FrontalMonk
Banned
edit: bah, double post. editing my prior post.
I can see where you're coming from. My opinion was always that RP always boiled down to two things in D&D: Talking, and skill checks. 4e cocked it up a little by boiling down the skills a little too far (eliminating professions is the biggie), but I never understood people who just NEEDED to have the rogue who could hide, but couldn't move silently. I mean really? Same with Spot and Listen. Combining those down to Stealth and Perception, respectively, was one of the better changes in 4e, imo.
What particular things did you hate to death about it? I mean, I know as much as the next guy that 4th isn't a perfect system, but I think it does a lot of things right. And as far as minis go...well, until I found out a friend of mine has an obsessive desire to collect the things, I always just used tokens. Pennies, nickels, dice, whatever. The fact that there's no facing in 4e helps in that regard.![]()
It was only a matter of time before this discussion about 4e was brought up. I currently play 4e once a fortnight with friends, but that's less about the system and more about the people I play with. Any game is fun with them, it just happens to be the system of choice of the man who's GMing at the moment, and the rest of us are cool with that, cause we'll still RP and he'll take that on board.
The PA D&D podcasts are what got me interested in RPGs to begin with, but I quickly started leaning towards the indie RPGs. I find the approach they take to gaming is far more interesting and more conductive to actual roleplaying that matters.
If you look at the last PA D&D video from PAX, it's cringe-worthy to watch the first thing the GM has them do. Roll to get on the dragon so they can fly off. Why do that? They're gonna get on the dragon eventually anyway, it's just a transport mechanism to get them to the next scene, why make them roll and roll until they succeed in mounting it? The most that happens is they lose some HP when they fail to mount it and fall off, how is that interesting or fun at all? Say they all got on when they wanted to and get the players to the interesting bits.
I haven't played any other d20 games, but I can't see how they'd be any different in the way of excluding actual roleplaying altogether. Yes, you can roleplay if you want to, but I don't see it being part of the system in any way at all. I could go through a game entirely just rolling dice to do stuff and not play out a single scene, action or conversation. I could not have a backstory or even a fleshed out character and it wouldn't matter. For some, this may be exactly what they want, or they're happy to slap RP on top for some flavour. That's fine, but it's not for me (even though I'm pretty much doing that at present, we have fleshed out characters with thought and reason put into them, I like playing with my friends and it's more than just gaming with them).
The above is why I find indie RPGs so attractive. FATE RPGs, Dogs in the Vineyard, Apocalypse World, Burning Wheel, Fiasco, Penny for Your Thoughts and such are all great at integrating roleplaying within the system and encouraging it as part of the mechanics. You could skip it all if you wanted to, but that'd suck all the fun out of it, and make playing them pointless. They're not for everyone, but if you've got the right attitude, they're a lot of fun.
Whoops, I've kinda put my own agenda all throughout this post. Ah well, take it as a declaration of my love for indie RPGs and story games.
That's fine, it's a beautiful post
I've been playing RPGs since I was 12. I've started with AD&D, moved to thied edition when it came out but soon after that, around high school, I got interested in more fringe and indie RPGs that I found.
And I find listening to most people play painful, I don't understand people that never talk in-character in the game... I know I'm treading towards "drama club douchbag" here, but you don't have to be an actor to at least try and make your character live...
And I find listening to most people play painful, I don't understand people that never talk in-character in the game... I know I'm treading towards "drama club douchbag" here, but you don't have to be an actor to at least try and make your character live...
The 4e talk is interesting because it's the first system I've played and thus the first time I had played a pnp game (online though). The grid based combat and video gamey-ness probably helped me understand how things worked because it instantly reminded me of a tactics or srpg game. 3.5 would probably be a bigger mystery despite my knowledge of the classes and feats from NWN. Things like movement, etc.
But yes, you don't have to be an actor, you just have to give it a go. You'll get better with time and practice. A good way to start is never ask to roll, just declare your action/s and/or have a go at saying what your character would, if the GM asks for a roll, fine, if not, just go with it. It's fun as hell.
I think you'd be surprised. 3.5/Pathfinder is very grid friendly, but not dependent on it.
Maybe when I move to a new city I'll find a Pathfinder group, if only for the gunslinger class!
I feel the same way but I never used to. I just happen to fall into a group that was safe once upon a time, and the game blossomed. Now I can still play a dungeon hack, but I greatly prefer roleplaying a telling a story with my character, and it's even better when you can combine both.
Exactly, you don't need to be an actor to flesh out your character.I've listened to a bunch of actual plays and some of them are horrific. Nobody wants to hear something like "I roll diplomacy/fast talk/persuade to try and get what I want from this NPC", it's not interesting or engaging. It doesn't take much to spice it up a little bit, you don't have to be a wordsmith by any stretch. I'm a terrible actor (even though I like to pretend I'm pretty good), but that's not what matters, far from it. You just need to make your world feel more alive, like there are actual people living in it and that you're there making things better or worse, show whether your character is a pleasant person to be around or if he's an insufferable jerk.
