TriKrona
Minstrel in the Gallery
Posts: 28
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Post by TriKrona on Nov 11, 2004 16:35:46 GMT -5
Feel bad there's no thread here, so I'll start one. Anyone play table-top pen-and-paper role playing games? If so, what do you play: DnD or some other system? List your favorite(s). If you've never played a RPG before, why the heck not? The game image? Stereotypes of who plays? Just can't get "into it?"
Me personally, I've been playing RPGs for 20 some years on and off staring with the red box basic set. Played a ton of games since but I always seem to come back to DnD. Second favorite game system/setting is Shadowrun. But I'll play just about any RPG at least once. Why? Fun, social, escapist, and a nice way to blow off some steam. Had a bad day? Go slaughter some orcs. Broke and nobody loves you? Have your razor grrl take out the mega-corp exec for a loads of nu-yen. Are your problems solved? Nope but you'll feel better and won't take your woes out on your friends and loved ones.
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Post by RepairmanJack on Nov 11, 2004 17:49:57 GMT -5
For me it was never having enough like minded friends who had the time to play. The only time I really tried it was at a gaming convention in Columbus (Marcon) several years ago. I had a good time playing and would like to try again. The problem is still finding a good DM and other people willing to play with a newbie like me.
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Post by stubedoo on Nov 13, 2004 1:05:46 GMT -5
I played DnD 20 years ago and got out of it. Recently I started playing again. We play DnD version 3.5 which is much different (and way better) than previous versions. We play in the Forgotton Realms universe.
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ZD
Minstrel in the Gallery
Posts: 24
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Post by ZD on Feb 7, 2005 9:03:02 GMT -5
I've never been much into games I guess.. But Kyphi and I do enjoy playing Diablo. We tend to go through periods of saturation and the whole thing gets put on hold for weeks/months at a time. Then something will set us off, and we're back at it again.
Other than Diablo series and a rather temporary bout with some of the old Sierra games. the only other RPG I ever played was back in my old CP/M and Unix days. I forget what the game was called, but it was a text-only game since in those days we had no graphics of any kind. You had to write everything down as you discovered it, make maps and the whole bit...
I never got to first base with the thing, but I had a couple friends who got totally wrapped around the axle over it. By the time the newer games came out, I was just too busy doing practical things to get involved in it until Kyphi discovered Diablo and started playing it online.
Regards, ZD
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Post by RepairmanJack on Feb 10, 2005 8:48:15 GMT -5
I loved playing the text adventure games! Zork and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy were two of my favorites. I still remember all the trouble I had trying to get that damn babel fish in my ear in the Hitchhiker game I will have to try and find the link again. I read the other day that there are still some text adventures being made. It would be fun to give one a try again.
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ImageMaker
Minstrel in the Gallery
A glitter in my I...
Posts: 36
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Post by ImageMaker on May 16, 2007 15:39:30 GMT -5
Scary to admit it's been thirty years, give or take a few weeks, since my first RPG experience. I was just starting to get into war games, and had spent a weekend afternoon playing a Napoleonic miniatures game called Column, Line, and Square; the host's wife invited me to come along that evening to play a game called Dungeons & Dragons -- that was in 1977.
Over the next nine years, I played D&D several times a week when I could, fooled with a few other games (Top Secret, Boot Hill, The Fantasy Trip, Runequest, and Tunnels and Trolls), introduced my future first wife to RPGs, DMed a bit, and then moved to Seattle, where (oddly, among a population of half a million) I had trouble finding a regular game for a long time, though I dabbled with Traveller (what's now called Classic Traveller, the "Little Black Books" from GDW). After I left Seattle temporarily, I ran across a new game called "Man to Man", which caught my eye because it was from the author of The Fantasy Trip (which I'd quite liked, but lacked the depth of support D&D had -- by then, AD&D was getting long in the tooth and there were rumors of a new edition in work).
Those into gaming history will recognize Man to Man as the first fragment of what became GURPS: Generic Unified Role Playing System. From then on, despite playing AD&D again (now back in Seattle), when I could, until Second Edition pushed it into oblivion in the early 1990s, GURPS was what I *wanted* to play. I slowly accumulated sourcebooks, the GURPS Third Edition basics, and created a campaign in my spare time during work and whatnot over a period of several years, without anyone ever playing in it. And again, I had trouble finding a game to play in; a GURPS group I joined in 1998 dissolved in mid-1999 leaving me without a game again, and a multi-system group I joined a couple years later again fell apart when the main GM and primary instigator got a job and couldn't do justice to the game(s) with the workload suddenly dropped on his head.
So, when I moved to North Carolina, I created a gaming group here, mostly playing GURPS -- but I'm not a great GM, and the better GM in the group brought some friends who aren't very pleasant to play with; in addition, due to working hours, we can only play for about three hours a week and I'm the most familiar with GURPS in the group (and I'm no rules lawyer), with the result that we're really playing a sort of home-brew system loosely based on GURPS (further confused by upgrading to GURPS 4th Edition a few weeks ago).
