Switch Theme:

I'm curious. What is your favorite RPG?  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in us
Master of the Hunt





A group of old friends of mine have been getting together a couple of times a month and we are talking about doing some role-playing. So I was curious about any games Dakka might suggest. The title question is pretty generic; however, it would be great if you could add reasons or details as to why it is your favorite.

1) What is your favorite genre for RPG's?

2) What is your favorite system for mechanics of game play? Why? (I am by far no expert in any of the systems, so some explanation would be greatly appreciated )

3) What are the resources for the game? What is needed to play and is it easy to get? I would prefer something fairly inexpensive to get into.

4) What is the time commitment?

5) How easy is it to play and learn all of the rules? Or modify the rules?

My group has some very experienced players and between all of us have played many different systems and genres (in fact, I am by far the least experienced), so we are open to pretty much anything.

Thanks in advance for suggestions and information.

dwarfs, wood elves, dark elves, bretonnians, WOC,
space wolves, orks, eldar 
   
Made in ie
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience






Nuremberg

1) What is your favorite genre for RPG's?
Without a doubt, horror. All of my games have some sort of horror element.

2) What is your favorite system for mechanics of game play? Why? (I am by far no expert in any of the systems, so some explanation would be greatly appreciated )
I like open systems without too much crunch (paradoxically, most of my gaming time has been spent with D'n'D 3.5). I'd say my favourite system is In Nomine, because it's easy and fast and intuitive. It's also incredibly easy to break, but I don't mind that because it flows so well. In 4 years of play I never had a single rules dispute on either side of the screen. Honourable mention to Seventh Sea's roll and keep system for being intuitive, dramatic and fairly fun.

In Nomine is a game based around playing as Angels, Demons or others engaged in the War between heaven and hell for the soul of humanity. It's mechanics are quite simple- roll 3D6. 2 dice are used to roll under or equal to your skill or stat, to determine success (like a Ld test in 40K). The other dice is the "check digit", determining how well you succeed or how catastrophically you fail. Low means a minor success or minor failure, high means a bigger success or bigger failure.
The stats are very simple, being based on the three realms of existence (Corporeal, Celestial and Ethereal) with 2 stats each (Strength and Agility, Will and Perception, Intelligence and Precision). Skills give a bonus to these stats. So for example, an angel with Strength 5 and Large Weapon 2 would be trying to roll under 7 to hit someone with a flaming sword.
The game is based around moral choices. Each choir of angel or band of demons has a particular outlook, and an ability stemming from that outlook. If they go against their outlook or nature, they generate dissonance (which is bad). Too much dissonance for an angel can lead to a Fall, too much for a demon can lead to them developing "tells" (cloven hooves, brimstone stenchlohi etc).
Angels:
Seraphs: The most holy angels, can see the truth in any situation but are unable to lie without dissonance.
Cherubs: Protectors, can attune themselves to an object or person and gain knowledge of their position and threats towards them, gain dissonance if they are hurt.
Elohim: Deliberators. Can Sense emotion in others, but gain dissonance if they allow themselves to be ruled by emotion.
Ofanim: Angels of action. They cause things to happen and can see the fastest route to resolution in situations. Choosing inaction or apathy causes dissonance.
Malakim: Honour bound demon hunters. Created after the Fall to deal with the threat, no Malakim has ever Fallen. They are attuned to honour, and can tell how honourable someone is at a glance. However, they must swear four oaths at creation which they must abide by, or suffer dissonance. 2 of these are always: Suffer no evil to live and Never be taken alive by the Enemy.
Kyriotates: These are weird ones. They possess the bodies of mortals, but do not gain any of the mortal's memories. They can possess multiple bodies at once. They must leave the host in a better situation than they found it or they gain dissonance. They do not have corporeal bodies of their own. (Think Quantum Leap).
Mercurians: The Least Holy. These are negotiators and politicians. They abhor violence, and gain dissonance for harming humans. They can see the political connections in a group at a glance.