I love listening to some actual plays on RPPR. They're not all great, they may drop in and out of RP to roll stuff or whatever, which is fine, you can't be on all the time, but there are some standouts. On the rare occasion when Cody is playing, it's always awesome to listen to. He is an amazing RPer and always good for a laugh, but it's not him that makes you laugh, it's his character, and it's so very funny. He nails voices and mannerisms so well, I get jealous just listening to him.
But yes, you don't have to be an actor, you just have to give it a go. You'll get better with time and practice. A good way to start is never ask to roll, just declare your action/s and/or have a go at saying what your character would, if the GM asks for a roll, fine, if not, just go with it. It's fun as hell.
That's probably because Shadowrun's system sucks balls though.The Final Fantasy Tactics-ness of 4e is the draw.
I personally like the system, because it engages my friends who would not normally play PNP RPGS otherwise. Yes, there are DC checks when you have to do things, but good DM's spice it up, and make the failures entertaining for the players if its a mundane thing and perilous if its something important.
4e is a gateway.
For example. the people who I'm trying to get to play Shadowrun, liek the idea of Shadowrun. But the rules are daunting for them.
What do you say? How do you phrase it?
Start with what would I do? Then you can slowly lean into what would my character do with his/her personal motivations?
That's probably because Shadowrun's system sucks balls though.
Spot on. That's exactly the things you should be asking yourself and the processes to go through just to get things started. It's great if the GM asks these questions too, try to gently drag something out of the players.
If you're having a hard time getting into your characters shoes, maybe it's a bit too different from you for you to do it. If you're finding it hard, maybe make the character like you are, but add a bit of a twist. That way the leap from "what would I do/say" to "what would my character do/say" isn't a big one. Maybe give your character a shorter temper, make them a bit more of a smart-arse, or maybe they're a bit of a mumma's boy without much gumption. Once you're comfortable with that, then you can have your character's persona drift further away from yours.
It's not just the dice, the character creation is like some sort of Chinese torture.Oh it sucks both balls.
Why the fuck would I want to mess with this many D6's?
I'm about to switch it up to Paranoia. It fits our group sense of humor more and there is only one die to worry about.
And I'll check out the actual play podcast, I've been craving something like that for a while.
I think most people would find it easier to get into P&P games with something even as pretentious as Polaris than D&D. It's much more light on the rules and it's much more intuitive - you pretend to be a character and then you play as one. There isn't even a GM.
P&P games are not hard to get, there's not a person on earth who haven't role-played before, D&D just makes it look like it has to be complicated...
And yes, everyone has role-played before. Who didn't play cops & robbers or pirates or ninja turtles with their friends? It's no different as adults, except some people have inhibitions getting in the way of them getting into it and having fun. I still have this issue from time to time.
I personally like the system, because it engages my friends who would not normally play PNP RPGS otherwise. Yes, there are DC checks when you have to do things, but good DM's spice it up, and make the failures entertaining for the players if its a mundane thing and perilous if its something important.
Oh it sucks both balls.
Why the fuck would I want to mess with this many D6's?
I'm about to switch it up to Paranoia. It fits our group sense of humor more and there is only one die to worry about.
Sweet jesus yes. I hate shadowrun's ruleset with a passion, yet I love the lore and setting. Honestly though, it's not about the number of the d6's, but the successes system used in it and in WW games. If you're gonna hand me some d6's, I'd much rather go with WEG's Star Wars d6 system. Roll 'em up, add 'em up. Rolled a 6 on your fate die? Roll it again. Got another 6? Roll it again. Gotten some retarded good rolls (and bad botches) out of that.![]()
I really dig the Critical Hit Major Spoilers D&D podcast, but I'm kinda curious if there are fun (!) and well-made podcasts about other RPG systems as well. Critical Hit got me a lot of understanding about how D&D 4 works, and maybe there are some entertaining podcasts about other systems as well, like WoD, Cthulhu or Pathfinder?
Danoss: I've really enjoyed the podcasts you linked me earlier, the Unspeakable Actual Plays are quite interesting in getting a sense of how other keepers run their games which should help a lot. Delta Green stuff aside though, the MU Podcasts are fantastic, really good discussion on core elements of characters so far, and I've especially enjoyed their comments on the beastiary - I've got some incredibly solid ideas of how to play mythos creatures now, while before this I didn't realise their incredible potential to be so much more than stock scary monsters. Really hyped for my next session, which may be on sunday.!
I really dig the Critical Hit Major Spoilers D&D podcast, but I'm kinda curious if there are fun (!) and well-made podcasts about other RPG systems as well. Critical Hit got me a lot of understanding about how D&D 4 works, and maybe there are some entertaining podcasts about other systems as well, like WoD, Cthulhu or Pathfinder?
