So, we have now been back under DQ rules for a while.

I do enjoy the DragonQuest system, but my gods, it is math-intensive. Fortunately, one of our players is a wizard with Excel, who has graciously prepared spreadsheets for our characters, which perform most of the heavy lifting for things such as strike chance, casting chance, etc.. Incidental modifiers, such as a temporary addition or subtraction to an ability, we still have to figure ourselves, but the spreadsheet does make the whole thing much easier.

Experience, at least in the way our group plays, is based on your total ranks – levels in systems such as D&D – and an easy way to gain ranks is to find skills that don’t require many points to rank up in, such as dagger, fist, thinks of that nature. Of course, in order to rank something, you have to use it first. So there is no “rank fist to 10, but never throw a punch.” Gee, imagine that.

My current character is a Shadow Weaver, a mage of the College of Shadow Weaving. She is also a Martial Artist, which is a good thing, because as she discovered in our last session, the vast majority of Shadow Weaver spells are ineffective against Undead. But their heads do go *splat* with a satisfying crunch, most of the time. 😀

Shadow Weaver is one of our house rules/classes, created some years ago by GM Bjoern-Erik Hartsfvang; it and Mind Sorcerer are my personal favorite player classes for mages in DQ, but then I’ve been a mind-fucker for a very long time. ;D

After several years of playing under GURPS, it’s taking a bit of mental contorting to get fully back into DragonQuest-mode, but each session gets closer to it.

Which reminds me, we haven’t yet set a next gaming date. With no more than two participants in any one location, and locations range south from Portland, OR and north to Everett, WA, coordinating dates and times is somewhat of a problem as well!