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[Mikeside]

Having talked to a couple of the people who are going to be playing, they don't seem very up for Cthulhu, so it looks like we're going for Shadowrun instead.

At least I hadn't ordered the book yet!

I think I'm definitely going to pick it up and look at running a session after we're done with Shadowrun, though

 

[krypt0nian]

The still in beta testing roll20.net online tabletop app has added G+ Hangout support, and they show it off in this live playsession.

http://www.twitch.tv/roll20app/b/319685342

So when it launches, you can play on the Roll20.net site, OR launch it from G+ Hangout without importing your campaign stuff again.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Having talked to a couple of the people who are going to be playing, they don't seem very up for Cthulhu, so it looks like we're going for Shadowrun instead.

At least I hadn't ordered the book yet!

I think I'm definitely going to pick it up and look at running a session after we're done with Shadowrun, though

Oh man, buy lots of D6's. And be ready to
hate character creation.

 

[krypt0nian]

Oh man, buy lots of D6's. And be ready to
hate character creation.

Or buy HeroLab and love it.

 

[dude]

We played Mage: The Awakening last night. Was quite fun. Pretty different from Ascension, but still good. I didn't really like that you now improvise spells a lot less (even though the rotes are a nice addition.)

The most exciting thing to come out of the session was that sometime soon we're going to start a short AD&D 2e old school Dark Sun campaign with a kickass DM I used to play with. Man, I'm so excited

 

[Cptkrush]

Anybody here have experience with the Fallout PNP? A few friends of mine have been playing Pathfinder for a while, and I started about a month ago. They want to try this out so I volunteered to DM the campaign. I just wanted to know anyone's thoughts on the game if they've tried it before. I think the overall goal of this is to try the game out in a fun way first and if we like it, we'll take the next one more serious. I could also provide feedback for anyone that would be interested, once we start up.

We're looking to start by next week and I've got some real nice and Fallout-y fiction set up for the area I'll be taking them. This will also be my first time being a DM, so it should be fun.

 

[dude]

Anybody here have experience with the Fallout PNP? A few friends of mine have been playing Pathfinder for a while, and I started about a month ago. They want to try this out so I volunteered to DM the campaign. I just wanted to know anyone's thoughts on the game if they've tried it before. I think the overall goal of this is to try the game out in a fun way first and if we like it, we'll take the next one more serious. I could also provide feedback for anyone that would be interested, once we start up.

We're looking to start by next week and I've got some real nice and Fallout-y fiction set up for the area I'll be taking them. This will also be my first time being a DM, so it should be fun.

I didn't even know that exists. Interesting. Does is use the same system as in the games? wouldn't it have made more sense making it a GURPS game, seeing as how Fallout was supposed to be based on GURPS?

Good luck with the game though, I'll definitely be interested to hear about it, I love Fallout

Spoiler

2

.

 

[krypt0nian]

Roll20, the newest and coolest online tabletop has just gone into Open Beta. If you're even halfway interested grab an account now as they said they may freeze it again if demand is bonkers.


www.roll20.net

 

[Suairyu]

Wizards won't let me log into my account to download the DnD playtest. Resetting my password does nothing. I don't suppose anyone uploaded the pack somewhere?

 

[BattleMonkey]

Did another game of the new Marvel RPG. Yea not a fan at all. The mechanics while neat and are about narrative play, just make the game waaaayyy to slow. Fights can take forever and the way "damage" is dealt is pretty poorly designed concept. Randomness of the doompool mechanic basically can stretch any battle on forever. What is supposed to be a heavy narrative based game is nothing more than a giant dice fest that makes simple fights go on forever, and when you have mutliple enemy npcs and a bunch of heroes.... holy crap watch your one encounter stretch on for a few hours potentially.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Did another game of the new Marvel RPG. Yea not a fan at all. The mechanics while neat and are about narrative play, just make the game waaaayyy to slow. Fights can take forever and the way "damage" is dealt is pretty poorly designed concept. Randomness of the doompool mechanic basically can stretch any battle on forever. What is supposed to be a heavy narrative based game is nothing more than a giant dice fest that makes simple fights go on forever, and when you have mutliple enemy npcs and a bunch of heroes.... holy crap watch your one encounter stretch on for a few hours potentially.

