Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Using Open Source Tools to Play Dungeons and Dragons

posted by n1 on Thursday June 22 2017, @02:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the /dev/null-dungeon dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

How I prepare for my tabletop RPG sessions has changed a lot over the last 12 years, and open source software has been a big part of those changes. It's now a vital part of every step in the process, from collecting and sketching out ideas, to dungeon map creation, to map keying, right through to the tools used during play.

When I first started gaming, around 1980, the idea of open source was just beginning to form. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D, 1st edition) was still very new and our tools were just paper and pencil. I didn't get to play very much back then because my closest friend lived several miles away.

I got back to it in 2005 when a coworker invited me to play in his game. Four years later he couldn't continue as the DM because Life Got Busy™ so I took over as DM.

Initially, I went back to the old pencil and paper tools, just like back in 1980, to prepare for gaming sessions. Quickly, though, my work as a sysadmin and open source user changed how I prepare and run my campaign, the series of play sessions run by a DM that create the world and the challenges the other player characters (PCs) confront in AD&D or the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea.

Guy had a few ideas I hadn't thought of yet. You lot care to add any of the tools you use to the list?

Source: OpenSource.com

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Using Open Source Tools to Play Dungeons and Dragons | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 27 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by danaris on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:34AM (1 child)

    by danaris (3853) on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:34AM (#529464)

    Any D and D open source project will get shut down with legal letter from the lawyers.

    Well, if you're being strictly literal, yes, that's true: the Dungeons and Dragons name would prevent that. But otherwise, you're about 20 years behind the times, as the d20 system [d20srd.org] is available under the Open Gaming License [opengamingfoundation.org], which allows using any of the system mechanics for free under a license that I believe would be permissive enough to allow it to coexist with any open source license.

    Dan Aris

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Informative=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   4  

  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 22 2017, @06:02PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday June 22 2017, @06:02PM (#529604) Journal

    Yep, you can't copyright the rules of a game.

    You can trademark the name and you can copyright the textual description but the rules themselves are open season.