For each Choir of angels (except malakim) there is a corresponding Band of demons.
Balseraphs: Fallen Seraphs, they are liars who project their lies onto reality and make others believe them. A Balseraph gains dissonance if he is caught out in a lie.
Djinn: Fallen Cherubs, these are celestial stalkers who make their targets lives a misery. However, they run the risk of becoming obsessively affectionate towards their prey, gaining dissonance.
Habbalites: Completely given over to their emotions, these fallen Eholim inflict emotions on others and force them to feel a certain way. They are deluded into believing they are still angels. They gain dissonance if their resonance rebounds onto them.
Calabim: Fallen ofanim, these are destroyers. They have internalised the drive for change into pure entropy, which they can use to lash out at their surroundings and break them apart. They gain dissonance if they do not smash aside their obstacles.
Lilim: Not fallen angels, these daughters of Lilith can see what a being wants and offer them a deal to provide it for them. Reneging on a deal is dissonant to a lilim.
Shedim: These are the stereotypical possessor demons. No body of their own, they must possess and corrupt a single host or gain dissonance.
Impudites: Fallen Mercurians, Impudites force people to like them and then drain them of their Essence. Harming a food source (human) is dissonant to an impudite.

Once you pick your choir or band, you must also pick a Word, which is a concept you serve and further. Examples are Creation, Dark Humour, Gluttony, War, Destiny, Dreams. Each word comes with a bonus ability, and a dissonance condition (and extra way to pick up dissonance).
This really helps people to play in character and think about their actions.

As well as angels and demons, you can play as Soldiers of Heaven or Hell (human servitors) and Ethereals (old Gods and new ideas primarily living in the ethereal).

Sorry about the indepth explantation, for me, In Nomine is all about the setting and the characters. The rules are definitely in the back seat.

3) What are the resources for the game? What is needed to play and is it easy to get? I would prefer something fairly inexpensive to get into.

Hmmm. Well, for In Nomine, you just need the core rulebook which is a cheap pdf these days. You can also get a lot of supplements for it, but it's really just flavour (excellent flavour). For D'n'D 3.5 or Pathfinder, everything is online.

4) What is the time commitment?
If I'm a player, 3 hours a week playing, 0-1 hours a week thinking about it and coming up with stuff. If I'm a GM, 3 hours a week running the game, 1+ hours prepping (but usually not more than 1, and sometimes sessions are completely ad libbed.)

5) How easy is it to play and learn all of the rules? Or modify the rules?
For In Nomine, very easy. The core mechanic is very simple. You can learn how to play in less than half an hour. There's a lot of depth and scope to it, of course, so you can learn the extras as you go along, but the rules are less important than the story.
For other systems, anything between 1 and 3 sessions should have you right.


   
Made in us
Posts with Authority






I would go with horror/mystery.

My favorite system is the Fudge system as utilized by the Dresden Files RPG, because it is simple, free form, and good at keeping players mindful of their characters.

The resources are pretty simple - you can download the basic rules for free or the more in depth ones fairly cheap - it's a universal system without a setting or anything, but you can build your own - which is something I rather enjoy. And six sided dice - they have their own 'fudge dice', which are two minuses, two pluses, and two neutral, but they aren't necessary as you can just assign numerical values to them on regular dice.

I personally love the Dresden Files and the write up of the system therein - the two volume set is really well done, and they aren't going to be publishing a million different splats you'll need to pick up.

More info if yer curious
The core system
http://www.fudgerpg.com/
Dresden Files background
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files
Dresden Files RPG
http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/
   
Made in us
Master of the Hunt





Thanks for the replies. I will look through them a little later when I have more time. Has anyone played "Rippers" from Savage World? (I think)

dwarfs, wood elves, dark elves, bretonnians, WOC,
space wolves, orks, eldar 
   
Made in ie
Hallowed Canoness




Ireland

1: What is your favorite genre for RPG's?

