So, roleplaying games!

[Lukc]

I started with 1st Ed AD&D in 1980 while in the army. Played and DM'd with several groups through the 80s'. Met a new group in 1990 who were playing 2nd Ed so switched and have been using that version ever since. To heavily invested in 2E to want to start over with another new version. Old dog, No new tricks. Except I played in a play by post Castles & Crusades game for a few years.
Currently have been running a Spelljammer 2E campaign for almost 5 years.

But so many things in 2nd Edition are ... needlessly complicated from a user interface perspective! :O

[anstett]

Grins, Lukc, that is why you need to use Klooge. I always tell my new players, "you only need to know how to roleplay, and we can help teach you that" The rules should be transparent. When asked I say I use 2.mine as a rule set but several of my players have never even seen the rule books.

BOB

[loogie]

MERP is still one of my favourite experiences... but we could never get into rolemaster... it was just too... complex.. took like an hour or 2 to make a character.. then another couple hours for one fight (one on one) to happen... i'm sure you get faster.. but it was pretty brutal... Have you tried HARP? It's basically a lightweight Rolemaster, things are cut down without really removing much.. and while their magic is kinda unbalanced... i REALLY like it's scaling system (being that I thought up almost that exact system on my own years before). It still has it's flaws, but it's got the crit tables... and if you add the martial law book for harp to it it's got even more, and a more rolemasteresque hit chart. If you liked Rolemaster but craved a more DnD -hack-n-slashy- approach... HARP fits that nicely.

[loogie]

eew. Klooge.. honestly IMO, there is NOTHING Klooge has that maptool doesn't do.. plus it's free, and it has even more features...
Klooge seemed to crash for me whenever I added a few extra objects, or my players moved the wrong way... trying to get everyone connected to me was a nightmare... and I know it's customizable.. but playing rules that aren't dnd based was pretty hard to set up.

maptool it was a sinch, plus they've got a full scripting setup now, visionblocking, and a whole bunch of amazing tool to work with.. and it's all for free! I speak to the original dev from time to time on MSN, he's a great guy, and while he's too busy now.. he's always looking to the future and thinking up new ideas for maptool 2.

[Gamerprinter]

Started with D&D basic, back in 1977, while still in High School. Though I was playing AD&D 1e by the end of High School. Played on and off in the Army, also bought Twilight 2000, Traveler, Space Opera, Aftermath, Paranoia, though I've only played a handful of sessions of those games. When I got out of the army in '87 I found a local group that were playing AD&D 1e just getting into 2e. It's the same group I play with now. We played about 4 years of 3x, and now I'm into Pathfinder, while much of the group is still 3x and not ready to move forward.

Of course Pathfinder was new, and I had ideas of grandeur of the possibility to publish brand new material for the brand new game. So that's what I'm doing now, in addition to commissioned maps now and again - much of my time is dedicated to my Kaidan setting for Pathfinder. I've got 10 publications released, 4 print products, oodles of maps and more to come. I did a side publishing gig with Johnn Four of Roleplaying Tips newsletter (and member here), and it sold OK, but it's only one product.

So RPGs and mapping have taken me far.

[AlanShutko]

Been gaming since BECMI and AD&D 1e, and that's what actually brought me here. I've liked making maps of castles and dungeons since I started, and I wanted to translate those into digital form. (Still do, thus my lack of posts... Blame the small child who absorbs my time.) So far the stuff I've done hasn't been too presentable, but it's been fun for my local group. I will reference one image I posted here before, a map of T1 (Temple of Elemental Evil) that I did on the fly while playing in an RPG. We all found it amusing.

[loogie]

Started with D&D basic, back in 1977, while still in High School. Though I was playing AD&D 1e by the end of High School. Played on and off in the Army, also bought Twilight 2000, Traveler, Space Opera, Aftermath, Paranoia, though I've only played a handful of sessions of those games. When I got out of the army in '87 I found a local group that were playing AD&D 1e just getting into 2e. It's the same group I play with now. We played about 4 years of 3x, and now I'm into Pathfinder, while much of the group is still 3x and not ready to move forward.

Of course Pathfinder was new, and I had ideas of grandeur of the possibility to publish brand new material for the brand new game. So that's what I'm doing now, in addition to commissioned maps now and again - much of my time is dedicated to my Kaidan setting for Pathfinder. I've got 10 publications released, 4 print products, oodles of maps and more to come. I did a side publishing gig with Johnn Four of Roleplaying Tips newsletter (and member here), and it sold OK, but it's only one product.

So RPGs and mapping have taken me far.

You forget the -tiny- bit of skill you have at making said maps...