Marvel has a new RPG? What a not good idea.

 

[dude]

Just finished creating my 2e Dark Sun character. Holding the old Player's Handbook in my hand again fills me with excitement.

So yeah, I created a Chaotic Neutral Half-Elf Druid/Thied. I like pushing the boundaries a little

 

[Mike M]

In high school, my friends and I played White Wolf games. Most everyone did Vampire, but maaaaaaan did I love Wraith. Probably had something to do with wanting to be a ghost when I grew up at age four. I had a ton of sourcebooks I never used, but I had ideas, man!

Ironically I don't think we ever played a *real* game, we were pretty fast and loose with the rules, every ST was more interested in telling their cool vampire story...

Just joined up in the D&D Play-by-Post thread in the community OT forum. First real exposure to it. Kinda miss the simplicity of White Wolf stuff, but I totally dig the character I've made.

 

[krypt0nian]

In high school, my friends and I played White Wolf games. Most everyone did Vampire, but maaaaaaan did I love Wraith. Probably had something to do with wanting to be a ghost when I grew up at age four. I had a ton of sourcebooks I never used, but I had ideas, man!

Ironically I don't think we ever played a *real* game, we were pretty fast and loose with the rules, every ST was more interested in telling their cool vampire story...

Just joined up in the D&D Play-by-Post thread in the community OT forum. First real exposure to it. Kinda miss the simplicity of White Wolf stuff, but I totally dig the character I've made.

Link? I love keeping up with PbP threads!

 

[Mike M]

Link? I love keeping up with PbP threads!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=473824

 

[Songbird]

Great, now I feel almost as self conscious as when I saw the thread view count.

 

[Mike M]

Errrr, sorry about that, I hadn't considered everyone else's feelings on shining a spotlight on the thread : /

 

[Songbird]

Errrr, sorry about that, I hadn't considered everyone else's feelings on shining a spotlight on the thread : /

I was joking dude! It's okay.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Argh. Right now the thing that's killing me are fun ruiners.

I run an Encounters thing at a game store here in the city. I know its supposed to be drop in and I know I am literally going to get randoms off the street, but damn.

I guess this is why I play home games.

Speaking of which, I need to find a new crew to play with.

 

[Songbird]

How do you mean by fun ruiners? People who don't really want to be there?

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

How do you mean by fun ruiners? People who don't really want to be there?

We have one player, who did the following last session:

1. Went and grabbed another player's character sheets and said "This person doesn't look like a ninja. How come they aren't wearing a black mask? They should be really wearing that black mask thing." Then tried to lecture said person, who is Asian, about Asian culture.

2. Does not know what is going on in play. When it is her turn, she demands to know what was done the prior turns. Because during play, she as staring off into space, or on her iPhone. Or singing. Or at the other table.

3. Would not shut the fuck up about Ray Bradbury.

4. Constantly accuses everyone of sexism, but nearly cries when she is called out for racism. To be fair, I called her out incredibly rudely.

Player has a hexblade named "Sanchez." She says, "Oh, his name is Sanchez, he should have an automatic -5 to initiative." My response, "What the fuck racist bullshit just came out of your damn piehole just now?"

5. Plays a cleric, bitches about having to heal party members.

Fun.

Ruiner.

 

[Songbird]

Destroy the player's character in amusing fashion. It is the only way.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Destroy the player's character in amusing fashion. It is the only way.

The ninja has been leaving poisoned cookies out.

She ate one.

Next week, it'll get emotional I'm sure.

 

[Mikeside]

The ninja has been leaving poisoned cookies out.

She ate one.

Next week, it'll get emotional I'm sure.

Yeah, I'm gonna need a transcript of that

 

[krypt0nian]

We have one player, who did the following last session:

1. Went and grabbed another player's character sheets and said "This person doesn't look like a ninja. How come they aren't wearing a black mask? They should be really wearing that black mask thing." Then tried to lecture said person, who is Asian, about Asian culture.

2. Does not know what is going on in play. When it is her turn, she demands to know what was done the prior turns. Because during play, she as staring off into space, or on her iPhone. Or singing. Or at the other table.

