Comparing RPG Systems

[Guest]

No, Mirkwood, not Rocket Propelled Genades.     (you were thinkin' it.)  I was wondering what systems other people have played, and what were the pros and cons of each system.

I've played the following systems:

D&D (original, AD&D 1.0, V2.0, V3.5, V4.0, and Pathfinder)
Palladium (first and second editions)
GURPS
Spirit of the Century

I liked D&D v4.0 a LOT.  I loved the classes and the various powers that each class had.  I thought it was much more balanced than other systems.  It wasn't so dependent upon class to make a great character who could be pretty powerful in their own way.  I just happened to like a Tiefling Warlock.  Earlier versions of D&D

Palladium fist edition was pretty weak.  But second edition came out with more organization and it was a very interesting world and magic system.  I liked the Mind Mage and the Warlock classes.

GURPS was ... well... generic.  It did the job.  And I liked the freedom.  It really forced you to use your imagination (which is a good thing) to create a character.  But it also made it a whole lot more work.  Another benefit was that it made the adventure more story dependent than ability dependent.  A lot more work for the GM.

Spirit of the Century really had the potential to be a great system.  But I found it so contrary to what I'd been used to that I couldn't unlearn old systems enough to really open myself to it.

Anyone else?

[Lost Boy]

I liked AD&D, but haven't played it in 30 years....   Dang, I can't believe it has been so long.  Maybe some day I will get into it again, but for now, got way too many other things going on.

[unixknight]

• Basic D&D: Pretty simplistic, a great beginner RPG
• Advanced D&D: 1st Edition was badly imbalanced and internally inconsistent, as the rules were being adjusted even as new books were coming out.  Still, it's my personal favorite
• Advanced D&D: 2nd Edition was nicer, but didn't have the same charm
• D&D 3.0 Bleh.  A powergamer's fantasy
• D&D 5.0 Much improved over 3.0  My current game
• Palladium (Robotech):  Pretty good, though it felt a bit derivative of AD&D
• Twilight: 2000  Holy Moses what a complex game...  Good setting and story
• Vampire The Masquerade:  The less said about this system the better. 
• Shadowrun:  I liked the system of rolling for successes
• MechWarrior:  Characters could be imported into Battletech.  Pretty rad.

[Fether]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Anyone else?

All I require is an RPG that allows me to kill the dungeon master or whatever the name of the role would be.

scenario 1: my friends and I were playing a game where the DM was being particularlly... peculiar with his decision making. Tried to play along but many argument broke out. Repeatable he would open a portal and a dragon representing him as DM would say “suck it up and move on” or something of the sort. At one my point my friend gained the ability to fly. He began complaining about the DM again and lured the portal and dragon out. In the process he decided to fly though the portal and then slew the DM.

Scenario 2: Multiverse RPG game. You break into the universe where the DM resides and kill him. Replace him with some random NPC from Germany and move on with your life. No one thinks anything of it until the story takes a nasty turn where the new German DM forms the 18th Reich and conquers the multiverse. The story switches from chasing and infectious multiverse disease to fighting a multiverse  and using the multiverse virus to wipe out the DM and his empire.

The DM (or equivalent) must die for a successful RPG to take place

[mirkwood]

D&D basic...it was....basic, but a wonderful exposure to the greatest game ever.

D&D 1st & 2nd Editions.  I played 1st Edition, and we morphed into a combo of 1st & 2nd Edition, which we still play to this day.

D&D 3.0...sucked.

D&D 5th Edition is fun and the alternate DM in my group runs it.  We've had fun, but it still doesn't match the ease and fun 1st/2nd Edition.  

Wintermist, don't remember much about it except I did not believe you could complicate a fantasy RPG any more then the game did.

Top Secret: I remember we had fun and not much else.

Gamma World: we played one session and I don't remember anything about it.

Boot Hill: we played one session and I don't remember anything about it.

mirkwoods made up John Carter Of Mars rpg.  A D&D spin off my friends still comment on with fondness.  We used d6's for everything.  We played it on and off for a couple of summers.

Champions (Super Hero and Fantasy).  Fun system which allowed you to be very specific in your character creation and abilities.  The fantasy version we played eventually morphed back into 1st/2nd Edition D&D.  My second most played RPG system.

