Okay died in D&D during character creation..wait what? how? Closest i think you can get is being already dead and playing a ghost in D&D 3rd edition...

If you want ( why ?) RPG's in wich you can die during character creation, check out the expansion for HoL, (that's Human Occupied Landfill.) called Buttery wholesomeness.

I don't think you can die during char gen in the Traveller RPG, but if you roll poorly you could end up with al sorts of disasters and permanent injuries before your character is ready to play.

It can also happen in Deadlands Reloaded when you take the "veteran of the weird west" edge and draw a red joker (making your char start the game harrowed: Ie undead)

I don't think you can die during char gen in the Traveller RPG, but if you roll poorly you could end up with al sorts of disasters and permanent injuries before your character is ready to play.

You're thinking of the current incarnations. We're talking about the old school version from quite a few decades back.

I think I'm soon to be in this boat.

Three of the players in my game are graduating and going to university and they want to finish their Pathfinder game before they do. That's all but me! One of them, being my boyfriend, really wants me to try it again. And he's off to uni in September and I don't even want to think about it and I can't say no. Ugh. Triple dog ugh.

Given your vision issues, not sure how you handle the tactical movement requirements of the game

I can't. The first rpg I tried was Pathfinder and It was almost my last. I don't know how it is supposed to be better but they're saying it will be.

Play a spell caster that likes area of effect spells? Big enough fireball and you don't have to see a target to hit a target.

Seriously though, I can see fine and I can't play pathfinder. I truly refuse to play that game.

She has to be able to see the board and the minis and the other players to know where it is safe to place the fireball/meteor storm/etc... Doesn't matter the type of character, the player has to deal with the tactics, just like if she were to play WarHammer 40k miniatures game.

Play a barbarian? Their combat answer is pretty much always "Run at closest enemy, use axe." or Cleric, then you're always moving from ally to ally with magic bandaid power.

I played and enjoyed 3.5, but never got into Pathfinder, and I'm not sure I'd go back. You have my complete sympathy, Haley.

I don't think you can die during char gen in the Traveller RPG, but if you roll poorly you could end up with al sorts of disasters and permanent injuries before your character is ready to play.

Now you don't die during creation - but back in the day (I remember reading about it in Murphy's Rules) that you could die during the random rolling on your Lifepath. Mind you, sometimes the old rules can be wacky - in 2nd edition Hero, a baby (with a 2 strength) could throw a football (an aerodynamic, balanced object) 500 yards.

But then, Murphy's Rules was always a blast to read:

Okay died in D&D during character creation..wait what? how?

Come closer friends and I shall tell you a Grand Tale of High Adventure...

In elementary school and junior high during the last days of the school year my friends and I used to bring board games and convince the teacher to let us play them instead of doing work.

In the final days of eighth grade John showed up with some strange books he had gotten on his birthday that bore the inscription of "Dungeons & Dragons". He told us these books were some sort of "game" and talked us into playing.

One at a time he walked us through the process of character creation. Eventually it was my turn...

Matt: Okay, I've rolled my six numbers. What do I do with them?

John: Well what kind of character do you want to be?

Matt: What kinds are there?

John: You can be human, or you can be an elf or dwarf or whatever.

Matt: A "dwarf"? You mean, like, a short guy?

John: Yeah, basically.

Matt: Okay, that sounds fun. I'll be a dwarf.

John: What class do you want to be?

Matt: What's a "class"?

John: It's like your job. You should be a paladin if you can because it's the best class. But you can't be one because you're a dwarf.

Matt: What can I be?

John: You can be a fighter if you want - it's like a paladin but not as good.

Matt: Okay, I guess I'll be a fighter.

John: What weapon do you want?

Matt: Uh, an axe, I guess? [i vaguely recalled hearing somewhere that dwarves liked axes.]

John: What alignment do you want to be? [shows me a list of nine strange and confusing "alignments" with little explanation.]

Matt: I'll be "Chaotic/Evil"! [it sounded the kewl-est!]

[Enter another player, Vince.]

Vince: Are you finished creating your character?

Matt: I think so.

Vince: What alignment are you?

Matt: Chaotic/Evil.

Vince: Cool, that means I have to kill you now!

Matt: Huh?

Vince: I'm a paladin and I'm not allowed to be in a group with a Chaotic/Evil character. If somebody makes one I have to try to kill him.

Matt: Really?

John: Yup, it's in the rules. You guys have to fight to the death before the game can start.