3. Would not shut the fuck up about Ray Bradbury.

4. Constantly accuses everyone of sexism, but nearly cries when she is called out for racism. To be fair, I called her out incredibly rudely.

Player has a hexblade named "Sanchez." She says, "Oh, his name is Sanchez, he should have an automatic -5 to initiative." My response, "What the fuck racist bullshit just came out of your damn piehole just now?"

5. Plays a cleric, bitches about having to heal party members.

Fun.

Ruiner.

I know you've mostly enjoyed your time with Encounters but I've had much more of this type of experience than good ones in my admittedly small sampling. It seems that some of the people who show up a lot to ruin things, are players that cannot keep a regular group outside of programs that by their nature and rules have to accept them.

When I get back from Chicago I'm going to try some Pathfinder Society play in addition to our regular bi-weekly home game, and hope for the best, but honestly think I'll run into the same sort of player refuse. But I really want to have a good experience with organized play.

Another note, I'm going to try and attend my first Gencon since I'll be up there at the right time. It's funny to have never attended after all the years I've been involved in PnP gaming, and I promised friends that I would make a huge effort to hit it this year. Especially, as I now have a few good friends who do great 3rd party stuff for Pathfinder and Mutants & Masterminds/Icons, with Ryan finally getting some Paizo work with Giants Revisted.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

I know you've mostly enjoyed your time with Encounters but I've had much more of this type of experience than good ones in my admittedly small sampling. It seems that some of the people who show up a lot to ruin things, are players that cannot keep a regular group outside of programs that by their nature and rules have to accept them.

When I get back from Chicago I'm going to try some Pathfinder Society play in addition to our regular bi-weekly home game, and hope for the best, but honestly think I'll run into the same sort of player refuse. But I really want to have a good experience with organized play.

Another note, I'm going to try and attend my first Gencon since I'll be up there at the right time. It's funny to have never attended after all the years I've been involved in PnP gaming, and I promised friends that I would make a huge effort to hit it this year. Especially, as I now have a few good friends who do great 3rd party stuff for Pathfinder and Mutants & Masterminds/Icons, with Ryan finally getting some Paizo work with Giants Revisted.

When you get back up in the Chi, we'll roll.

Some d20's.

 

[Mike M]

Anyone know of some good iOS apps for creating and managing characters? Gamers' Toolkit is OK, but extremely rough around the edges. RPG Scribe is fucking *fantastic* for D&D 3.5 with the caveats that it can't create a character that's not one of the classes from the Player's Handbook (You can add custom entries to nearly ALL other categories, except classes), you can't select a starting level, and there's no dice rolling function.

Overall, there just doesn't seem to be a "complete package" out there that I've found. It's almost enough for me to just try and learn programming just to rip-off RPG Scribe and add a few features, but I have zero experience... *Sigh*

 

[krypt0nian]

I use Dicenomicon and Player Folio for iPad. Both do some cool things. Player Folio is excellent for a Pathfinder chara sheet replacement, with SRD linking.

There a mapping app that looks cool, but I'm not sure what use I'd get out of it.

There is tons of room for great RPG apps that aren't yet made. I'm hoping that Wolflair comes through on their iPad Herolab hints.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

The girl I feed the poison cookie to did not show up at encounters.

That being said, we all got buzzed and had a good time.

 

[ThLunarian]

Great, now I feel almost as self conscious as when I saw the thread view count.

Hey, we do have a bit of an audience now, don't we? That's kind of cool. I somehow hadn't considered that that might happen

 

[Riposte]

It is funny how one website I go to (enworld) is shockingly positive about 5e" and another I briefly visited was totally down on it. I didn't really like what I read. It is only a playtest though. The game just seems really unfinished and the fact Monte Cook left makes me kind of lose interest.

 

[krypt0nian]

Free RPG Day haul is in!

Got the Paizo Pathfinder module, Dawn of the Scarlet Sun, set in the city of Magnimar. Gorgeous thing.