Twilight 2000:  A blast...literally!  As long as you did not mind rolling up new characters at least every other session, if not every session.  I don't remember much about it except the extreme lethality.

D20 Modern and played my reboot of Twilight 2000.  The group was not my original T2000 group and they did not care for the game.

Traveler.  I recall it being simplistic, entertaining and fairly lethal.

I played one more fantasy rpg as an extension of a test player in the early 80's, but I do not recall the name or if it ever made publication.

Deadlands: I only played for a couple of months but it was fun.  C'mon...a haunted western and I was playing Clint Eastwood's unnamed cowboy, who I named Orrin Porter Rockford. 

Shadowrun: it was okay and we only played for about six months.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by mirkwood

[Guest]

I have to tell a story about one session.  One of the gamers in my group was about 10 years old.  He did his best.  But he was new to the whole RPG thing and he didn't have a lot of imagination.  But we let him play with us because his older brother was part of our group and he had to babysit.

So he has this minotaur barbarian.  We know the bad guy is in this tent.  We work our way in there to see what's what and try to figure out what the bad guy is up to.

The 10 y.o. comes back from the bathroom.  He asks what he missed.  "The rest of the party is in the tent with the bad guy."  He mistakenly interprets this to mean there is a fierce battle going on.  He runs into the tent and starts hacking away at the nearest face he doesn't recognize.  given all the guards in the tent, he is immediately hacked down.

He starts to cry because his character is dead.  The GM has pity on him.  He's allowed to just change the name on the character sheet and pretend he had rolled up a new character with the same stats and all.  He just happens to be walking by.  What does he do? He runs into the tent and starts hacking away again.  He gets killed.

New name.  New minotaur.  He runs in, gets killed.  This repeats for 7 minotaurs total until he begins to realize that time is passing and none of the other characters are fighting.  So, he finally asks about that.  We explained that we were in recon mode, not fight mode.  We were interested to find a septuplet of minotaurs coming in randomly and get killed.  So, there's a pile of minotaurs sitting on the floor of the tent.  SMH.

[Jane_Doe]

19 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Anyone else?

D&D5e is my game.  Flexible for plenty of home brewing (and we certainly have) but also nice structure for having something to go off of (or ignore).  

I've also played D&D 2 & 3e, and honestly find them to be a bit clunky.  I play RP heavy, versus these games are more combat focused.   4e just fell flat with me.  

I've also done GRUPS, and find it to be a bit too free form for my taste.  I'd rather have a skeleton to go off of.  

I've never done Pathfinder, but hear good things about it.

[unixknight]

16 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I have to tell a story about one session.  One of the gamers in my group was about 10 years old.  He did his best.  But he was new to the whole RPG thing and he didn't have a lot of imagination.  But we let him play with us because his older brother was part of our group and he had to babysit.

So he has this minotaur barbarian.  We know the bad guy is in this tent.  We work our way in there to see what's what and try to figure out what the bad guy is up to.

The 10 y.o. comes back from the bathroom.  He asks what he missed.  "The rest of the party is in the tent with the bad guy."  He mistakenly interprets this to mean there is a fierce battle going on.  He runs into the tent and starts hacking away at the nearest face he doesn't recognize.  given all the guards in the tent, he is immediately hacked down.

He starts to cry because his character is dead.  The GM has pity on him.  He's allowed to just change the name on the character sheet and pretend he had rolled up a new character with the same stats and all.  He just happens to be walking by.  What does he do? He runs into the tent and starts hacking away again.  He gets killed.

New name.  New minotaur.  He runs in, gets killed.  This repeats for 7 minotaurs total until he begins to realize that time is passing and none of the other characters are fighting.  So, he finally asks about that.  We explained that we were in recon mode, not fight mode.  We were interested to find a septuplet of minotaurs coming in randomly and get killed.  So, there's a pile of minotaurs sitting on the floor of the tent.  SMH.

... And nobody saw fit to reveal this information to him in the first place?🤔

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, unixknight said:

... And nobody saw fit to reveal this information to him in the first place?🤔

We were trying to be polite to the little guy.  I mean, really, what did you want us to say?  That's really a stupid move!  Why are you even here?

We were thinking it.  But we were actually trying to be good and give him the freedom to learn how to play.  And believe me.  He learned a valuable lesson in the "bash and smash" mentality of RPGs.