Matt: So what do I do?

John: You have to roll high enough to hit his AC. Whoever runs out of HP first dies. He'll probably win, though, because he's a paladin and he can heal himself.

We then proceeded to sit at a desk in the classroom and fight for the privilege to play. The game hadn't actually started yet (since according to "the rules" one of us had to die before it could) and the battle essentially took place "outside of time". The engagement had no context, it took place in no location, and there were no options. We simply traded attack rolls ro-sham-bo-style until one of us ran out of hit points.

Suffice it to say I lost, and the remaining PCs (ultimately consisting of three paladins) proceeded to play.

I declined the option to make another character, having decided that Dungeons & Dragons was stupid and I didn't want to play anymore.

And thus ended the heroic career of "dwarf fighter" - my first ever D&D character, killed before the game began.

Come closer friends and I shall tell you a Grand Tale of High Adventure...

Wait, wait. We're missing something!

There, that's better! You may proceed. . . .

John: Yup, it's in the rules. You guys have to fight to the death before the game can start.

Oh,sorry - my bad. Wrong soundtrack!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHAOkDamRzU

Okay, there - NOW you may proceed. . . . .

effin paladins... this happens every time!

Alignment is so meta, ugh. I would have told Vince that his character doesn't know the aligment of my character untill someone casts "detect evil" (or whatever that spell was called.)

LoL can you imagine joining a group of players and you roll up a new character...and it dies during character generation, so you try again... and the second char dies to! And the other players are starting to get impatient because they want to get on with the capaign, but they can't because your third atempt also resulted in pre-game death!

effin paladins... this happens every time!

The other players (whose characters weren't killed at creation) really enjoyed the game at school and continued it during the summer. A few weeks later I decided to give it another shot and joined them. This time I also made a paladin since, obviously, it's the best class and the only one worth playing.

We never really had a DM since we all wanted to play and barely knew what we were doing. We just sort of marched our characters around the Forgotten Realms world map, rolling random encounters and killing whatever monsters showed up.

We also, as paladins, completely ignored alignment because it was more fun to do whatever we wanted. Our "Lawful/Good" party wandered the world burning towns, stealing whatever we could, and casually murdering anyone who dared resist. We declared ourselves the "Clan of the Tarrasque" (named after a legendary D&D monster) and sought to throw all the Realms into bloody chaos. This, of course, did not cost us our paladin status or our kewl paladin powerz.

This became known as playing by "Paladin Rules".

One of my favorite things is how the dice end up doing all the combat variables in one roll - Hit if you succeed, more success add more damage, and you can crit/get creative with the advantages and triumphs, all with just one roll of the dice instead of multiple instances (like D&D/Pathfinder/13th Age).

Oh lord, did you ever play the ALIENS rpg, by Leading Edge?

"Okay, roll to hit. You hit! Okay, now roll to see what body part you hit. You hit his arm! Okay, now roll to see how much damage you did. You did that much! Oh, but you were firing a pulse rifle, weren't you? It gets four rounds out per shot. So, let's do this again three more times! "

That's nothing, try firing an automatic weapon or shotgun in Millennium's End. (or worst, an automatic shotgun)

Ok, roll to hit for the first round. Now apply the recoil penalty and roll for the next round. Oh your, using a shotgun with buckshot, what gadge, because you'll have to roll once for each of the eight or sixteen balls in each shell. Automatic shotgun, looks like you'll have to roll 160 times and compare each one to this scatter diagram overlaid over an image of the target with each separate area numbered and highlighted.

That's nothing, try firing an automatic weapon or shotgun in Millennium's End. (or worst, an automatic shotgun)

Ok, roll to hit for the first round. Now apply the recoil penalty and roll for the next round. Oh your, using a shotgun with buckshot, what gadge, because you'll have to roll once for each of the eight or sixteen balls in each shell. Automatic shotgun, looks like you'll have to roll 160 times and compare each one to this scatter diagram overlaid over an image of the target with each separate area numbered and highlighted.

Oh god, my eyes glazed over just reading that.

The original Twilight 2000 was just as bad. It was hyper realistic however and my pre-teen self effin loved it. Funny how game styles change as you mature. I was once all about realism and simulationism even above playability. During my young adult years I moved on to systems (including my own) that I coined, "realistic but playable". Finally, I'm all about fun and playability and realism has shifted into "as long as my sense of belief is not suspended".

