The Adventure Co. is proud to announce the release of Adventure Co. Brand Adventure Company, Version 2.0 (formerly known by the code name Asbestos).
This season, we have a full roster of five intrepid souls who will be gathering before venturing forth for parts unknown, seeking adventure where it hides, and making their own when things are a little slow at the office.
The barreling freight train that is Dungeons & Dragons V, or the “5E” as it’s known on the street, is difficult to avoid. Although I was leaning towards Pathfinder originally, several factors contributed to the fact that we’ll be using the spankin’ new D&D:
It’s new
I bought the PHB, so I need to justify that purchase
Just kidding, because the basic rules are free, and that covers most of the meat of the game, such as how to play, and character creation.
It’s a hell of a lot more streamlined than Pathfinder
I bought the initial adventure module, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, which should take about a year to complete.
In response to my previous post in which I asked a lot of questions (and thanks, folks, for taking the time to answer them here and elsewhere), here’s the game plan going forward:
D&D 5E it is. Although I’d recommend buying the PHB (I found mine at Barnes & Nobel for 20% with their membership card) due to the completeness of it’s material for a player, the quick start rules (linked above) will allow you to create a character and get a general feel for the new systems in the game, like Advantage/Disadvantage and other cool stuff.
We’ll be using the Hoard of the Dragon Queen because it’s designed for levels 1-8, and removes the ramp-up time needed to create something from scratch. It should be well balanced and fun to play, with all the typical D&D-y type stuff we know and love.
Because 5E is decidedly untactical, I believe the only features we need in an online space are voice and a way to share images. That makes Roll20.net the Official Virtual Tabletop of Adventure Co. Brand Adventure Company, Version 2.0 (formerly know by the code name Asbestos). R20 has VoIP and webcam support (cam is really optional, and I think you can turn it off individually) as well as the ability to load in images like maps. The maps will be mostly for informational purposes, and not for tactical gameplay, although there might be times when tokens are used just to provide info.
It seems that weekly, Thursday nights around 9PM Eastern is the best time for folks, so we’ll aim for that. As before, we can close the night by ensuring that the next Thursday is good for everyone, and if not, finding an alternative night for the next week that might work better (Thursday will be the “home” night that we’ll default to, in any case).
I’d like to have an online version of the character sheets, simply because of the way passive abilities work (a flat 10 + applicable bonuses). As the DM would be rolling those passives and handing out info, having people’s sheets handy would be massively beneficial. However, I haven’t found a decent online sheet.
In AC1.0, the group’s scribe (Tipa) kept a log of the adventure on her blog, which was both informative and entertaining. I floated the option of using Obsidian Portal for a similar purpose, as it has space for player logs (recaps), very rudimentary character sheets, document library (for storing images), and also a forum. In order to facilitate between-game communications when necessary, I like the idea of using OP’s forums, although any ideas for alternatives are welcome. We also used G+, but I don’t know if everyone is/willing to be there.
I think that’s it for now. In the meanwhile, study up on the PHB or the basic rules PDF. If desired, we can convene for an initial online meeting on an upcoming Thursday to work on character creation. I’d really like to have people go the distance when creating characters, especially with the new focus on “creating the character” over “assigning numbers”, because the RP elements assigned to the character, and the Inspiration system, will help make the game more personal for each player.