I'm an attention whore please pay attention to me.

[Swift]

It took me hours of people explaining to me the difference between AC and DR.

Sounds like you had bad teachers?

AC = you get hit less often
DR = you get hit less hard

Tada.

This is where Jern went wrong. Clearly he never asked a german person.

[boombrakh]

This is where Jern went wrong. Clearly he never asked a german person.

Germans are efficient.

[JonnyJerny]

Hey now, I never said I was the brightest star in the sky, myself. ;_;
Germany sucks. <3

A bit of a gap between 'don't have to be a DnD rules expert' and 'I don't like DnD', however.

ALFA uses DnD. There's no getting around that. The basics of the d20 system are not difficult to understand if someone's willing to learn.

Well yeah, I realize that. And I'm not trying to special snowflake my way into this by making myself appear above the rules. No, that''d be fucking idiotic of me. I just simply stated that I don't like learning them, and I don't feel very compelled to learn something I'm not interested in. Was it wrong to place roleplay and narrative and whatnot above tabletop rules and spell requirements and combat standards and number crunching or whatever that mechanical side of things are?

I like to think that I know the basics, but then some new, obscure shit comes up all of a sudden, and then I'll go back to scratching my head, mouthing "...What?" to myself. It's really something I don't want to get entangled in, and I really don't feel like I should be punished for that. Like, I know that last part sounded incredibly conceited, but that's just how I feel. I dunno.

Jern 90% of what you need is handled by the game software. So focus on your stories. That is where software fails.

I dunno, man. I'm running out of sources of archetypes to steal. Such is the life of a tragic writer who can't find shit to plagiarize.
That's some consolation, though.

[Galadorn]

Oy. Never expected all that...

Don't get me wrong, i'm all for story... but that kind of comes hand in hand with the (naive i guess *shrugs*) impression that a "DM" (stressing DM here), DOES knows the "rules"... and that all being peaches and creamy... that any DM would also at least put effort in to learn the bulk of the rules in order to DM most effectively. Didn't you just say: "I'm a Cali college student with tons of free time, nothing to do all the time, etc"? Why not read the combat section and Gamemaster section of a Core rulebook, Player's Handbook, and a few dozen monster ecologies out a Beastiary or two?

I mean a game of poker won't last long, if a game ends with: "Well I decided Jacks are better than Kings this time. I win."
Yes, a simplification.

But, the same time you state you "Do not want to learn them because there are so many." ... that actually should be the reason that you ...should?

T-Ice and Castano are awesomely correct. But. You'll be DMing MANY different people, as kid said also, so... many of them I believe will bring up some rules more often than "every now and then"... This is D&D! Some are "rules lawyer-y" and if so are not "wrong".

I think it's a DMs job to know the rules *shrugs*.
I don't think you'll be punished for not knowing of course... Heero made you a WHL DM two weeks into the gate with admittedly no D&D experience at ALL, and not knowing what AC was as a matter of fact... Innovative? Perhaps.

I just thought... ("Hi! It's naive Galadorn again!" *waves*) ....you'd in some way... "Want" to learn the rules. You say you want to play D&D... don't ya wanna learn how?

[Mick]

I'm sorry, Jern, but it does sound like you are trying to special snowflake yourself somewhere. That may not be your intent, but that is how it comes across.

D&D is what we are trying to approximate here. It is a game with rules. Some of the things you may consider "obscure" may be central to the play of the game. Life is full of things that people are not particularly interested in learning but which they end up having to know.

You are not alone in thinking that story is the most important thing. But it is not the only thing. Sometimes things can happen that cannot be explained by the numbers. That is OK. However, everything cannot happen that way. Were that the case, then every tiny hin who is facing the red dragon after the rest of the party had been laid low would have killed it with one shot of his sling...because, damn, that would be dramatic! In actuality, sometimes the bad guys win and hin end up as dragon shite.

If you want the story to turn out a certain way without consideration of the mechanics of the rules that are part of the game, then perhaps creative writing is more likely to fulfill you and D&D is only likely to frustrate, particularly when played with a bunch of nerds who do know the rules.

[JonnyJerny]

I'm sorry, Jern, but it does sound like you are trying to special snowflake yourself somewhere. That may not be your intent, but that is how it comes across.

I dunno. A self-proclaimed. special snowflake would've left already. But, fair enough.

D&D is what we are trying to approximate here. It is a game with rules. Some of the things you may consider "obscure" may be central to the play of the game. Life is full of things that people are not particularly interested in learning but which they end up having to know.

Fair enough.

You are not alone in thinking that story is the most important thing. But it is not the only thing. Sometimes things can happen that cannot be explained by the numbers. That is OK. However, everything cannot happen that way. Were that the case, then every tiny hin who is facing the red dragon after the rest of the party had been laid low would have killed it with one shot of his sling...because, damn, that would be dramatic! In actuality, sometimes the bad guys win and hin end up as dragon shite.

