Actor/Actress with the Most Impeccable "Nerd" Credentials (1 Viewer)

[Scorpius the Allfather]

I don't know if it from West End Games or not but in late 80s early 90s there was a Star Wars RPG that I really wanted to get into, I had a bunch of the books (still have them somewhere) Still couldn't get into the game but I loved the books as a Star Wars Reference/Encyclopedia

There's a Farscape version of D&D that I'd be willing to try, but no one probably plays it.

 

[Sun Wukong]

That's interesting. I always think of it as such an early 80s phenomenon, I remember some comic and games stores like Wizards of the Coast having D & D, that was in the early - mid 90s

The current edition is very different from the 80s versions. Way more accessible and easy to pick up. Arguably that streamlining has removed some of the depth and complexity of older editions but the game is more successful than it's ever been.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Well then you know you said she looks better with age than when she was on TNG which doesn't make sense because she was never old on that show which prompted the question.

Reading is fundamental. I asked Optimus if he watched Picard to compare the two versions. He got the question. You need to stop trying to pick apart everything I say.

 

[Scorpius the Allfather]

Reading is fundamental. I asked Optimus if he watched Picard to compare the two versions. He got the question. You need to stop trying to pick apart everything I say.

I'm not trying to pick apart what you said, but the Picard question was after the initial question. Maybe I'm getting this wrong, I get things wrong some times. No one is perfect. One of my problems is I'm very literal.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

You D&D nerds, the closest I get to D&D now is reading the comic book of the Saturday morning cartoon from decades ago. It's as corny as the damn show.

 

[Taurus]

My daughter frequents those cons every chance she gets. She's got some stories, lol. I don't know that it's frequent in the broader sense, but...absolutely, it does happen.

Yeah, I don't know about guests/panelists these days, but back in the 80's/90's when multi-day cons were still big, like Westercon and Norwescon, there was hankying and pankying all over every adult floor.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The current edition is very different from the 80s versions. Way more accessible and easy to pick up. Arguably that streamlining has removed some of the depth and complexity of older editions but the game is more successful than it's ever been.

Do you like the current, more accessible more popular iterations better than the the older ones?

 

[Optimus Prime]

Which is why I don't play. I'll cut a mutha forker from pure boredom.

What do you have to roll to pull that move off?

 

[Sun Wukong]

Do you like the current, more accessible more popular iterations better than the the older ones?

I started under second edition rules, but really cut my teeth under third and 3.5 edition. We are currently under fifth edition (5.5 really with the new revised books coming out). 3.5 was my ideal Dungeons and Dragons. It may be nostalgia talking, but I've always felt it hit just the right sweet spot of moving away from some of the clunkier aspects of earlier editions (over reliance on having to consult tables, saving throws that were all over the place, THAC0, etc.) while codifying the d20 system and giving you a lot of flexibility with your classes. I liked all the classes, prestige classes, and multi-class options. It required a lot more work from the player to keep track of things, but it gave a deeper experience. Feats were unquestionably better in 3.5 than fifth edition, as well.

Fifth Edition streamlined things even more and made them very accessible, but at the cost of depth and complexity. I was playing Pathfinder mostly during fourth edition* as it used an open license fork of the 3.5 ruleset and gave it even more depth. I'd honestly probably be mostly playing Pathfinder still if it hadn't lost so much market share when fifth edition hit.

Fifth edition is fine. It's more narratively focused and less concerned with the crunch and rules minutia of 3.5, and I do miss that, but it's still D&D and I still enjoy playing it.

I've got some retro clone sourcebooks for second edition that I want to run a game for, just to show the newer players what we had to deal with back in the day.

*Fourth Edition was a short lived and disastrous attempt to completely overhaul the game and incorporate MMORPG-style elements on the tabletop. It was a huge fiasco and most players migrated to Pathfinder during this time. When Fifth Edition hit everyone went back to D&D and Pathfinder fell off pretty hard.

 

[Taurus]

What do you have to roll to pull that move off?

It depends on your THAC0

 

[Taurus]

I started under second edition rules, but really cut my teeth under third and 3.5 edition. We are currently under fifth edition (5.5 really with the new revised books coming out). 3.5 was my ideal Dungeons and Dragons. It may be nostalgia talking, but I've always felt it hit just the right sweet spot of moving away from some of the clunkier aspects of earlier editions (over reliance on having to consult tables, saving throws that were all over the place, THAC0, etc.) while codifying the d20 system and giving you a lot of flexibility with your classes. I liked all the classes, prestige classes, and multi-class options. It required a lot more work from the player to keep track of things, but it gave a deeper experience. Feats were unquestionably better in 3.5 than fifth edition, as well.

Fifth Edition streamlined things even more and made them very accessible, but at the cost of depth and complexity. I was playing Pathfinder mostly during fourth edition* as it used an open license fork of the 3.5 ruleset and gave it even more depth. I'd honestly probably be mostly playing Pathfinder still if it hadn't lost so much market share when fifth edition hit.

Fifth edition is fine. It's more narratively focused and less concerned with the crunch and rules minutia of 3.5, and I do miss that, but it's still D&D and I still enjoy playing it.

I've got some retro clone sourcebooks for second edition that I want to run a game for, just to show the newer players what we had to deal with back in the day.

*Fourth Edition was a short lived and disastrous attempt to completely overhaul the game and incorporate MMORPG-style elements on the tabletop. It was a huge fiasco and most players migrated to Pathfinder during this time. When Fifth Edition hit everyone went back to D&D and Pathfinder fell off pretty hard.

I'd love to play a straight up AD&D campaign. Like you said, just to recall how tough it was.

 

[Zardnok]

Yeah, I don't know about guests/panelists these days, but back in the 80's/90's when multi-day cons were still big, like Westercon and Norwescon, there was hankying and pankying all over every adult floor.

 

[Zardnok]

Is physical D & D with a DM, people in a basement still a thing or did it go online or just morph into RPG video games?

We have a DND Group that meets at least once a month. There is definitely a difference between our in person sessions and online games like Baldur's Gate 3, which uses DND 5E ruleset. I have another friend who DMs three different game groups per week! He is much more hard-core than the rest of my friends. He is even using DND to teach 4H kids about Game Theory and using their imagination.

There is also a new 2024 version of the Player's Handbook which has the DND world all in a kerfuffle. A new 20204 DM guide and Monster Manual are also coming out soon, but the amount of books dedicated to DND 5E is quite vast.

As for Actress with Nerd Creds, I am sure Felicia Day has been mentioned, but her Geek and Sundry channel has tons of DND and Roleplay content.

 

[Rysilk]

There's a Farscape version of D&D that I'd be willing to try, but no one probably plays it.

I've always mulled over whether or not Stargate would port to a D&D version somehow. Would be very interesting. I even played around with class and race ideas. There is way more than enough content in that universe to make plenty of modules to play.

 

[Cage1]

To add to the discussion a little. I would have sworn Pegg was also in Lord of the Rings, but I'm seeing now that I'm confusing him and Martin Freeman.