Okay, yeah, that's all longwinded... Short version? I play face to face pencil and paper RPGs, have done for decades, and plan to continue when I can, though I hope never to have to relearn the (now) excessively complex Dungeons and Dragons system. I'd *love* to find a GURPS group run by folks deeply familiar with the system, who play by the rules (or at least with a reasonable set of written and available house rules) and have a GM who's good at both designing adventures and the storytelling end of the GM's function.
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Post by stubedoo on May 16, 2007 18:57:50 GMT -5
I've never played GURPS, although I have a friend who swears by it. I agree that the 2nd edition of D&D was excessively complicated, but they have COMPLETELY reworked it. And when I say completely, I mean exactly that. D&D 3.5 is really good.
It's WAAYY simpler now. No more armor class or combat tables to look at. Just match your role vs. the opponents armor class. Have you played version 3.5?
Stubedoo
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ImageMaker
Minstrel in the Gallery
A glitter in my I...
Posts: 36
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Post by ImageMaker on May 16, 2007 21:50:34 GMT -5
Nope, never played 2nd, 3rd, or 3.5. Never really wanted to. Classes, bleah. You can't pick locks, you're a magic user! And you'll never be any good in a fight, either! And you, thief (oh, sorry, rogue), you're not much good in a fight, either, unless you can sneak up behind you foe, and it'll be years before you can do anything with magic.
My current GURPS character is a military-trained wizard-sapper. He has fire magic (can pop off fireballs every other second -- little ones with no fatigue cost -- create or extinguish fires, up to about 1/4 acre in extent when fresh, and control existing fires), movement magic (can levitate, and can stay up as long as he can stay awake as long as he's not carrying too much), healing (both magic and mundane physician and surgeon skills, including ability to recover spell fatigue from exhausted, almost unconscious, to full strength in about an hour an a half, or act as a power battery for another mage), he's *deadly* with a crossbow (with a brace and a few seconds to aim, can routinely hit a man-sized, unmoving target at around 250 yards) and quite good with a staff (can take down skilled swordsmen), and skilled in medieval-style demolitions and related skills (including lockpicking, again either magically or with tools). And that, at somewhat lower skill levels but very few added fresh in play, was a beginning character, originally 110 points under 3rd edition (that's 10% over the recommended level for beginning characters), currently just under 200 in 4th Edition (the point system has inflated about 50% with the edition upgrade; he was 136 points before conversion and hasn't earned any since).
Last time I looked at D&D, it was impossible to create a character with that combination of skills and abilities short of a bunch of rigamarole that would leave him unable to advance some or all of his skills (and a couple years of play, to advance his new adopted class to the level of his original one). Yes, the D&D character would have a lot more hit points by now, most likely, but I've never liked the idea of a) fighters taking a bunch more killing than magic users, or b) fighters, even of still-modest level, being able to take several sword cuts from a trained opponent without falling down -- and I don't buy the idea with extra HP being due to better ability to dodge blows etc.; in GURPS, you have parrying and dodging, and armor that absorbs damage rather than making you harder to hit (in fact, its weight often makes you easier to hit by reducing your dodge), and yes, you can get better at both dodging and parrying as your character matures, but you'll still have, at most, 12-15 hit points for a reasonably balanced character, 21 or so as a human maximum -- and a well swung broadsword will still cut a leg from under you, even if it won't kill with a single blow (and it still might, if you get hit in the head or neck).
I did download 3.0 Light a while back when Wizards started offering it free -- found it nearly impenetrable; I don't recall if I even finished reading it. It had a lot of the qualities I recall from D&D 30 years ago, though -- mainly that if you weren't already familiar with role-playing games, you'd probably never be able to start playing by reading the rules.
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Post by Shutter Girl on May 17, 2007 8:38:31 GMT -5
So what you fellers suggest to someone who wanted to start playing D&D? What's the best route to go these days? Cool on your gaming wife, ImageMaker! Gamer chics rawk.
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Post by stubedoo on May 17, 2007 14:50:31 GMT -5
In regards to the skills, that has entirely changed in 3.5. Now pretty much anybody can do skills--there are trained and untrained skill checks. Every level you get a certain number of skill points, and you can put ranks into any skill you want. You also get bonuses based upon your stats. For example, with a Dex of 18 you get to put +4 on all dex based skill checks (like pick locks). There are class skills and cross class skills, but you can put ranks in any skill. Some skills you can do what's called a "natural skill check". Meaning that you don't need any ranks in it to try to make your roll. An example might be climb. Anybody can climb.
In regards to the hit points and armor class my GURPS friend make the same points. You do get dex minuses (and therefore minuses to AC) if you have very heavy armor. And if you don't have any armor, but have a high dex, I might have the same AC as someone with low dex but encumbered armor. You can also not attack in a round and take a dodge, or to do a full retreat.
An example of this was recently when I was playing. I have a tiny 3 foot gnome druid who fights by conjuring up dire wolves and the like while he hides behind a tree. I've put a lot of ranks into hide, and he gets a bonus because of his size.
