Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

ADAD is a role-playing game where you have a character which you control in a different world. (ADAD is a substitution for the name Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and I will be using it throughout the page.)

ADAD is a large topic to cover on one homepage. First, I will start by breaking the name up:

The "Advanced" section of the name is there simply to tell you this is "Advanced" Dungeons and Dragons as opposed to regular Dungeons and Dragons. The difference between the games is that Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is much harder to play. In the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons world, there are unlimited possibilities for your character. In regular Dungeons and Dragons your character can only do so many things, and in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, the limits are infinity. Regular Dungeons and Dragons are usually board, card, or computer games while Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is usually played from a dictator using the imagination.

The "Dungeons" section of the name is referring to the worlds in which the characters take place in. Although the worlds may be considered actual planets or galaxies, they are considered dungeons because your character navigates through them and kills monsters in them.

"And" is probably one of the first words that you ever learned in preschool. You made sentences with it -- I ate a hamburger and a piece of pie and a rubber duckie and a hot dog and a milkshake and I felt good -- "And" is here in this case to link "Dungeons and "Dragons" together in the title.

The word "Dragons" in the title refers to the monsters that you will be fighting in the dungeons. Dragons are some of the hardest monsters you will fight, and there are a wide variety of them.

Now you know what each individual word means, I can tell you what ADAD is. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is a true roleplaying game.Dragons seem to have a connection with dungeons....

This means that the gameplay is controlled by a dice roll. A player called the Dungeon (game) master will be the controller of the dice. He will dictate what happens by translating the dice rolls. DM's have total control of the game. They have power enough to bring lightning down on your character.

You will have total control over your character. There are nearly unlimited possibilities for what you can do with your character, although it varies depending on how relaxed your DM is. Your character will be created through a dice roll. He will have prime statistics: strength, constitution, intelligence, and special skills: spellcasting, bar bending, silent walking, etc. After your character is rolled, you will pick two things. First, you pick your race. There is a wide variety of race choices in ADAD. You will usually be able to pick a race that fits yourself well. Second, you will choose a class. Class options will be limited by your statistics. That means that you might need a certain amount of strength to be a certain class. As in races, there are many classes to choose from. Once again, there should be one that fits you well.

In closing, I would describe ADAD as a game where you can do anything, and go anywhere. If you DM is good enough, you will have a large world with many places to go. It is a fun experience where you will make new friends and explore new areas. In ADAD you can develop your character and control him in any way you would like to. From your first look at ADAD, you might think it would be boring, but after you get the hang of the game, it becomes a great experience that you will always look forward to. ADAD is a game that usually brings a few people together as great friends.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was created by TSR.

I must confess before I start this section that I am a player in the world of Dungeons and Dragons and NOT a DM. So, the information here will be from the view of a player which in some ways is better since, I can judge the DM.

To start, there is the MOST important rule for the DM, which is to keep the game fun and fast-moving. I know, from my experience in gaming that there is nothing worse than having a slow moving and boring ADAD DM. Since the DM is the controller of the game, it is his responsibility to make everything fun. The DM should try to have a good plot intervened with the game (campaign) so that the players have something to base their existence upon.

One of the most important things that the DM must do is making the gaming challenging. If the DM decides to make all of the monster encounter easy for the players, no one will ever die and the effect will lower the fun of the game. So, to sum things up, the DM MUST make every aspect of the game hard (annoying) to the players. This may seem to make no sense, but if the game is too easy, everything is boring. Making all aspects hard includes using puzzles, traps, riddles, and hard monsters.

In my experience of ADAD, there have been times where the DM would avoid letting any of my characters dying. This meant that if he rolled a blow to one of my characters that would have killed it, he would have denied it and said I was knocked unconsiouses or down to 1 hp or something. Although this may seem nice because it prevents your character from dying, I must say that I would prefer to die and play realisticly than to have the DM cheating for you.

Some DM's find it helpful to have a map drawn up before they start the campaign. Some even have the whole campaign written up so that they know exactly what monsters, what NPCs, and what towns the PCs will encounter upon their campaign. I agree that this method is very good for keeping the campaign running smoothly. The DM does not have to consider anything because it is all drawn up in his head. Of course, you still have to be able to improvise to make the game more fun. : ) Some DMs will prefer to have everything in their head before the game starts. In any case, as DM, you should either have something written out physically or something in your head. Don't be caught with no plan of what to do, because it will usually lead to a boring campaign.

Since you are DM, the master of the game of ADAD, it is your job to make things fun. This means having challenging battles and interesting plots. On top of that, it also means that you have to have some humor in your campaign. Make sure that you are actually taking yourself into the role of the NPC's. Give each NPC a certain attitude and play that part well. Throughout the campaign, scatter funny remarks or comments as to make the PCs laugh. In any way possible, include some humor in the game to keep everyone happy.

There are three main books that you will need to purchase before you act as DM. These three are: The Player's Handbook, The DM's Guide, and The Monstrous manual. The Player's Handbook will include material that is both for the DM and the players to read. Ignore the title, because this book will have lots of useful information about the procedures of the DM. When you become DM and find some players, you should let the players read the book also. The DM's Guide is a big tome of knowledge for DM's.

I have been playing ADAD for about 2 years now. I am not a die-hard player, and I usually only play on the weekends with two of my best friends. We find it sort of hard to invite more than 2 people to our houses at once. In our campaignes, I am one of the players. Although we have started many campaigns, there have only been two that we continued to play and where the plot developed. In one of these campaigns I have a level 9 evoker who is partnered with a level 7 ranger. His name is Taim, and he is a slightly arrogant player who is always looking for the weirdest way to solve things. Our second campaign is a bit different. We have tried to incorporate wars with armies into the game play rather than have the normal wandering quest.