) becomes the traitor. He/she is given criteria for winning the game, and the rest of the players are given criteria for how to defeat them. The haunt plays out like a B horror movie, and it's a lot of fun.

The last game I played had zombies trying to kill us. I bravely went in and speared two zombies before I was swarmed by the Zombie King and his minions.

[Civilization]

I wouldn't know either to be honest! One of reasons why I ask. I figure that D&D fit in with other tabletop games considering it's a sort of strategy-ish oriented game that involves a board of some sort and a few dice. Catan, Trouble, Risk, kind of all involve the same materials and pieces, though each games' rules differ vastly!
And it doesn't nessesarily have to be D&D. Just something a few people could do over the interwebs!

P.S: Thanks for the link! I'll do a bit of reading from there to expand my knowledge XP.

Risk, love that game... Got bored once and combined it with Monopoly (Love that game too.) For your number #3... There is an online game called Atwar that is Risk / Civilization mix online. It's turned based but everyone goes at once for a certain amount of time. And it's not restricted by boarders, can move units anywhere within a limit of range and barrier... Players there... Little Fully on the adult side of humor and speech... So unless you can play it with friends I would not really recommend it unless you really really like strategy games.

Though for the actual table top games. I'm still willing to go full force for that D&D game. Only could do it here for me however, one handicap. But I'd be willing to work around that if anyone else would be still. Seems like a hard thing to do on this sort of place though.

[TheBlasterizer]

I have a game called Tabletop Simulator on steam that people create a huge amount of tabletop games for, so if anyone is interested in playing around with any type of tabletop game, you should check that out. Perhaps we could get some people together to play some games, is anyone else wants to buy it. I know betrayal at house on the hill is on it, as well as cards against humanity and pretty much any other regular board games that you could think of.

[Roarin]

Do miniature war games count too? Just asking because I play Warhammer 40,000, yes Space Marines, but I'm also trying to get into Dropzone Commander.

Board game wise, I've played monopoly and risk the most.

I just got into D&D, we have a play time this Saturday, and I must agree it is formidable at first. I have also played Call of Cathulu which was a ton of fun.

I would be interested in helping, or joining a group that plays these games online as well. So long as my internet connection is up to the task.

I'm sure they do! But I really wouldn't qualify as a sort of person that could make the identification frankly >w<.
And yeah! I was thinking as I said earlier if we could get a skype group going. There's this really cool site called Roll20 that helps with playing over the interwebs. It's got ways of creating maps, keeping track of stats and characters and stuff too!

Betrayal on the House on The Hill sounds fun too! I looked into the Tabletop Simulator and it costs about $20 (19.99 to be exact.. I think!)

But if we really are set on doing this thing we should probably settle on forming a concrete group and picking a game to play! As well as a time we could all be on.

[RashallVetkay]

Meeting days would be something to look into. With skype were you looking to do voice calls, or just text?

Edit: Just made a profile on Roll20 and will be bookmarking the website as well. Apparently Roll20 has built in voice and video chat, though I'm not sure how reliable it will be. From the looks of it we could even make up our own RP with this thing as well if we wanted to.

[Salad4me]

I would be more than happy to join this theoretical group. The only issue would be time zone variations, but I'm sure some arrangement could be made.

[RashallVetkay]

The only issue would be time zone variations, but I'm sure some arrangement could be made.

Yeah this was another issue I thought of as well, I would suggest that once this gets rolling that everyone posts up about what time zone they are in.

A Poll for what day of the week and what time we should meet wouldn't be a bad idea either, but it's entirely up to Roarin.

[Roarin]

Hmm... Timezones would be a problem... That is very true. And a poll is a good idea too!

[CosmicCoyote]

Since we're talking tabletop, this might interest you guys. I already linked to Pathfinder's available online stuff, but they're also offering a whole slab of things through the humble bundle right now, if you want to get pdf versions of everything.

[WeirdGamer]

That looks really neat Cosmic!

Like many here I'm a big fan of Pathfinder, and I have been a part of some campaigns and one adventures. It's not my favorite though.

My second favorite RPG is the Mouse Guard RPG based on the comic series of the same name. My third favorite is Mutants and Masterminds, a superhero roleplaying game.

My favorite though is Little Fears;Nightmare Edition by Jason L. Blair. In it the players take the role of kid fighting monsters, through wits, skill, strength, and magic known as "Belief". It's a ton of fun to play and making characters is really fun (character building has always been my favorite part of RPGs, both tabletop and video games).