And a new set of Chessex dice (Superman blue/red with yellow numbering!) to say "thank you" to the store for hosting it. I went to buy the set of Pathfinder minus specifically for the module, but they only got one set in, so they were raffling it off tonight, out if all the Free RPG Day participants, and we find out the winners in about two hours.

Already scheduled a play through with my Chicago table, so a mini review is inevitable. It's pretty, so I'm hoping for the best. It's written by Pathfinder's Ed Greenwood equivalent, James Jacobs, whom I love, so high hopes are had.

 

[dude]

So, yesterday we finished another Dark Sun session. Again, incredible fun. Games like this are why I'm into RPGs.
Right now our party consists of - me, a druid/thief, a preserver that will probably turn to defiler, a dandy psionic bard, a psychotic elven fighter/mage and a ranger. The only good aligned characters in the party are the bard and the ranger, the rest are either neutral or evil. a small force tried to sneak up on us at night, but we've finished them like badasses thanks to my incredible Wisdom, but now we've discovered a reinforcement of about 40 men coming our way...

 

[krypt0nian]

So Gencon?

For as many years as I've played I've never made it to con. This year it looks like I will be there!

Anyone else booked for the con? Anyone headed to PaizoCon?

 

[dude]

Man, last night we had a role-playing Clue session. We played The Clue, but we did it while each was role playing as his character (each accusation or suggestion must be made in character etc.) It was insane amounts of fun.

I think we're just going to have to roleplay basically all of our boar games from now on...

 

[krypt0nian]

Man, last night we had a role-playing Clue session. We played The Clue, but we did it while each was role playing as his character (each accusation or suggestion must be made in character etc.) It was insane amounts of fun.

I think we're just going to have to roleplay basically all of our boar games from now on...

Hehe one of my RP friends came up with this idea last Friday. She wants to take it a bit further and have a full Clue RP session before and after the board game part.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

A bunch of my old uni friends have asked if I could run an RPG by email as it's something they've always wanted to try but were never able. Any tips, or game systems that would work well?

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

A bunch of my old uni friends have asked if I could run an RPG by email as it's something they've always wanted to try but were never able. Any tips, or game systems that would work well?

On this tip, have any of you checked out roll20.net?

Would any of you guys be interested in testing this out and running a 4e, yes I know, game?

 

[Captain_Spanky]

On this tip, have any of you checked out roll20.net?

No and that looks really useful!

 

[dude]

Hehe one of my RP friends came up with this idea last Friday. She wants to take it a bit further and have a full Clue RP session before and after the board game part.

That's actually a great idea, might just give it a go next time we play Clue.

A bunch of my old uni friends have asked if I could run an RPG by email as it's something they've always wanted to try but were never able. Any tips, or game systems that would work well?

I'd recommend setting up some sort of private forum or something... I never ran a game through email, but I'd imagine it could get messy. Google Wave was pretty good for these things back when it existed, so anything with a similar interface would probably work though.
As for the system... I'm guessing by your post non of them played any RPGs before... So just go with something light and easy. If your players aren't familiar with the system it could be a problem when you're playing without a direct conversation to explain everything. I think maybe True 20 might be good for this, it's pretty light.

 

[Vagabundo]

My wife got me a dnd 4e book for fathers day, unknowningly she had bought me the exact same book three years ago. lol.

Anyway I have some gamer credit now at the store and I'm getting Ravenloft the board game (hopefully, they say it is prtetty popular and the runs sell out pretty quick).

Anyone played it?

 

[krypt0nian]

My wife got me a dnd 4e book for fathers day, unknowningly she had bought me the exact same book three years ago. lol.

Anyway I have some gamer credit now at the store and I'm getting Ravenloft the board game (hopefully, they say it is prtetty popular and the runs sell out pretty quick).

Anyone played it?

It's a stripped down 4E ruleset with different end goals every game (and more goals downloadable/player created) Great game!

Solo play is an option too.

IMO 4E works much better as a boardgame, so you'll love it.

 

[krypt0nian]

OK I am over the moon! Going through crawlspace stuff for our garage sales, and I found the treasure trove! So far at least 30 RPG hardbacks & suppliments that I forgot buying. Most d20/2E/3E OGL stuff, but prime stuff. The Star Wars games, Monte Cooke's Arcana Unearthed , Dragonstar setting, Urban Arcana, my 2E core books, etc etc! Most have barely had their spines creased, as they were bought when I had major RPG buying issues (read: bought books like they were medium Cokes at McDonalds).