Ugh. Speaking of characters dying before getting a chance to play them...

In a recent game with one of my Edge of the Empire groups, my character left the rest of the crew. He was the captain of our group (smuggler with a heart of gold), and he'd had enough of this crew's disregard for sentient life and reckless tactics. I discussed it with my GM beforehand, and we agreed that my character would maroon the crew on Nar Shadaa. So, for the next game (this past weekend), I rolled up my new character: a shamed Trandoshan actor who fled to the Outer Rim to avoid the disgrace of his portrayal of Palpatine in the commercial flop The Emperor's New Clones . He carries a vibrorapier, and talks with a bombastic, Shakespearian voice. In his mind, delivering the best performance possible is greater than anything, even the preservation of life. I was stoked to play him, mostly because he would jive well with the rest of my group who are all murderhobos.

I missed this last Sunday's game because I was doing things for Mother's Day. When I got to work on Monday, I talked to my coworker about the game the previous night, and he somberly informed me that my Trandoshan had been killed.

I was a little surprised. Largely because I hadn't even played this character yet. I asked him what the heck he meant by that, and he told me that there was a rakghoul outbreak on a transport ship that the Crew was on, and my Trandoshan was 'patient zero.'

I talked to my GM, a little upset. He said that was his plan all along, and it wasn't his fault that I couldn't make it to the game last night. I was told I should roll up another character for next week's game.

The dice mechanic is an evolution of the Warhammer Fantasy RPG thet FFG and Jay Little developed prior to the star wars system. We played the WFRP system fro 2 years prior to FFGSW and the WFRP system was a bit clunky compared to SW. i enjoy the Warhammer setting a lot, but the SW dice system is better balanced, with less "its a wash" rolls.

I think I'm soon to be in this boat.

Three of the players in my game are graduating and going to university and they want to finish their Pathfinder game before they do. That's all but me! One of them, being my boyfriend, really wants me to try it again. And he's off to uni in September and I don't even want to think about it and I can't say no. Ugh. Triple dog ugh.

Given your vision issues, not sure how you handle the tactical movement requirements of the game

I can't. The first rpg I tried was Pathfinder and It was almost my last. I don't know how it is supposed to be better but they're saying it will be.

Play a spell caster that likes area of effect spells? Big enough fireball and you don't have to see a target to hit a target.

Seriously though, I can see fine and I can't play pathfinder. I truly refuse to play that game.

The whole group loves it. Except me. I tried it but the other players ended up figuring out what my move was, moving my character, calculating the gazillion modifiers and stuff and handing me dice so I could roll them then they would readi the dice for me!!

I have Braille dice now so I can at least do that last bit myself.

Being blind is only part of the problem. I had never played an rpg before trying that Pathfinder game and they were 13th level. I was overwhelmed right away.

I was told I should roll up another character for next week's game.

Easy solution? Twin brother!

"No, no - this isnt Lindoff the Trandoshan Actor, this is B indoff the Trandoshan Actor. Yes, they were separated at birth at the orphanage and Bindoff has been spending all his down time in between seasons with the Royal Bespin Production Company (Were, I might add he had just completed a very successful run of the acclaimed Love Amongst the Clouds . He was Guard #3) searching for his long lost brother. And now that he's found his dear departed brother - too late for a tearful reunion - he vows to carry on his work in his name. Hand me some dice please. . . ."

I talked to my GM, a little upset. He said that was his plan all along, and it wasn't his fault that I couldn't make it to the game last night. I was told I should roll up another character for next week's game.

Now thats how you be a tool of a GM, i feel bad for you that they did that. obviously the GM is not much of an improv GM (I'm visualising pages of notes with rehearsed monologues)

Edit:

Easy solution? Twin brother!

This.

Yeah thats what i would have done to. (and dope slap the GM )

That reminds me, I never got around to doing this (yet) but i was planning of making some type of muscular fighter style character and get him killed (in some heroic fashion) each game session and then play the exact same character with a different name.

NPC: "We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese"

"Punch Sideiron"

"Beat Punchbeef"

"Crud Bonemeal"

"Dirk Hardpeck"

"Fist Rockbone"

"Hack Blowfist"

"Slate Fistcrunch"

"Bob Johnson"- no wait...

I think I'm soon to be in this boat.

Three of the players in my game are graduating and going to university and they want to finish their Pathfinder game before they do. That's all but me! One of them, being my boyfriend, really wants me to try it again. And he's off to uni in September and I don't even want to think about it and I can't say no. Ugh. Triple dog ugh.

