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What's Wrong With Not Liking Current RPGs?

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Author Topic: What's Wrong With Not Liking Current RPGs?  (Read 6571 times)
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DrBadLogic
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« Reply #30 on: July 05, 2008, 04:32:38 pm »

Somewhere I read that you can't die during character generation any more. Is this true? While that could be a good change for actually generating one character to play, it would really nerf the try to roll up ancient characters to kill time solitaire game.  Cool

I haven't played any of the lder Traveller editions.  I played one game with T4, so I have that edition and the Mongoose one.  In T4, you basically don't die or get injured - during character creation anyway.  But since you start aging in the game somewhere in your thirties, I think there's an incentive to stop while you're ahead.  Plus you get one skill per year, so you can actually be competent at something before the age of sixty.

In the Mongoose edition, there's the 'Iron Man' option in which you can indeed die.  As it is, in their standard version your character still runs the risk of being severely injured if unlucky, and incurring the relevant medical expenses.  In that version, however, you get one skill per four year term, so you're pretty much required to try and make it to old age.  Plus I found it frustrating that aside from missing promotions, I might completely screw up my ex-military character by losing several points from the one good stat s/he had.

I dunno.  It's one of my pet peeves that too many systems give you the wonderful opportunity to make a character who isn't actually very good at anything.  character limitations?  Great!  But it's annoying to come up with the idea of an agent character, and then arbitrarily get forced out of service in the first term.  (I'm clearly not Traveller's target audience!).
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randalls
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« Reply #31 on: July 05, 2008, 07:45:13 pm »

But it's annoying to come up with the idea of an agent character, and then arbitrarily get forced out of service in the first term.  (I'm clearly not Traveller's target audience!).

Rolling characters was a game in itself back in the Classic Traveller days. Generally, failed characters like that did not get played, but were used as NPCs when one was needed.
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DrBadLogic
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« Reply #32 on: July 06, 2008, 12:22:30 pm »

Rolling characters was a game in itself back in the Classic Traveller days. Generally, failed characters like that did not get played, but were used as NPCs when one was needed.

I'm an impatient kinda guy.  I like twists that make you rethink what your character is doing (or even boons that make your character great at something you'd never normally consider doing...).  I just don't like going through character gen until I finally get something decent.  I'm not that committed.

On that topic, I quite like Sorcerer.  There's basically four stats, all your skills use a single 'cover' skill which represents what you actually do...
Plus you assign a set number of points, which is a style of game I tend to gravitate to these days.

(I also like Unknown Armies in that your toughness as a character depends on what you're willing to do, and the biggest rewards go for the biggest risks).
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evernevermore
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« Reply #33 on: September 02, 2008, 11:30:36 am »

Sorry about Necroing this thread but I want to trot out my spin on this line of reasoning.

I dont think there is anything wrong with not liking current RPGs, provided you actually give the rules a read through. If you instantly shoot down a game because its from after 1989 your being as bad as the people who insist that you play the "one true RPG".

Some new games have design concepts that I think are either much more intuitive or just simply better then old ones, but that doesnt mean the game itself is better. I'm currently DMing a D&D4 campaign and Im finding that while some parts of the rules are neat and have alot of potential I really miss the open framework or something like D&D Basic - but thats partially due to my style of GMing too. I dont know 4e as intimately as I am beginning to believe I need to, as it has as many quirks and issues as the old chart heavy games like Rolemaster. On the other hand my campaign of Dark Heresy flows much much smooter (partly because of some good players) because the mentality that the game is written in. Much like Classic Battletech and the good parts of 2nd ed. AD&D there are tons of optional rules I can use as a tool kit, in addition to a relatively intuitive ruleset. Its actually fairly easy to run a session with nothing but scratch paper, the GMs screen for some stats and a couple handfuls of d100s, which is hard to believe given how many percentile charts are hidden away in the core book.

Im definately shifting towards the D&D Rules Cyclopedia or Microlite74 in my D&D ideas but with elements of 4e and others spliced in (ascending ac and to hit works better for many players in my experience and the concept of bloodied and healing surges intrigue me)
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randalls
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« Reply #34 on: September 03, 2008, 05:03:54 pm »

I dont think there is anything wrong with not liking current RPGs, provided you actually give the rules a read through.

I don't need to read all the rules for many games if I know from reviews or from glancing through the rules that the game systems or focus of the game do not interest me.  For example, I have no interest in RPGs that focus on detailed tactical (or even just time-consuming) combat. I like fast, abstract combat. I don't need a read all the rules of a game with detailed or time-eating combat to know it is not for me.  The same with games full of angst (like most WoD games) -- they are just not my cup of tea.  I don't need to buy and read the latest edition or variant of a WoD game to know that I will have no interest in playing it.

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Some new games have design concepts that I think are either much more intuitive or just simply better then old ones, but that doesnt mean the game itself is better.

"Intuitive" and "better" are both subjective terms. What is intuitive to one person may be counter-intuitive to another. "Better" is obviously in the eye of the beholder.  For example, I think OD&D is better than D&D 4e because I greatly prefer RPGs centered on exploration to RPGs centered on combat. Someone who prefers opposite will likely think I'm nuts.
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evernevermore
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« Reply #35 on: September 03, 2008, 08:04:39 pm »

Well the same argument applies to saying a combat is detailed or time consuming - I enjoy Battletech so 4e isnt detailed or time consuming but rather stale so far. OD&D atleast has the potential to be much more open ended in combat, as the players seem less limited.

Just for the record intuitive to me means something that a new RPGer will pick up without alot of explanation. For example the classic to me is Thac0 vs ascending attack bonus.
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DrBadLogic
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« Reply #36 on: September 09, 2008, 12:24:33 pm »

Sorry about Necroing this thread but I want to trot out my spin on this line of reasoning.

I dont think there is anything wrong with not liking current RPGs, provided you actually give the rules a read through. If you instantly shoot down a game because its from after 1989 your being as bad as the people who insist that you play the "one true RPG".

Personally, if someone wants me to give a new game a try, and I'm not interested?  They can buy the game for me if they want so much for me to give it a chance.
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