Some of these books (Arcana Unearthed, especially) I have always wanted. And all this time, I've owned them!



Bonus:

First preview for the Pathfinder Bestiary Box set of cardboard standees/pawns. 300+ tokens plus plastic bases for mini play. Since they don't included stats, this is pretty much a system agnostic accessory.

http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5ldka?Elementary-Solutions-Bestiary-Box-Preview

 

[Keasar]

First preview for the Pathfinder Bestiary Box set of cardboard standees/pawns. 300+ tokens plus plastic bases for mini play. Since they don't included stats, this is pretty much a system agnostic accessory.

Planning on getting those, love those that I got through the Beginners Box, so handy, cheap and easy to carry around. Much better than plastic figures. Setting aside quite the sum for next months, the Rise of the Runelords book and the Rise of the Runelords Pawns.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Could be neat. I really have enjoyed the Warhammer Fantasy sets though as they come with tons of generic cardboard standees that work for many games. They are also on very thick cardboard with amazing art. Use them for variety of fantasy like games now.

 

[krypt0nian]

Could be neat. I really have enjoyed the Warhammer Fantasy sets though as they come with tons of generic cardboard standees that work for many games. They are also on very thick cardboard with amazing art. Use them for variety of fantasy like games now.

Gotta check those out. The Pawns in the Beginner Box which these are following up are of high quality (thick cardboard, good bases, art through the roof)

The more the merrier! Do they sell them a la carte outside of the game?

 

[krypt0nian]

Bestiary Box Set List

Hundreds of monsters surge to life on your tabletop! Each has its own identification number for easy sorting. The Bestiary Box includes:

