General RPG discussion

  1. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Just as the sports forum in chit-chat has a thread for just general stuff about footie I thought I'd give us one generally about RPGs.

    So, yeah - best game system and setting? I'm a big fan of cyberpunk2020 (just 11 years to go until that name becomes *really* farcical) and the Friday Night Firefight system (the "inbuilt" system so to speak). Never actually used it as a player but I've GMed plenty of games from the gritty (international organ trade and secret corporate wars anyone?) to the hilarious ("To the escape zeppelin!").
  2. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Seriously, no roleplayers in "The arcane group of revolutionary wizards", of all places?
  3. Salabra
    Salabra
    I enjoy (and run a game of) "The Red Star."

    I can't stand complex rules systems, though, so I won't use D20 Modern!
  4. NecroCommie
    NecroCommie
    Ok dudes: I have to confess...

    I have only played D&D... ... ... 4th edition!!!

    It was OK though, as our GM was/is an experienced one, and I like the D&D generally also. Second campaign going with my lvl 16 ranger.

    But Jazz: Secret organ trade? Was it succesful. Did the players like it?
  5. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Ok dudes: I have to confess...

    I have only played D&D... ... ... 4th edition!!!

    It was OK though, as our GM was/is an experienced one, and I like the D&D generally also. Second campaign going with my lvl 16 ranger.
    One day you will learn young un. I personally cannot stand 4th edition (no big surprise). I do wander what recommends it?

    But Jazz: Secret organ trade? Was it succesful. Did the players like it?
    Like it? The players loved the shit out of it, if anything could be termed perfect roleplaying sessions it was that stuff.
  6. Killfacer
    Killfacer
    I've started trying to run a game of D&D with a couple of mates. I've been charged with the duty of being Dungeon Master which is cool but none of us really know the rules properly.

    I keep having to make up dice rolls and parts of the storyline as i go along. Its fucking hard work.
  7. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Killfacer: here are a couple of websites that might help if you're new to the hobby, especially Dungeon/Game mastering:
    Roleplaying Tips - Fairly run of the mill in presentation but offers the best advice I've seen from the various online "RPG advice" sites.

    Critical Miss - A much more humorous look at the hobby, probably a bit shit for adviice but good for a laugh. Written by people who clearly have lives outside of D&D (well, some of them anyway). Also British so most of the humour will be better than other RPG humour sites.
  8. Killfacer
    Killfacer
    Killfacer: here are a couple of websites that might help if you're new to the hobby, especially Dungeon/Game mastering:
    Roleplaying Tips - Fairly run of the mill in presentation but offers the best advice I've seen from the various online "RPG advice" sites.
    Cheers mate. It is fucking bewildering, there are SO many fucking graphs and statistics. Everytime theres a fight i have to spend about 3 hours reading up on combat.

    It may not help that we always play it whilst drinking.
  9. Shadow Weaver
    Shadow Weaver
    Hi all.

    Me and my mates have just gone over to 4th Ed D&D and quite like it, although the Jurys still out untill we have a bit more playtime under our belts. What don't you like about it?
  10. NecroCommie
    NecroCommie
    It is more restrictive than the previous editions. It demands that you have at least three expensive core-rulebooks (damn capitalism), and is very specific and un-modifiable. This is opposed to the earlier editions in which pretty much the GM's imagination was the limit. Also, in D&D (all editions) it is extremely hard to die completely. This is even more the case in D&D Mk4.

    But to be true, a good game is made by the GM, not the game.
  11. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Cheers mate. It is fucking bewildering, there are SO many fucking graphs and statistics. Everytime theres a fight i have to spend about 3 hours reading up on combat.

    It may not help that we always play it whilst drinking.
    You don't know you're born. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons has 76 tables listed in the index for the play handbook. I couldn't be arsed counting the ones in the DM's guide but it was more than double that figure. They new how to make games back then...charts and tables.

    To be honest though I forget about half the rules, all of the monster stats and anything to do with bloody charts or tables when I start the game. I can still do it playably with a more relaxed approach and it's generally more fun for those concerned.
  12. Bitter Ashes
    Bitter Ashes
    Yeah. I was never a big sucker for rules. So long as I had a general guideline for stuff like that then we'd just do it however we felt like at the spur of the moment. I did used to learn all the rules in case of disputes though, which you could probably guess anyway from me posting at nearly four in the morning...
  13. Killfacer
    Killfacer
    I need help! Can anyone who plays D&D tell me how to work out a characters starting HP?

