Author Topic: What kinds of RPGS do you like?  (Read 13635 times)

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Tetsubo

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Re: What kinds of RPGS do you like?
« Reply #60 on: August 03, 2009, 05:53:52 PM »
Maybe I was unclear. Non combat in 4e suck suck suckity suck sucks.

What I meant to say was "combat is so much faster to prepare for, I have enough preparation time left over to compensate for the relatively non-existent non-combat system".

Vs 3.5, who in my opinion didn't have all that much better of a non-combat system (better yes, but not by much), but whose combat system took damn near every minute I could allot to preparation time.

But this isn't an edition war thread, so that's where I will be leaving this. Just wanted to be sure that I clarified what I was saying since it obviously was too ambiguous for at least one person.

I used a lot of automation in my encounter creation under 3.5. I let software handle a lot of the heavy lifting for me. Which meant that this 'flaw' pretty much disappeared for me. I also cut and pasted entire sections of the SRD monster entries into my adventure notes. I never saw it as a major problem. And to not turn this into a 4E bash, I won't comment further. :)

JaronK

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Re: What kinds of RPGS do you like?
« Reply #61 on: August 08, 2009, 03:22:04 PM »
What I look for in an RPG is the ability to create a character that feels real, and then have interactions that feel real, all while doing something heroic and fun and creative in the process.  Basically, I want to have a fantasy experience with feedback from outside my own head, in a way that makes sense.  What I don't like is the oversimplification found in many games these days (D&D 4e is a great example), simply because the gaming experience that provides is something I can usually get from a video game anyway. 

So far, I think my favorite game is Shadowrun 3e.  It's balanced enough that you can create any type of character you want and not worry too much about whether you're going to be too strong or too weak... your power is based soley on your ability to optimize a bit, not in any way on what kind of character you wanted to make, and the same amount of work creates the same power level.  Plus, the power level difference in optimizing vs not optimizing is significantly less than the power level difference between playing creatively and intelligently and playing stupidly, so it really does come down to how well you play, not how many books you have or what the DM allows in creation.  And, unlike most other well balanced RPGs, you can still do all kinds of crazy stuff and make all kinds of characters... I'd say there's more versitility in character creation in Shadowrun than in any other game out there.  I can't think of a single D&D character that I can't make a Shadowrun version of, nor any fantasy character (though the power level may be lower, you can't make superman at full power for obvious reasons).  And then the characters you make can do cool and creative things.

I do like D&D as well though, simply because while the balance issues are obvious, you can still make all kinds of characters, and that's really important.  Plus, the characters can do cool things, which is sorely missing in 4e.

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Korwin

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Re: What kinds of RPGS do you like?
« Reply #62 on: August 21, 2009, 07:10:53 AM »
I agree with you about Decking. The 3rd edtion matrix rules were very cumbersome. We always just played it that we had an NPC decker played by the DM so all of it could take place behind the scenes and not take up game time.

Unfortunately Decking (or hacking, as they call it in 4E)  is one of the places where the new rules have big holes. I really hope they fix it with the new matrix sourcebook they are coming out with called Unwired. At the moment, there are many parts of the matrix rules that have to be house ruled.

Didnt read it myself:
http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=48836

j0lt

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Re: What kinds of RPGS do you like?
« Reply #63 on: August 22, 2009, 09:53:46 AM »
What I look for in an RPG is the ability to create a character that feels real, and then have interactions that feel real, all while doing something heroic and fun and creative in the process.

Plus fucking one!  That's exactly "it" right there!
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Robert Bohl

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Re: What kinds of RPGS do you like?
« Reply #64 on: August 22, 2009, 12:53:06 PM »
I've actually spent quite a bit of time thinking about this. Generally, I need:

* Every player to have input into what's happening, not just the GM.
* The game to be focused on facilitating the creation of interesting stories, not concerned with modeling what's "real" or "possible."
* Every player to be given something to do for most of the game.
* The rules to add to the fiction and take the fiction in ways I hadn't predicted.
* The rules to solve the "blank page problem." That is, they need to spur creativity through creative constraint.