But, I failed my hide role, and the giant that my dire wolves were battling saw me. He dispatched of the remaining wolf and charged. My gnome went "eek" and tried to do a full retreat. In order to do that without incurring an attack of opportunity I had to roll a tumble to get under the swing of the giant. Once I made that I was able to get away with minimal damage.
The advantage of the 3.5 D&D version is that combat happens very quickly. You don't have tables to look up and everybody knows what you need to hit. So you can move the combat along, but it doesn't take up the whole game so you have more time for role playing and story telling.
It's funny how the GURPS and D&D people are so married to their systems. All I can say is that two of my D&D friends are former GURPS players who converted back to D&D after 3.5 came out. And both my GURPS friends (I count you as one) have never played D&D 3.5 and are comparing GURPS to an old antique D&D system that sucked. I've never played GURPS so I can't comment on it. The one comment one friend of mine had who converted back to D&D was that "GURPS has too many damn tables".
I've found with any RPG that you are always balancing reality with playability. I played Runequest years ago and hated it because I had to roll to see if I hit my opponents left pinky to find out if I sliced open the hangnail or not. Now I'm joking, of course, but it depends on what you get pleasure from. Personally, I'm less interested in the actual reality of combat, and more interested in role playing and tactics. Some people really like making it as realistic as possible. Ultimately, it's all about having fun, and it goes in to the "whatever floats your boat".
Stubedoo
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Post by stubedoo on May 17, 2007 14:52:53 GMT -5
So what you fellers suggest to someone who wanted to start playing D&D? What's the best route to go these days? Cool on your gaming wife, ImageMaker! Gamer chics rawk. My advice is to find some people you like who are playing, whatever system, and join them as a new player. They'll get you started. I would be wary of going to a gamiing store as they tend to be ubergeeks and a little creepy. Stubedoo
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ImageMaker
Minstrel in the Gallery
A glitter in my I...
Posts: 36
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Post by ImageMaker on May 19, 2007 13:05:32 GMT -5
So what you fellers suggest to someone who wanted to start playing D&D? What's the best route to go these days? Cool on your gaming wife, ImageMaker! Gamer chics rawk. I'd suggest finding a GURPS GM/group who can help you get over that malady, Boss Lady... Unfortunately, my gaming wife tossed me out about 20 years ago... My current (third) wife is a gamer, too -- unfortunately, she plays World of Warcraft (an online game that typifies all the things that were wrong with hack-n-slash gaming 20 years ago), to the exclusion of pretty much everything else.
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ImageMaker
Minstrel in the Gallery
A glitter in my I...
Posts: 36
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Post by ImageMaker on May 19, 2007 13:17:39 GMT -5
Stubedoo, I don't find the combat system of GURPS difficult or overly complex; I know what I need to roll to hit (though I do have to look up a modifier for missile shots for range, speed, and size of my target, that's a single table that's on the back of some 3rd party character sheets), I know what my combat options are, and because combat turns are one second, there's almost never a case of anyone getting two actions in a turn; rather, some actions take multiple turns (like cocking and loading a crossbow, replacing a spent pistol magazine, or digging in a backpack for that bottle of vodka you picked up, to use as an improvised Molotov cocktail) while others take just one (attacking with a sword, which remains "ready" after the attack because it's a balanced weapon, casting most spells).
GURPS combat takes a long time, in most cases, because the players aren't familiar with the system, and occasionally because even the new 4th Edition doesn't do a very good job of putting all the stuff you *might* need to look up during combat (modifiers for combat conditions like darkness, cover, footing, etc.) in one place. Get *one* person who knows the system inside out in the room, and I find it goes pretty rapidly.
And GURPS combat, if played with the full advanced ruleset, is very realistic -- which also means it's deadly; it's highly probable that if two character go at each other in earnest, one or the other (and occasionally both) will wind up either unconscious or struggling to remain conscious in less than fifteen seconds of game time (if combat is with guns, it's fairly likely one or the other will be dead). That's fifteen combat turns, which players and GM familiar with the system can run through in about an hour (really, probably half that with only two characters involved).
I also like hit location systems -- much more realistic, IMO, than "general damage", and it's part and parcel of adventure fiction for a character to take superficial wounds as well as major ones.
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Post by stubedoo on May 20, 2007 1:09:39 GMT -5
Well, I'll amend my previous post. I'm playing D&D right now (it's not my turn so I'm taking this opportunity to answer). The combat does take awhile--my guess is that it probably takes as long as a GURPS battle.
In any case, we're having fun and that's what counts.
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Post by stubedoo on May 20, 2007 1:13:58 GMT -5
unfortunately, she plays World of Warcraft (an online game that typifies all the things that were wrong with hack-n-slash gaming 20 years ago), to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. I agree with you completely here. For me the fun of gaming is getting together with a room of friends and having fun. It's an entierly social event. WofW is solitary and sucks up hours of time.
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