    I've trawled the books and i can't work it out.
  14. Bitter Ashes
    Bitter Ashes
    I havent played, except with the games on the pc like NWN and Baldur's Gate and stuff. Those used to say the hitdice stats are on the class profiles.
  15. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    I need help! Can anyone who plays D&D tell me how to work out a characters starting HP?

    I've trawled the books and i can't work it out.
    Well, I don't know about 4th but in 3.5 it was always maximum on the HD (so 4 for wizards/sorcerers, 8 or 6 for clerics and the like, 10 for fighters and (I think) paladins and 12 for barbarians. To be honest I don't really remember) + the charisma bonus. Piece of piss.
  16. Killfacer
    Killfacer
    Well, I don't know about 4th but in 3.5 it was always maximum on the HD (so 4 for wizards/sorcerers, 8 or 6 for clerics and the like, 10 for fighters and (I think) paladins and 12 for barbarians. To be honest I don't really remember) + the charisma bonus. Piece of piss.
    cheers, thats better than what we were doing before (making it up)
  17. Jazzratt
    Jazzratt
    Balls. I meant constituion in that last post but for some reason wrote charisma.
  18. Killfacer
    Killfacer
    How could you betray me like this?
  19. Dyslexia! Well I Never!
    Dyslexia! Well I Never!
    Yes Jazzy you Rogue how could you stab Killfacer in the back like this?

    Sorry I know that one's been done to death.
  20. Salabra
    Salabra
    I've started trying to run a game of D&D with a couple of mates. I've been charged with the duty of being Dungeon Master which is cool but none of us really know the rules properly.

    I keep having to make up dice rolls and parts of the storyline as I go along. Its fucking hard work.
    Welcome to your newest addiction — once you’ve run a few sessions, you’ll wonder why you ever worried about it!

    As I said above, I’m an extreme rules-phobe. Certainly the arcane shell-game of D&D — roll xDx, add the Base Attack Bonus, then the Weapon Bonus, then calculate how many squares your PC can move before/while drawing her weapon (oh wait, I forgot the Skill Bonus) then take away the value of the armour the opponent is wearing … then add the number of full moons in the ancient Sumerian calendar, multiply by the value of the Golden Mean and then divide by pi — befuddles a mathematical illiterate such as I. Luckily, I can usually rely on one of my gaming group being a “figure-rigger”!

    I usually prefer to use rules systems like those of HeroQuest or Savage Worlds. I run my Red Star game with BESM 2e.

    As GM/DM, you might think of your job in terms of 4 Fs. Keep in mind that your players will forgive most things as long as they’re having fun! The fact that you say that none of your players are any more familiar with the rules than you yourself are, means that they won’t notice when you fudge a decision — as long as you are fair in your judgements, and as long as you keep the game flowing.

    Oh, and remember that you’ll always have to improvise plots, NPCs etc as you go along. You may have heard the jokey military adage, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy” — well, it’s just as valid for RPGs! No matter how carefully you lay your plans, one player will probably manage to sink them — think of the damage three or four could cause!

    Finally, don’t forget that YOU are GM! Don’t be afraid to let the players improvise (within limits!). Don’t hesitate in your rulings (and especially don’t stop the game while you consult the reference books) — just make a decision and stick to it. And don’t be afraid to use the GM’s pixie-dust if you need to — if the Halfling Thief has run a good race, they get to live, no matter how potent the book says that the Spitting Cobra’s venom is; on the other hand, if the Elven Ranger is being a major pain-in-the-arse, don’t hesitate to drop them into a field of Ssumáni, a dark-purple plant found on Tékumel, which will corrode their soft tissues and consume them completely unless the rest of the party can haul them out PDQ.

    You might also find Matthew Finch’s article “A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming” useful — you can download it as a free PDF from www.lulu.com/content/3019374 .
  21. BeerShaman
    BeerShaman
    DnD 3.5 is the best by far! Edition 4 = shit!
    I've been playing some vampire the masquerade too!
  22. OHumanista
    OHumanista
    I get the best out of everything. I use no rules (except some common sense ones, plus I am the GM so if something goes too far I stop it) but use all the material I can get my hands on (AD&D, D&D 3.0/3.5, 4th Edition and the various settings). Therefore I can use some quality content from any edition without having to worry about shitty rules and statistics.
    Sure it takes some DMing experience to keep things going well with no official rules, and having mature(mentally) players help a lot. But adds a great level of flexibility and makes it all much more immersive and story focused. (which is what I value most in my campaigns).
    Btw, if some people don't mind playing online we could try sometime

    (I am also on the process of creating my own complete D&D setting)
  23. Salabra
    Salabra

    (I am also on the process of creating my own complete D&D setting)
    I'm sorry I haven't visited in a while - how have you progressed?