I... I dunno. I feel like if people really want to end up doing that, they should have that (rather absurd, admittedly) luxury. This is a roleplay server, no? Where you create your own narratives and whatnot? If they want to go for the cheesy "against all odds" archetypes, I think they should be able to.

I dunno. I just don't feel strongly about limiting things because this number over here says otherwise.

If you want the story to turn out a certain way without consideration of the mechanics of the rules that are part of the game, then perhaps creative writing is more likely to fulfill you and D&D is only likely to frustrate.

You mean railroading? Well, that's no fun. I write enough stories, I have a notebook full of prose and poetry of short stories and allegories and whatnot, roleplaying seems like a cool next step, so it's not like I want completely ditch this place. And, (incoming egotistical comment) I don't think you guys want me to leave either. (Seriously, I'm sorry, that sounded more conceited than it should be, don't take it the wrong way.)

Didn't you just say: "I'm a Cali college student with tons of free time, nothing to do all the time, etc"? Why not read the combat section and Gamemaster section of a Core rulebook, Player's Handbook, and a few dozen monster ecologies out a Beastiary or two?

I do, I have that 3.5 edition rule thingy book on my hard drive somewhere. Like, it seems easy enough to follow, then it's start going into stuff like prestige class requirements and stuff (prestige class requirements was the only thing I remembered that confused me, sorry I can't give a better example of something that's actually confusing, haha) and then at the end of it I'm just like "...Ehhhhh".

I mean a game of poker won't last long, if a game ends with: "Well I decided Jacks are better than Kings this time. I win."
Yes, a simplification.

I dunno about that example, but sure.

But, the same time you state you "Do not want to learn them because there are so many." ... that actually should be the reason that you ...should?

I can tell you're pretty frustrated with me at this point, and fair enough, you have everything in your power to be mind boggled. I'd be too, if someone who doesn't even know what he's talking about started critiquing literature, or music, or any other pseudo-intellectualism that I delve into.

I dunno. Like, that's my straight answer. I mean, in the end, I'm going to have to learn the rules anyways, right? No matter how much kicking and screaming and complaining I do?

I mean like, the original point of this was that I was just trying to sell myself as a dungeon master, maybe attract someone here and there. I'm not gonna lie and tell everyone how much FUN YOU'LL HAVE SLAYING GOBLINS WITH THE LEGENDARY JON JERN ON YOUR SIDE YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I didn't mean to upset anyone by telling them how much I'm not interested in the rules you are all accustomed to. No, I honestly didn't mean it that way. And I'm sorry that it came across like that. No, I'm not trying to save face, I legitimately tried hard not to look like that.

I just thought... ("Hi! It's naive Galadorn again!" *waves*) ....you'd in some way... "Want" to learn the rules. You say you want to play D&D... don't ya wanna learn how?

I dunno. I want to roleplay for sure, that's loads of fun. But I don't think that with my newfound experience of Dungeons and Dragons I'm going to start going out of my way to find people in real life to play PnP with. So... A bit here and there with that question.

Like, here comes another egotistical statement, (brace yourselves) but while I was doing an event with the Oceanic group two days ago, It was fun. And I can't speak for them, but I felt like they had fun too. I felt like a did a decent enough job compelling them with an interesting character and and a kind of intriguing plot. I dunno. Like I said, was just trying to sell myself with this thread, I was hoping to find someone that'd be interested in the little niche I fill (A niche that's filled much, much better from a lot of other dungeon masters, mind you).

Like, yeah. I really want to be a dungeon master, and to share stories and all that jazz. I didn't mean to turn this thread into a "Waaaaahhh D&D is so confusing waaaaaaaah I hate it waaaaaaaaaaah look at me I'm a special snowflake". No, I really didn't, and I'm sorry it ended up that way.

[kid]

Not that keen on the rules and their interpretations. people have different ones for different things.
If you know the basics you'll be fine and you can ask as you go along.
Most players are not that judgmental and usually helpful.
Those who are not, well... you don't have to play with everyone.

You wish to DM mostly stories and RP, so just do that. the rest will come along the way.

However...

I would stress Micks point again.
Its not impossible to have a "win against all odds story" but if that is what -will- happen, and the players (and the "audience")
-know- this is what will happen, the story looses all value. And is just not really fun anymore.
So be careful with that one.
The other danger with a story which is a must win for the characters is that there is, in essence, no real risk. other than the fact that it might be less fun to -know- you'll win you also risk rewarding the characters with advancement which is not fully warranted, as they were never "really" tested.
maybe take it under consideration,
that said, do whatever you the f--k you want, and enjoy yourself.