Given your vision issues, not sure how you handle the tactical movement requirements of the game

I can't. The first rpg I tried was Pathfinder and It was almost my last. I don't know how it is supposed to be better but they're saying it will be.

Play a spell caster that likes area of effect spells? Big enough fireball and you don't have to see a target to hit a target.

Seriously though, I can see fine and I can't play pathfinder. I truly refuse to play that game.

The whole group loves it. Except me. I tried it but the other players ended up figuring out what my move was, moving my character, calculating the gazillion modifiers and stuff and handing me dice so I could roll them then they would readi the dice for me!!

I have Braille dice now so I can at least do that last bit myself.

Being blind is only part of the problem. I had never played an rpg before trying that Pathfinder game and they were 13th level. I was overwhelmed right away.

Which I suspect is going to be the same problem again. Have you told them why this won't be fun for you. As in you can't really run your own turn because you can't see to do the tactical movement. You can't see to do your own mods, and while you can now read your own dice. That is not exactly giving you player agency. So while Pathfinder is a lovely game. It is not exactly conducive to the person who can't participate in a major portion of the game in any meaningful way. Cause pointing this out to the group who may not have thought of this issue from your perspective might be helpful.

Being a sighted player I never really thought about the fact that games like D&D and Pathfinder are not very conducive to blind players. And yet by doing the game the way FFG has actually makes it work pretty well cause other than reading dice you don't really have much in your way.

Out of curiosity what does your character sheet look like?

Yeah thats what i would have done to. (and dope slap the GM )

That reminds me, I never got around to doing this (yet) but i was planning of making some type of muscular fighter style character and get him killed (in some heroic fashion) each game session and then play the exact same character with a different name.

NPC: "We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese"

"Punch Sideiron"

"Beat Punchbeef"

"Crud Bonemeal"

"Dirk Hardpeck"

"Fist Rockbone"

"Hack Blowfist"

"Slate Fistcrunch"

"Bob Johnson"- no wait...

This must be done and you must wear a red shirt. the other players have to get upset about your death. Then next game act like you were always there and the other character never existed

Yeah thats what i would have done to. (and dope slap the GM )

That reminds me, I never got around to doing this (yet) but i was planning of making some type of muscular fighter style character and get him killed (in some heroic fashion) each game session and then play the exact same character with a different name.

Ah, one of the best MST3K episodes.

I think I'm soon to be in this boat.

Three of the players in my game are graduating and going to university and they want to finish their Pathfinder game before they do. That's all but me! One of them, being my boyfriend, really wants me to try it again. And he's off to uni in September and I don't even want to think about it and I can't say no. Ugh. Triple dog ugh.

Given your vision issues, not sure how you handle the tactical movement requirements of the game

I can't. The first rpg I tried was Pathfinder and It was almost my last. I don't know how it is supposed to be better but they're saying it will be.

Play a spell caster that likes area of effect spells? Big enough fireball and you don't have to see a target to hit a target.

Seriously though, I can see fine and I can't play pathfinder. I truly refuse to play that game.

The whole group loves it. Except me. I tried it but the other players ended up figuring out what my move was, moving my character, calculating the gazillion modifiers and stuff and handing me dice so I could roll them then they would readi the dice for me!!

I have Braille dice now so I can at least do that last bit myself.

Being blind is only part of the problem. I had never played an rpg before trying that Pathfinder game and they were 13th level. I was overwhelmed right away.

Which I suspect is going to be the same problem again. Have you told them why this won't be fun for you. As in you can't really run your own turn because you can't see to do the tactical movement. You can't see to do your own mods, and while you can now read your own dice. That is not exactly giving you player agency. So while Pathfinder is a lovely game. It is not exactly conducive to the person who can't participate in a major portion of the game in any meaningful way. Cause pointing this out to the group who may not have thought of this issue from your perspective might be helpful.

Being a sighted player I never really thought about the fact that games like D&D and Pathfinder are not very conducive to blind players. And yet by doing the game the way FFG has actually makes it work pretty well cause other than reading dice you don't really have much in your way.

Out of curiosity what does your character sheet look like?