Small (and Smaller)
1 Archon, Lantern
2 Bat Swarm (4)
3 Choker
4 Cockatrice
5 Dark Creeper (3)
6 Darkmantle
7 Demon, Dretch (2)
8 Demon, Quasit
9 Derro (2) 10 Devil, Imp
11 Dog
12 Eagle
13 Electric Eel
14 Elemental, Air
15 Elemental, Earth
16 Elemental, Fire
17 Elemental, Water
18 Goblin Warrior (4) 19 Homunculus
20 Intellect Devourer
21 Iron Cobra
22 Kobold Warrior (4)
23 Mephit (2)
24 Mite (2)
25 Pixie
26 Pseudodragon 27 Rat, Dire (2)
28 Shocker Lizard
29 Spider Swarm (4)
30 Stirge (2)
31 Svirfneblin
32 Vargouille (2)
33 Vegepygmy (2)
34 Will-o'-Wisp
Medium
35 Aasimar Cleric
36 Angel, Astral Deva
37 Animated Object
38 Ant, Giant Soldier (3)
39 Archon, Hound (2)
40 Archon, Trumpet
41 Azata, Bralani (2)
42 Azata, Ghaele
43 Barghest
44 Basidirond
45 Basilisk (2)
46 Boar
47 Boggard (3)
48 Bugbear (3)
49 Cat, Leopard
50 Cave Fisher (2)
51 Centipede, Giant
52 Crab, Giant (2)
53 Dark Stalker
54 Demon, Babau (2)
55 Demon, Nabasu
56 Demon, Shadow
57 Demon, Succubus
58 Devil, Barbed (2)
59 Devil, Bearded (2)
60 Devil, Erinyes (2) 61 Devil, Lemure (3)
62 Dinosaur, Deinonychus (2)
63 Dog, Riding
64 Doppelganger
65 Dragon, Young Black
66 Dragon, Young Brass
67 Dragon, Young Copper
68 Dragon, Young White
69 Drow Noble Cleric
70 Drow Warrior (3)
71 Dryad
72 Duergar (2)
73 Elemental, Air
74 Elemental, Earth
75 Elemental, Fire
76 Elemental, Water
77 Ettercap
78 Frog, Giant
79 Gargoyle
80 Genie, Janni
81 Ghost
82 Ghoul (3)
83 Gibbering Mouther
84 Gnoll (3)
85 Goblin Dog
86 Golem, Ice 87 Golem, Wood
88 Gray Ooze
89 Green Hag
90 Half-Dragon, Dracolisk
91 Harpy (3)
92 Hell Hound (2)
93 Hobgoblin Fighter (3)
94 Hyena
95 Invisible Stalker
96 Kyton
97 Leech, Giant
98 Lich
99 Lizardfolk (3)
100 Lycanthrope, Wererat
101 Lycanthrope, Werewolf
102 Medusa
103 Merfolk Warrior
104 Mimic
105 Mohrg
106 Morlock (2)
107 Mummy (2)
108 Night Hag
109 Nymph
110 Orc Warrior (3)
111 Rakshasa
112 Rust Monster 113 Sahuagin (2)
114 Salamander
115 Satyr
116 Sea Hag
117 Shadow
118 Skeletal Champion
119 Skeleton (3)
120 Skum (2)
121 Snake, Venomous
122 Spectre
123 Spider, Giant (3)
124 Tengu Rogue
125 Tiefling Rogue
126 Troglodyte (2)
127 Vampire Sorcerer
128 Violet Fungus
129 Wight
130 Wolf (2)
131 Worg
132 Wraith
133 Xill
134 Xorn
135 Yellow Musk Creeper
136 Yeth Hound (2)
137 Zombie (3)
Large
138 Angel, Planetar
139 Angel, Solar
140 Ankheg
141 Ape, Dire
142 Ape, Gorilla
143 Assassin Vine
144 Azata, Lillend
145 Barghest, Greater
146 Bat, Dire
147 Bear, Dire
148 Centaur
149 Chimera
150 Chuul
151 Cloaker
152 Couatl
153 Crocodile
154 Cyclops
155 Demon, Balor
156 Demon, Hezrou
157 Demon, Marilith
158 Demon, Vrock
159 Devil, Bone
160 Devil, Horned
161 Devil, Ice 162 Devil, Pit Fiend
163 Devourer
164 Dragon, Adult Black
165 Dragon, Adult Brass
166 Dragon, Adult Copper
167 Dragon, Adult White
168 Dragon, Young Blue
169 Dragon, Young Bronze
170 Dragon, Young Gold
171 Dragon, Young Green
172 Dragon, Young Red
173 Dragon, Young Silver
174 Drider
175 Duergar (enlarged)
176 Elemental, Air
177 Elemental, Earth
178 Elemental, Fire
179 Elemental, Water
180 Ettin
181 Gelatinous Cube
182 Genie, Djinni
183 Genie, Efreeti
184 Genie, Marid
185 Genie, Shaitan 186 Giant, Fire
187 Giant, Frost
188 Giant, Hill
189 Giant, Stone
190 Girallon
191 Golem, Clay
192 Golem, Flesh
193 Golem, Iron
194 Golem, Stone
195 Gorgon
196 Griffon
197 Half-Celestial Unicorn
198 Half-Fiend Minotaur
199 Herd Animal, Aurochs
200 Herd Animal, Bison
201 Horse
202 Lamia
203 Lion
204 Lizard, Giant Frilled
205 Manticore
206 Mantis, Giant
207 Minotaur
208 Naga, Dark
209 Naga, Guardian 210 Naga, Spirit
211 Nightmare
212 Ochre Jelly
213 Ogre (2)
214 Oni, Ogre Mage
215 Otyugh
216 Owlbear
217 Pegasus
218 Phase Spider
219 Rhinoceros, Woolly
220 Roper
221 Scorpion, Giant
222 Shambling Mound
223 Shark
224 Sphinx, Gynosphinx
225 Tiger, Dire
226 Troll
227 Unicorn
228 Wasp, Giant
229 Wolf, Dire
230 Wyvern
231 Yeti
Huge
232 Aboleth
233 Bebilith
234 Behir
235 Black Pudding
236 Bulette
237 Demon, Glabrezu
238 Demon, Nalfeshnee 239 Dragon, Adult Blue
240 Dragon, Adult Green
241 Dragon, Adult Red
242 Dragon, Ancient Black
243 Dragon, Ancient White
244 Dragon Turtle
245 Elephant, Mastodon
246 Flytrap, Giant
247 Froghemoth
248 Giant, Cloud
249 Giant, Storm
250 Hydra 251 Remorhaz
252 Retriever
253 Shoggoth
254 Slug, Giant
255 Squid, Giant
256 Treant

The Bestiary Box also includes twenty 1"-bases for Medium and smaller pawns, ten 2"-bases for Large pawns, and five 3"-bases for Huge pawns.

