You get equipment list. DM gets rest.

[JacktheRabbit]

Anyone ever done this with any version of DnD? The player gets a sheet with a physical description and equipment listed.

The dm has everything else. Rolls are done by the dm, stats are known only by the dm. Basically the player runs their character in a narrative.

Leveling up would be done by the dm and based on how a player had their character act. No more taking surprise levels in classes out of the blue to just fit a prestige class. You want your fighter to gain levels as a cleric then you role-play him asking question of clerics, buying a holy book and holy symbol, etc. When the dm says you have leveled you let him know if this is a deep interest of your character or just him being worldly. Deep interest can get you a level of cleric, being worldly may mean your character takes some levels in knowledge religion.

Its more control by the dm for certain but its more freedom as well and allows players to become more immersed in the story without being constantly focused on the numbers. It also might make the whole game more enjoyable as opposed to how many players are where talking is just time wasting between bouts of combat.

 

[Dausuul]

Anyone ever done this with any version of DnD? The player gets a sheet with a physical description and equipment listed.

The dm has everything else. Rolls are done by the dm, stats are known only by the dm. Basically the player runs their character in a narrative.

Leveling up would be done by the dm and based on how a player had their character act. No more taking surprise levels in classes out of the blue to just fit a prestige class. You want your fighter to gain levels as a cleric then you role-play him asking question of clerics, buying a holy book and holy symbol, etc. When the dm says you have leveled you let him know if this is a deep interest of your character or just him being worldly. Deep interest can get you a level of cleric, being worldly may mean your character takes some levels in knowledge religion.

Its more control by the dm for certain but its more freedom as well and allows players to become more immersed in the story without being constantly focused on the numbers. It also might make the whole game more enjoyable as opposed to how many players are where talking is just time wasting between bouts of combat.

Speaking as a DM, that's way more work than I want to deal with. I've got plenty to do running the rest of the world. Let the players take care of their PCs.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

So you have not run a campaign like this which is what I asked.

I am not starting a discussion on if you would like to run this campaign. I am curious if anyone has and how it turned out.

 

[El Mahdi]

I've actually thought about doing this, and have wanted to do this, but haven't had the right group yet to be able to. I think it would be awesome, and I really don't think it would be that much more work for me as DM. I would love to do it, but I think having the right group would be paramount.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While I haven't gone that far, I'll say this: the more I of that stuff I do for the players, the less fun everyone seems to have.

Which is why I'll never go that far.

 

[the Jester]

No, but I've run amnesia games where the pcs started off knowing only their intelligence, wisdom and alignments.

It was fun, but it was also a small run of games in the midst of an age when my crew played DnD about 4/week.

I do think that the players' investment in their characters was significantly less than it would have been had they had more, ehhh, control I guess, over the way their pcs were made.

 

[Sunseeker]

Seems like it would be a lot of extra work for the DM. I believe there was a topic on this subject earlier, and most people felt that the players had less fun and the DM did more work.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I've done it, although I was using old D&D rather than 3rd edition. And characters still had their character sheets; but they were filled in with descriptions rather than numbers. "Average Strength, Below-Average Wisdom, High Intelligence. Current Health: Uninjured. Saving Throw Level: Heroic." Class levels went according to the old level titles, so for example a party with a fighter, a mage, and a cleric would start out as a Veteran, a Medium, and an Acolyte; then they level up and become a Warrior, a Seer, and an Adept; and then after that a Swordmaster, a Conjurer, and a Priest; and so on. In combat, characters had access to their items and of course to any spells that they knew, but that was all the specific information they had -- if they took some damage, they were "winded"; at half hit points, "fatigued"; at nearly all hit points gone, "exhausted"; and after that, "wounded."

As to how the game ran, I didn't notice feeling like I had taken on too much of a burden. (In fact, this isn't surprising, because parts of the old Basic D&D rules imply that it's expected for only the DM to have dice, and to make all attack and damage rolls for everybody anyway.) The players were free to make decisions based purely on the situation and on character-driven motives, so that part worked out exactly as I'd hoped. I guess my only advice would be, if you're going to do this, use whatever edition of the game you feel would be simplest and easiest to DM.

 

[Corathon]

Not exactly.

I once ran a one-off adventure where the PCs wake up naked, bald, and bearing surgical scars on their heads, with complete amnesia. The character sheets that I gave people had a physical description and no more. At first, they didn't even know what game that they were playing. Thye figured out the game and the general capabilities of their characters through play.

 

[howandwhy99]

Ask Diaglo.

Except we have a good bit about what the PC is in terms of description and equipment. And that goes up and down, but generally increases as we more and more define our characters.

It's much more difficult for a DM than freeform gaming in that they need to do their best to memorize the current scenario. But it is the best form of creativity building IMO. It leaves total autonomy in the players' hands, but presses them again and again to engage in self-discipline. That means keeping notes or a journal, updating their sheet or log, and studying matters from all sides instead of acting rashly.

Think of it like Pac-Man. That game was a mad craze, but it wasn't the story about 4 ghosts and a circular yellow chomper that made it addictive. It was the players attempting to navigate the maze, get points, and recognize how the ghosts moved in order to progress further. Those consistent repetitions limited the game, but those same limitations raised the game to a challenge players could struggle against. It was this struggle that made it fun.