Ardrana

Ardrana is a gaming world created by John Proulx and John Ritskowitz in the mid-1980s. It was created for use in the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Proulx, a legally-blind gamer, has continued to build the world with the input of fellow gamers both in live groups and online.

Origins

For most of its existence, Ardrana was only known among family and friends of Proulx. Proulx was nothing more than a Dungeon Master (or DM) for various D&D gaming groups from 1985 to the present, so it's not like Ardrana is part of the published D&D books, although it is compatible with most of the material in the first and second editions of D&D.

Use by the Blind Gamers' Group

In 2000, a blind D&D group was set up with the help of Phil Vlasak, who was a founder of PCS Games. At this point, the blind D&D adventures took place on a different fictional planet; one that was set up by Randy Hammer. In 2003, John Proulx became the DM of the group, so Ardrana was used. When the Blind Gamers started playing D&D Ardrana online, there were still other groups, both online and in person ones, and mostly run by Proulx, that existed at the same time as the blind group set up with the help of Phil.

Joining the group

According to the Ardrana website, the Blind Gamers Group online is currently the only group using Ardrana for their Dungeons & Dragons game. So, if one wants to play D&D Ardrana (if they're lucky), they have to visit the Ardrana website, click the Audio-Tips link for the Blind Gamers Group, and sign up for Audio-Tips. (They may have to email them, because the original owner died, and Audio-Tips has been slow with their account processing since the new owner started). After successfully getting an account, one must download their live event/audio chat software. Then, one must log into Audio-Tips during a Sunday night live meeting, described on the Ardrana website. Then they must talk to the gamers on microphone during the "commercial break" (metaphorically speaking; there are no commercials). Since they only have room for eight people, they will put you on a waiting list, until a player leaves. If you're really nice, they'll give you a free D&D rulebook, so you can study up while you're on the waiting list. When there is room for you, they will give you directions to sign up for a mailing list. Then you can start creating a character, if you didn't beforehand. Then you're just playing D&D over the Internet without video; just an audio chat and a text chat on the side.

The web site

Another thing an Ardrana site visitor can do is just read the already-written stories, like they're a set of indie fantasy stories, which they are. The main part of the site is a wiki, but only the creators and some of the D&D group members, can edit it. The intention of the wiki is to eventually have a description of every fictional city, ocean, moon, species, or individual character of Ardrana along with the aforementioned adventure stories, although work is ongoing. There are also full-length stories on the site, and even more detailed transcripts on the PCS Games site.

External links

• The official Ardrana website, to read the stories and to enter to possibly be part of the group.
• The PCS Games Dungeons site, which has some full-length Ardrana stories with dialogue and all.
• Audio-Tips, the site you must join to listen in on the Sunday night game meetings, and play if you get your chance.