[unixknight]

1 minute ago, Carborendum said:

We were trying to be polite to the little guy.  I mean, really, what did you want us to say?  That's really a stupid move!  Why are you even here?

We were thinking it.  But we were actually trying to be good and give him the freedom to learn how to play.  And believe me.  He learned a valuable lesson in the "bash and smash" mentality of RPGs.

Well I mean, it's not impolite to tack on "...so far we're talking to X." At the end of "We're all in thе tent..."

I dunno man... I wasn't there.   Just sayin'.   😎

[estradling75]

Anyone here ever play using the Fate System? (or its many variations?)

I find that I like it even though it is quite a bit different and a whole lot more free form

 

[unixknight]

Just now, estradling75 said:

Anyone here ever play using the Fate System? (or its many variations?)

I find that I like it even though it is quite a bit different and a whole lot more free form

 

Heard of it but haven't had the pleasure.

[Guest]

Just now, unixknight said:

Well I mean, it's not impolite to tack on "...so far we're talking to X." At the end of "We're all in thе tent..."

I dunno man... I wasn't there.   Just sayin'.   😎

The GM was a man of very few words.  Truly, he had a superpower that made people not even realize he was there.  I could tell you stories about that.  But it really was phenomenal.

Anyway.  After the kid started crying.  Most of us didn't really know what to say.  The GM had pity.  We rolled our eyes and went with it.

When he repeated, we were so shocked that we could only shake our heads.  It was all we could do to stop laughing at him.  We didn't want to make him feel bad.  So, we just gave each other looks. If anyone opened their mouths, I'm afraid we'd all have started to laugh at him.  And we didn't want to do that.  Like I said.  We were trying to be good. 

But I guess you kinda had to be there to appreciate it.  So, nevermind.

[Jane_Doe]

1 minute ago, Carborendum said:

The GM was a man of very few words.  Truly, he had a superpower that made people not even realize he was there.  I could tell you stories about that.  But it really was phenomenal.

Anyway.  After the kid started crying.  Most of us didn't really know what to say.  The GM had pity.  We rolled our eyes and went with it.

When he repeated, we were so shocked that we could only shake our heads.  It was all we could do to stop laughing at him.  We didn't want to make him feel bad.  So, we just gave each other looks. If anyone opened their mouths, I'm afraid we'd all have started to laugh at him.  And we didn't want to do that.  Like I said.  We were trying to be good. 

But I guess you kinda had to be there to appreciate it.  So, nevermind.

Part of RPG is those moments where you do a lot of head scratching and wondering "now why in the world did I walk down this road in the first place?"

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Jane_Doe said:

Part of RPG is those moments where you do a lot of head scratching and wondering "now why in the world did I walk down this road in the first place?"

One GURPS session we had the GM had an interesting talent to determine when people's attention was waning.  He also had a cure for that.  I was unfamiliar with his methods.

We were having dinner at a restaurant assessing our situation and determining a course of action.  Then the GM notices that our conversation is winding down and our attention spans diminishing.

Quote

So, as you're walking down the trail through the forest, you're trying to cover your tracks so they can't follow you...

I turned my head and said,"Wait what?  What trail? What forest?  We're in the middle of the city.  Are you talking about a city park or something?  And who exactly is following us?"

He continued: "And the snow has stopped falling.  So, that's pretty difficult.."

I squinted again: "What?  Since when does it snow in Los Angeles during the summer?"

It turns out that it was a shared dream that "the gods" were giving us to help us on our journey.

[mordorbund]

I've been pretending the thread title was "Comparing Linux Distros" and I gotta tell you, this thread does not disappoint.

[SilentOne]

The first several times I saw the thread title, I read it as "Comparing RGB Systems".

[SpiritDragon]

I've mostly played D&D and GURPs. I couldn't even say what edition of D&D it was an old red TSR Booklet of rules we used. I liked GURPS better personally because I liked the realism and logic a little better. Rather than universal level ups where all character abilities improve at seemingly random increments, characters in GURPS progress skills based on use. So a character doesn't suddenly become better at something unrelated to fighting by battling endless hordes of goblins or pop-up enemy du jour.

I usually played as the game master though and liked to implement the "pass the sprite" rule because I wanted to encourage actual role playing, but my friends would often say things like, "my character is going to do XYZ" or, "hey we need more munchies" to which I'd have NPC's reply to them about how odd is to talk about such things will rappelling down a cliff face. Just to clarify that the pass the sprite rule simply states that the words that are coming out of players mouths are heard in the game world without the need to preface by saying, "my character says..."