That does bring up some interesting problems. I can see that any of the recent D&D style games would be problematic, not to mention any miniatures games. I am looking to get into SW Roleplaying (again... hoping it fares better than the original). I have played many others, but the one that lasted the longest, and had the most impact was CWoD Mage (the Ascension). Nearly everything was played in the mind except the dice rolls. Occasionally we would draw something on a whiteboard for rough tactical visuals, but not most of the time. Played that game for over 9 years in a campaign that has gone for nearly 20 (with generations of characters). Power creep was something we had to watch out for, but taking the basics of magical spheres and being able to be creative in how you deploy them will probably always be difficult to surpass in any other system (including the New WoD). You can pretty much create a game of any other genre using that system as well. Need vampires or werewolves? No problem. Need Superman? Easy peasy. Need to travel to another world? Well... okay, so one small problem, but a minor house rule and you can accomplish this. Travel back in time? Well, yeah... expect to die very shortly, but if the need is very great it can be done (if you roll really well or have the GM storyline it). After several core players moved away, our group has fallen on hard times. It could be revived, but is currently dormant. But playing a single character for nearly every weekend for the majority of 9 years? Pretty dang epic.

So... long story long... don't give up on RPG's because some of them have become tactical experiences... largely due to manufacturers realizing people will spend a lot of money on supplemental accessories... like tiles and miniatures.

I think I'm soon to be in this boat.

Three of the players in my game are graduating and going to university and they want to finish their Pathfinder game before they do. That's all but me! One of them, being my boyfriend, really wants me to try it again. And he's off to uni in September and I don't even want to think about it and I can't say no. Ugh. Triple dog ugh.

Given your vision issues, not sure how you handle the tactical movement requirements of the game

I can't. The first rpg I tried was Pathfinder and It was almost my last. I don't know how it is supposed to be better but they're saying it will be.

Play a spell caster that likes area of effect spells? Big enough fireball and you don't have to see a target to hit a target.

Seriously though, I can see fine and I can't play pathfinder. I truly refuse to play that game.

The whole group loves it. Except me. I tried it but the other players ended up figuring out what my move was, moving my character, calculating the gazillion modifiers and stuff and handing me dice so I could roll them then they would readi the dice for me!!

I have Braille dice now so I can at least do that last bit myself.

Being blind is only part of the problem. I had never played an rpg before trying that Pathfinder game and they were 13th level. I was overwhelmed right away.

Which I suspect is going to be the same problem again. Have you told them why this won't be fun for you. As in you can't really run your own turn because you can't see to do the tactical movement. You can't see to do your own mods, and while you can now read your own dice. That is not exactly giving you player agency. So while Pathfinder is a lovely game. It is not exactly conducive to the person who can't participate in a major portion of the game in any meaningful way. Cause pointing this out to the group who may not have thought of this issue from your perspective might be helpful.

Being a sighted player I never really thought about the fact that games like D&D and Pathfinder are not very conducive to blind players. And yet by doing the game the way FFG has actually makes it work pretty well cause other than reading dice you don't really have much in your way.

Out of curiosity what does your character sheet look like?

I had an interesting conversation with my dad last night...

I never hid my problems with Pathfinder so they all know. At the same time, they're all graduating and are headed to different schools. I hate to think about it but who knows if this group will ever get to play a game together again? They were playing this Pathfinder game with my dad as gm for EVER! At least 5 years. And they were nearing its end. I don't want to be the reason they never got to finish. I don't want to be that kind of person.

I have two character sheets. One is in Braille. This isn't as perfect a solution as you might think. You really can't update it during play so I use a tablet (where I am rolling my dice, anyway) to write in changes like gear I pick up, drop, money, etc. The other is whatever Oggdude's thingie prints because no one else in my group reads Braille. The GM holds onto it and helps me keep myself organized. I can't say that I have any clue what it looks like, though. Except that I know it has symbols that look like the dice on it. On my Braille sheet, those are just letters. Probably obvious but G, Y, B for good dice. P, R, K for stinky dice.

So, the conversation with my dad was about this subject. And he said he was working on that. He's going to have the game mat thing pasted down onto a sheet of metal and ordered a bunch of neodymium magnets. All of the miniatures and scenery pieces will have magnets in them. He's going to bend pipe cleaners for walls and such and they'll stick down with magnets, too. If you've ever played with neodymium magnets, you'll know just how strong their attraction is. You can easily turn the game mat upside down and nothing would fall off.

The idea is that I'm going to be able to touch everything to get relative positions. The magnets will make sure I'm not just knocking everything over like a spaz. Once I figure out what things feel like, that's going to be a MAJOR improvement. Not perfect... but better.