Dicehead Playtest with Joseph 6/17/2011

[Kathorus]

So I show up to Dicehead Games at the appointed time. I had thought we were going to have around 5 people playing but, many last minute people decided that it would be a great idea to get in on the game.

As each came forward, tables were rearranged, chairs were added, the whole time 'the more the merrier' was the battle cry. It was decide we would play the Free RPG Day adventure with 0 level characters. 3 each for 11 Players = 33 zero level characters.

Let's say that I was amazed at how quickly we got up and running, Joseph was able to keep everyone moving through the process - I mean it is not hard, but there are certain nuances that if you haven't read the rules you wouldn't know. I wish I had timed it. I rolled up a Farmer (with a 3 strength), a Hunter (short bow, 6 or 7 Agility, I think), and a halfling trader (with a negative luck modifier, but a 17 int, which was the highest score I had).

With 11 players, I was expecting some sort of lag in the game - but he who speaks first gets to move ahead, and so Joseph describes the first area and a small force goes and inspects the door - somebody says aloud 'lick the stones' to one of the guys who was playing a character named 'dog', because he does what he is told - and very quickly 4 or 5 characters are destroyed in a blast of searing death - 'dog' somehow survives, with a HP to spare - there is much laughter at the table, one guy decides that he can't handle this rate of PC death and opts out of the game.

On it goes like that for a couple of hours, death and laughter - we quickly made use of dead bodies to spring traps. As people ran out of characters, others would give them their spares. There was a moment where a player (who started in 3rd ed.) said 'can I make an intelligence check or something like that' and was told he would need to use his own intelligence. We explored, poke at things, came up with plans for weal or woe, and laughed.

In the end, my Farmer and Hunter fell through the ceiling while helping to do something that was none to bright and feel to their deaths. My halfling, on the other hand, single-handedly killed a major bad-guy clay statue thing and then proceeded triumphant to the final room to where a 'campaign quest' hook was given.

My overall impression was that I had fun - this might seem to be a 'DUH' moment, but my D&D play, on the whole, has been frustrating for years - there are still the table laughs at jokes while waiting your turn, but overall I always feel like I am fighting a set a rules rather than a deadly dungeon, or the never-ending feeling of not having picked the correct feat, or the feeling my character is not getting any better, just remaining average.

The character funnel was awesome to watch and be a part of, having those characters and watching them die with little attachment, but being left with one - it really did bring me back to the days where your character 'developed' over the course of his career rather than being 'built' in between adventures.

At the end of the adventure 20 characters were slaughtered.

Thank you, Joseph for coming out and doing this, I had a blast!

Did I mention we laughed!

[goodmangames]

Bill, great game report! I think the moment when that guy "opted out" of the game due to the high death rate ranks as one of my all-time most memorable game moments. The fact that he role-played his characters becoming terrified and leaving the dungeon was an added touch. The other 30 of you bravely marched on and finished the dungeon, though -- a testament to your courage (and maybe foolhardiness, too ).

Glad to hear you had fun. Someone else referred to 0-level games as "party games" and I think that's a good way to describe it - with a good dungeon and the right group of people, they move along fast and are a lot of fun. As you get higher in level there are more rules and spells and such, and things get a little more complicated. But at 0-level, these games can be a real blast.

Shane and Mel from Dicehead were great hosts. I'm going to try to make it back there next year.

[SniperTodd]

Greetings All,

We also had agreat time at Dicehead Games in Cleveland, Tennessee. We played an earlier session starting at 1:00pm. There were officially five players scheduled, but we had a total of seven plus Joseph.



It was great meeting everyone, but soon we got down to business. Joseph granted mercy on our poor souls and gave us fourth level characters. Nice! Then we looked at our stat lines; yep, these were definately rolled up using the strict 3d6 down-the-line character generation rules. We all had stats ranging from 4 to 17. (I had an intelligence of 4!)

The scenario started with an execution. What started out like any other medieval public execution turned into an awesome horror show...I will not post spoilers because the scenario will be released eventually. Suffice it to say that all of our characters were drawn into the action fast!

There was very little confusion during gameplay. We simply had to get used to the new funky dice. The character sheets are a throwback design from classic Basic D&D. No trouble adating to that format. Individual initiative rolls were made, and we were happily attacking Hideous Things From Beyond. Again, I don’t want to reveal plot or monsters. It’s just like the boss said; “we want most of the monsters to be completely new and unknown.” Each character had their own peculiar combat technique. My halfling can attack twice every round - but only if I roll a d16 for the attacks!

With the game mechanics I have no complaint. Nothing beyond what has been said before, I.E. switching thieving skills back to d20 instead of percentile. I love the extra dice to raise and lower your chances of doing things. There should be only a small learning curve for all of this.

My halfling Luck score was interesting. I was blessed with a luck score of 15. Plus, I considered a “lucky charm” to the party. I can spend my luck points to alter the die rolls of my fellow players. I did this often in order keep folks alive! We almost lost the Cleric! I found myself wanting to roleplay my ability to add luck for someone. When the Cleric was wounded, he needed 2 more Luck points to recover. I gave him a piece of cheese and some wine - consequently I felt I had somehow transferred Luck points to hime with this action. Interesting.

More words about the art. I absolutely love it. I was constantly distracted by Joseph’s DM screen that had art from the upcoming modules on it. “Jewels of the Carnifex” Wow. Great stuff. It reminded me of classic Frank Kelly Freas illustrations. My strongest suggestion is about the art. I would like to see more ethnic diversity rendered by these great artists. Adventurers from other lands besides medieval Europe. There is a vast world of exciting subjects from the world over; bizarre head-gear, strange armor and weird weapons - let’s see some of that in the art.

Thanks for the great game everyone and having me part of the playtest team.

Todd Hanson