I found both systems fun.

I also enjoyed a text-based RPG (if a computer game can ever really be called role playing) called Werewolves and the Wanderer that my brother programmed in Basic on our Apple IIC using a script from a book he checked out of the public library. I got killed by the the ice dragon a few too many times 😃I would have simply avoided it but the rooms monsters ended up in was randomly assigned. I particularly liked it when my brother added a secret garden to the game where I could get healing herbs. I didn't like it when that ice dragon happened to pop-up in said garden and kill me before I could build up my health.

 

[Midwest LDS]

Played a few different systems myself

D&D 3.0 and 3.5. Definitly some issues but this was the first system I played in a group, so I have a soft spot for this system.

Pathfinder. Improved 3.5, I like it a lot although I've only played it a few times.

D&D 4.0. I didn't like this system at all. It felt too much like playing a video game. World of Warcraft on paper is how I think of it.

Rifts. I really like Rifts. I enjoy the d100 based system and the background, essentially combining sci fi and magic in a post apocalyptic Earth is awesome. One of my favorites.

D&D 5.0. Far superior to 4.0, I really enjoy the advantage system, as well as the class system. I like how you can have 3 people of the same class that all play completely differently from each other.

Vampire the Masquerade. Eh I don't like playing as a Vampire so that defeats the purpose of this game☺.

Shadowrun. Great setting but the mechanics get really complicated really fast.

Changeling. Still World of Darkness, but far superior to Vampire. The inclusion of the Fey is very different, and the interesting setting makes up somewhat for the lackluster setting.

Warhammer 40k Deathwatch. Really fun, I love Space Marines, and a great grimdark setting. Very much combat oriented though, less chances for role-playing.

[unixknight]

I forgot to mention Rifts and Dark Heresy.

I liked Rifts but didn't get into it because it was the same system as Robotech which was a setting I loved.  It scratched the same itch anyway, and why pilot a Glitter Boy when I could have a Veritech Alpha or an Excaliber Destroid?

Dark Heresy was like 40k Deathwatch but you didn't get to be Space Marines.  Instead, you were agents of the Inquisition.  I would rather have been a Space Marine.  It was okay as a game, and had the right amount of lethality.

Edited May 21, 2018 by unixknight

[Midwest LDS]

Dark Heresy looks fun. I like reading some of the Inquisition stories like Eisnehorn and Ravenor so I'm sure I'd like Dark Heresy. But there is something satisfying about playing a Space Marine, and being a total engine of destruction. I remember getting a whole bunch of perfect roles and gutting a hive tyrant with my heavy bolter, while shouting out "Purge the xenos scum!" Good times.☺

[unixknight]

1 hour ago, Midwest LDS said:

Dark Heresy looks fun. I like reading some of the Inquisition stories like Eisnehorn and Ravenor so I'm sure I'd like Dark Heresy. But there is something satisfying about playing a Space Marine, and being a total engine of destruction. I remember getting a whole bunch of perfect roles and gutting a hive tyrant with my heavy bolter, while shouting out "Purge the xenos scum!" Good times.☺

Oh, I definitely agree about the satisfaction of being a Space Marine.  Since I couldn't play one in Deathwatch, I went a bit more hardcore instead...

[Midwest LDS]

14 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Oh, I definitely agree about the satisfaction of being a Space Marine.  Since I couldn't play one in Deathwatch, I went a bit more hardcore instead...

I'm not going to lie. That's awesome! I bet that was fun to walk around in. " No pity, no remorse, no fear!"😃

Edited May 21, 2018 by Midwest LDS

[BJ64]

I guess it shows my age that I don’t know what this thread is talking about!

[unixknight]

7 minutes ago, Midwest LDS said:

I'm not going to lie. That's awesome! I bet that was fun to walk around in. " No pity, no remorse, no fear!"😃

Thanks!  And yeah it is fun, and everybody wants a picture with you.  

Sadly, 5 minutes after that picture was taken I learned what it's like to fall down in a Space Marine suit with 14" stilts in it...

5 minutes ago, BJ64 said:

I guess it shows my age that I don’t know what this thread is talking about!

Pffft I'm 44.  No excuses!