That’s a tough nut to crack. I can’t really decide between (dark) fantasy or sci-fi, as my interest often changes back and forth between these two. With sci-fi it’s further segmented into space opera and cyberpunk. I’m open for other genres if the setting is good/interesting enough to convince me, though.

2: What is your favorite system for mechanics of game play? Why?

As of a few months, Dragon Age, or “Adventure Game Engine” as its basic mechanics have been termed. I appreciate this system for being a “step back” to the earlier days of pen&paper when you didn’t need to study a 100+ pages tome where the rules cover every minute detail you could think of. Instead, the Dragon Age RPG relies largely on improvisation by the GM and his/her players whilst giving advice on how to come up with impromptu tests using the basics that are already there. As a completely new player reading the rulebook for the first time, you literally need but half an hour of preparation at most until you’re ready to play, including character generation.

Furthermore, rather than coming off as completely “dumbed down” due to its non-complex nature, the game manages to make its fights interesting not by relying on ~50 pages of rules but rather a single, simple mechanic called “stunts”, which allows players to customize and improve their basic attacks for some rather cool effects that do the name “stunt” justice. For example, instead of just hitting an opponent, a player who had some good fortune rolling his dice may opt to change his attack to deal more damage, knock his opponent down, force a target into a certain direction or move oneself. These effects can be combined, so that you may indeed pull off those impressive actions you may know from the Dragon Age computer game, like jumping into an ogre’s neck, slashing his throat and then – from this position – jump onto the back of another ogre nearby to plunge your blades into that one!

3: What are the resources for the game? What is needed to play and is it easy to get?

Unlike many contemporary P&P games, the books for the Dragon Age RPG aren’t separated by theme but rather by level. To start your adventures in this setting, you’d only need the Set 1 box which comes with a player manual, a GM manual, a map of Thedas, and a bunch of dice. It costs $30 now, though minimalists might save a few bucks if they opt for the $17 digital download PDF. Set 1 covers the levels 1-5, which should easily suffice for a few months, provided you play about once a week: http://www.greenronin.com/store/product/grr2801.html

The set 2 box (still priced at $40 atm) covers levels 6-10, but also comes with a few general improvements for the game such as a few new stunts and talents or additional “origins” and specializations for characters to pick from. It’s not necessary for early play, but would enhance the experience. Like Box 1, it also contains a premade adventure to play.
Box 3 will cover the remaining levels 11-20, but is only in “public beta” right now. The playtest document can be downloaded on the Green Ronin website.

Other than these boxes, there are no supplements or expansions that you would need, probably making this one of the cheaper P&P games out there. The only other products sold in addition to the boxes are an adventure book and a few one-dollar-DLCs that contain optional small stuff like new creatures or NPCs. For instance, Green Ronin just released a DLC for Varric: http://www.greenronin.com/store/product/grr9402e.html

Tl;dr: all you really need to start a game is Box 1 ($30), a few sheets of paper ($1) and a pen ($0.50)! And, of course, a few buddies. Snacks and drinks might be in order, too.

4: What is the time commitment?

If with time commitment you are referring to the average duration of a session, I’d say it’s no different than any other P&P out there and depends largely on your group. Considering how fast one can get into the rules, however, it’s also quicker to get a game going rather than spending half an hour discussing mechanics before you start, as is often the case when you’ve just begun or haven’t played in a while.

5: How easy is it to play and learn all of the rules? Or modify the rules?

As already mentioned as one of its main advertisement points in #3, the rules are extremely easy to learn – and to modify. In fact, I’m currently working on an adaption of this ruleset for the Mass Effect universe. With its simplicity, the AGE system lends itself well to modification of any kind. Unlike with, say, Dark Heresy, you won’t have to fear that something somewhere deeper down the road “breaks” when you come up with a new talent or spell, simply because fewer/shorter rules means fewer connections to keep in mind.

More info here: http://greenronin.com/dragon_age/

Haven't played Savage World, though. Sorry.
   
 
Forum Index » Board Games, Roleplaying Games & Card Games
Go to: