OldFatGuy: LOL, cryptic but serious question nonetheless in this regard...

Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.... If one desires to play one of those computer games, (such as this one I'm installing right now, should one take the time to learn the intricacies of the D&D and AD&D rules in order to play????

I'm hoping the answer is no and that the computer basically takes care of it for you. I know this is the case with another example, Drakensang. That game uses a system that I had never heard of, still don't really understand yet I just LOVED playing that game.

I've never played Dungeons and Dragons (or AD&D) in my life (except in computer games). I do recall having a friend or two who had the books and dice and stuff to play, but I never did. And thought I've played a few D&D titles, I've never really gotten to learn the rules set (even basically).

But some of these more "old school" D&D games (like the example here) might be..... I dunno... more "true" to the D&D rule set and may require the player to understand them more than the newer titles do, or at least that's what I'm wondering.

So what do you guys think? I know the answer is almost certainly "it would be BETTER if you read and understood the rules." That comes without asking. But is it NECESSARY???

pimpmonkey2382.313: It helps knowing the rules so that you know how to build your characters on the video games, but absolutely necessary? Nope, not at all.

OldFatGuy: THANK YOU!!!!

I'm too old and don't have enough time left on this rock to spend a great deal of it learning "backgrounds" in order to play a game. I just wanna play!!! LOL. I usually always read the manual (and will with this one too) but I've never bothered reading in depth about the generic Dungeons and Dragons rules. (or AD&D). I know I've played D&D titles before, but for some reason when I was looking to install this one something inside me felt uncomfortable and so I asked. Maybe it was just gas... LOL

dtgreene: I actually can think of one case where you *need* to know about a certain rule before starting the game.

The AD&D games made by SSI enforce what's known as racial level limits. Basically, a character's level will be capped depending on the character's race and class. For example, in Pools of Darkness, a half-elf cleric will not be able to level up past level 5 (in a game where the cap is 40 and you would otherwise *start* at a much higher level). Therefore, this is something you need to be aware of right away, or it will hurt you later.

Yes, this is a bad rule (as it basically makes certain race/class combinations non-viable, with Pools of Darkness being the worst case of this (non-humans are basically useless in that game)), but because the game implements it, it is important to know about the rule *before* creating your party.

Fortunately, the Infinity Engine games do not implement this horrible rule.

(There's also the Gold Box games enforcing a rule that limits the strength of female characters, but at least that rule only comes into play at character creation, and won't come to bite you much later.)

A couple other rules to know about:
1. In some games, casting arcane spells while wearing armor is impossible, and the game unhelpfully doesn't tell you that when you try to cast a spell.
2. In games based on 3e or 3.5e rules (including Icewind Dale 2), characters must have a minimum ability score to cast spells, and the game is unhelpful here. For example, Sorcerers need high Charisma to cast spells; create one with only 9 Charisma and you have a Sorcerer who is unable to learn magic.

OldFatGuy: *snip*

OldFatGuy: LOL, cryptic but serious question nonetheless in this regard...

Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.... If one desires to play one of those computer games, (such as this one I'm installing right now, should one take the time to learn the intricacies of the D&D and AD&D rules in order to play????

I'm hoping the answer is no and that the computer basically takes care of it for you. I know this is the case with another example, Drakensang. That game uses a system that I had never heard of, still don't really understand yet I just LOVED playing that game.

I've never played Dungeons and Dragons (or AD&D) in my life (except in computer games). I do recall having a friend or two who had the books and dice and stuff to play, but I never did. And though I've played a few D&D computer titles, I've never really gotten to learn the rules set (even basically).

But some of these more "old school" D&D games (like the example here) might be..... I dunno... more "true" to the D&D rule set and may require the player to understand them more than the newer titles do, or at least that's what I'm wondering.

So what do you guys think? I know the answer is almost certainly "it would be BETTER if you read and understood the rules." That comes without asking. But is it NECESSARY???

KiNgBrAdLeY7: For example, in Baldur's Gate setting, AC or armor class, the LOWER it is, the HIGHER your damage mitigation/resistance becomes, unlike normal games and you stand in front of an enemy swinging but missing hits, because there is an unseen DICE ROLL, which decides if you hit the enemy, for how much, and if it is a critical hit or a critical miss.