 

[Amir0x]

man some dudes at work wanted me to sit in and watch them play a round to see if I'd "like it" 'cause I enjoy western RPGs and shit.

Do people really have the time to invest in this? I mean, it might be cool if it didn't take five years to finish a session! I don't know what version of DnD they had, but it took like a fucking hour just to set the damn thing up, and then after four hours we got through only two encounters! I mean, I understand they were slowing down to teach me fundamentals, but goddamn. And they said they've been playing their current DnD game for over a year!

As soon as I started I was shown a rack of like 30 fucking player handguides, Rule compendiums, pamphlets, RPG tips, strategy guides and told to "dive in" and "pick a class and species and read up about them"... but my god, to have any chance of being good at what you want you have to read something approaching an infinity hours worth of material. Of course, that's ignoring the "minis" and "dice" and "tile sets" and "epic game pieces" and "game world accessories" and blah blah blah. And forget about creating a game world in this sense. The Dungeon Master in this game apparently spent months tooling a story for their current game, and everyone wrote up huge character bios and shit like that. The time investment is frankly insane... to say nothing of the fact that this dude spent $2000 just getting the equipment to where he wanted it now and he still feels like he's missing out on a shit ton!

Short: It seems like it would be cool if everything wasn't so absurdly complex. Like eight dice, every action has some ridiculous thing that stops gameplay so we can look at "rules" and see if it works out. I dunno, am I missing something here?

 

[Mike M]

man some dudes at work wanted me to sit in and watch them play a round to see if I'd "like it" 'cause I enjoy western RPGs and shit.

Do people really have the time to invest in this? I mean, it might be cool if it didn't take five years to finish a session! I don't know what version of DnD they had, but it took like a fucking hour just to set the damn thing up, and then after four hours we got through only two encounters! I mean, I understand they were slowing down to teach me fundamentals, but goddamn. And they said they've been playing their current DnD game for over a year!

As soon as I started I was shown a rack of like 30 fucking player handguides, Rule compendiums, pamphlets, RPG tips, strategy guides and told to "dive in" and "pick a class and species and read up about them"... but my god, to have any chance of being good at what you want you have to read something approaching an infinity hours worth of material. Of course, that's ignoring the "minis" and "dice" and "tile sets" and "epic game pieces" and "game world accessories" and blah blah blah. And forget about creating a game world in this sense. The Dungeon Master in this game apparently spent months tooling a story for their current game, and everyone wrote up huge character bios and shit like that. The time investment is frankly insane... to say nothing of the fact that this dude spent $2000 just getting the equipment to where he wanted it now and he still feels like he's missing out on a shit ton!

Short: It seems like it would be cool if everything wasn't so absurdly complex. Like eight dice, every action has some ridiculous thing that stops gameplay so we can look at "rules" and see if it works out. I dunno, am I missing something here?

White Wolf games might be more your speed, albeit they're kind of limited on high fantasy offerings as I recall. I think Exalted is the closest, but that's more anime-inspired...

 

[Amir0x]

My problem is that in theory I should like it, because it shares so much in common with the RPGs I like, but for someone like me who has a busy schedule, how can I possibly fit it in? And then I felt really bad telling those guys that I really couldn't get into it because the time investment was over-the-top... I felt that would have seemed a bit "I have a life ya know guys"-ish.

If there was a simpler and much more streamlined version of this that you could play a decent RPG-experience in a week or so (7 sessions), and with sessions that lasted maybe 3 hours a piece (and without the requirement of reading eighteen tomes to feel like I'm not being a burden on the experienced players), I might consider it... but I don't know enough about this stuff to know if such a thing exists...