The Hounds of Tindalos sound amazing. I was actually icked out walking to work today while listening to what they had done and experienced with that creature, haha!Glad to hear it peakish! It really is great to see what other keepers do with their games, especially so you can steal their ideas and adapt them into your own games. The Hounds of Tindalos mentioned on the last MU Podcast are absolutely devilish (have a look at some of the artistic interpretations on GIS) I love it!
I didn't know until just recently that at least some of the MU Podcasts guys have written adventures and such for Chaosium, which is pretty cool. You can tell by listening to them that they're very knowledgeable and experienced with the system, I just had no idea they were published also. Pretty cool stuff.
I'm certainly keen to hear anything you'd like to share about your upcoming game session.
I actually prefer counting successes - It's faster and easier than adding together a bunch of numbers.
I really dig the Critical Hit Major Spoilers D&D podcast, but I'm kinda curious if there are fun (!) and well-made podcasts about other RPG systems as well. Critical Hit got me a lot of understanding about how D&D 4 works, and maybe there are some entertaining podcasts about other systems as well, like WoD, Cthulhu or Pathfinder?
I fell off this one when I fell off 4E (around the Shipwreck! Eps) but jumping back in today. I love Orem.
Now that I've had a chance to read the full Hackmaster PDF.... <3 <3 <3
ChiTownBuffalo said:Why the fuck would I want to mess with this many D6's?
Truly, Hackmaster is God's own role-playing game. Also, it has the greatest GM screen there ever has been or ever can be.
Torq ftw. But really all characters are awesome. Ket and Randus are as amazing as well.
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:lol, sums it up pretty much.
I used to love Torq more but he cheats too much. No one on the planet gets as many crits as he seems to. He seems to have toned it down lately (Shipwreck eps) but I still remember.
He was called out for it a few times on the webpage, and I think he realized.
He did? He was? Is there a link? Aw, that would be a shame, I prefer to not believe this :/
There's nothing I can think of to link to as it's been centuries. Mostly in the eps comment's section. But c'mon. He would get crits exactly when he needed them. The fight with Grummsh is an example of him always coming through.
I was going to do a chart of his rolls and his hit/miss ratio but lost interest in the cast.
Well Randus did even the odds anyway :>
I'm not completely through the series yet, but I remember a lot of times when he was even embarassed, also he rolled quite a few 1's, too. But yeah I see your point
Anyway, the podcast is great.
Huh, when did this get moved to Off-Topic?
Apparently I scrolled too fast. Thanks!Glad to hear it peakish! It really is great to see what other keepers do with their games, especially so you can steal their ideas and adapt them into your own games. The Hounds of Tindalos mentioned on the last MU Podcast are absolutely devilish (have a look at some of the artistic interpretations on GIS) I love it!
I didn't know until just recently that at least some of the MU Podcasts guys have written adventures and such for Chaosium, which is pretty cool. You can tell by listening to them that they're very knowledgeable and experienced with the system, I just had no idea they were published also. Pretty cool stuff.
I'm certainly keen to hear anything you'd like to share about your upcoming game session.
I listen to a variety of actual play podcasts and quite enjoy them. When I'm not gaming myself, I'm reading, talking, writing about it or listening to others game or talk about it. Here's some that have a mixture of different games, Cthulhu, D&D, Wild Talents, Monsters and Other Childish Things, Little Fears, Eclipse Phase and more. There are actual play episodes where you listen to them play, there are discussions about different topics and there are interviews with people from the RPG industry. A great variety of all things RPG. Hopefully there's something here for yours and others' tastes.
Can people recommend a couple more RPG podcasts? I seem to have the worst luck in listening in. Torq looks interesting.
I'm currently in two different 4e games, and played a round of 3.5 once, so discussion about the past systems tend to fascinate me. As for 4e, the mini thing hasn't bothered one of my groups simply because we use tokens and other random stuff to replace the miniatures. Most recent example, we had an encounter with a bunch of two hit zombie minions, and the DM represented all of the zombies with M&Ms.
What I have really enjoyed about 4e is the combat and skill system. The first thing I was exposed to was a 3.5 player's handbook years ago, and the most interesting thing in there for me where the ways you interacted with the environment, both in and out of combat. A bunch of the simulation stuff with details I ended up forgetting later, but the flavor of it stuck with me. And the. n I got lucky with a DM that essentially let's 4e be it's balanced thing, but then any and all RP stuff adds all sorts of bonuses that can still make combat swingy and crazy fun at times.
The way I ended up seeing it, 4e focuses so much on defining the combat so that it's easy for people to understand, and once they get in it goes quickly. They then left the RP and lore stuff open ended so you can insert whatever you want, as that's easier and more fun to homebrew.
Edit:
Apparently I scrolled too fast. Thanks!
Have been spending some time now reading the Shadowrun book and I am definetly sold on the setting. Absolutely love it.
As for the rules, I havent thought of them as that daunting when it comes to the dice rolling. Add some dice to modify, remove some dice to modify, roll and see what you get. It might be because I have yet to actually try play the game (going to gather a group in the week for that).