Table Top Systems?

[cucumbers]

I'm kind of curious about what kind of table top systems or just general dice systems people have played. I myself have only really played Savage Worlds, and though I did play a little D&D when I was younger it was nothing remotely serious and I'm not super familiar with it.


So, what kind of systems have ya'll played and how would you compare them to others?

 

[Dusky]

I've not really played any popular ones - a little bit of DnD, a WoD roleplay at one point but I think that died before I actually rolled anything.


DnD's rules and such annoy me - they seem unnecessarily complicated. But it was still great fun.


Really, the one I'm most familiar with is @Grey 's Crucible. I rather like it, but I don't presume to know a thing about systems.


He might have some thoughts to contribute~

 

[Grey]

The two best-designed systems I've encountered are Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition, and Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition.


The reason those are top-tier, for me, is because of how well they integrate setting and mechanics. Werewolf in particular is, in my opinion, one of the very best TTRPGs for newbie players and GMs.


D&D I don't much care for because there's a lot of narrative and ludic segregation; Forgotten Realms doesn't exist in a state which logically follows from various Feats and Spells. That and it's oversaturated, the face of the medium but in no way representative of it, because it's still pretty mired in design philosophies and creative directions from the 80s (which is not a bad thing, mind you, just something I think we could stand to pay less attention to). I just plain hate Savage Worlds' system, and that's largely personal preference over anything I can point to and ask 'what the fuck were they even thinking?'

 

[cucumbers]

@Grey


I wish I was more familiar with other systems. I basically only know Savage Worlds and D&D, and that's just because of exposure. All the people I've played with were in those two systems, but the only serious games I've ever played were in Savage Worlds. The most I can say about preferences is that I like Savage worlds better than D&D because it's just too complicated. I'm not really much of a dungeon crawl person either.


My problem is that everyone I played with is gone now and I don't know how to find new people to play with, especially because it takes me a really long time to warm up to people... I really wanna start role playing again after the longest game I was in (almost a year) ended with no conclusion.


I'll have to look into Werewolf!

 

[Grey]

I run a lot of fairly serious games on here, mostly horror with a bit of dark fantasy. The system is easier to get to grips with than D&D and people will tell you I do my best to assist the inexperienced, if you'd like to try one.

 

[cucumbers]

@Grey


That sound really neat! I'm not really sure about how dice based games work in a forum setting, but I'd really like to learn.

 

[Grey]

@Grey
That sound really neat! I'm not really sure about how dice based games work in a forum setting, but I'd really like to learn.

Easier than you might think. I currently have space in a cyberpunk fantasy detective game, but if that's not your cup of tea I can let you know when I'm recruiting for something else.

 

[cucumbers]

@Grey


Hm, I think I'll wait a bit for something else.

 

[Ixacise]

I played all sorts of shit from those disposable super indie single purpose narrative games that do one thing only to more well known stuff. Haven't really played D&D only tried fifth once and that game died. It doesn't particularly interest me to be honest. I feel that with its influence on RPGS I can get my D&D fix by popping in any fantasy rpg.


Regarding savage worlds. It's good for what it is cinematic action type games that are kinda lethal. I say kinda because of the way how it works is you want to have have the bennies flowing if you want to not die so easily. For my cinematic action game of a less lethal variety I'm trying to hack the two Feng Shui rule sets into something of my liking.


I prefer games with a leaning towards heavier mechanics and more for their rules in doing certain things than playing games for their setting only. Although not to say I don't enjoy them cuz I love 7th Sea's insanity but also really fucking hate Exalted's system and some of the writing because it's shit. I also dabbled in weirder games like Valley of Eternity the only game I know of where you play as penguins with magic and also I am the proud owner of this:

 

[Grin]

My introduction to the concept of roleplaying was with Palladium systems, specifically Heroes Unlimited, which segued into Rifts. Even with no experience whatsoever with tabletop RPGs, I found the complexity of character creation and the somewhat-arbitrary nature of their skill system to be more harmful than helpful to storytelling, but still enjoyed the wide variety of possibilities that Palladium's "one system to rule them all" approach offered.


I spent the 90's among hardcore tabletop gamers, and experienced literally dozens of different systems. We spent most of our time playing World Of Darkness, Battlelords Of The 23rd Century, Call Of Cthulhu, SLA Industries, Cyberpunk 2020, Over The Edge, Star Wars 2nd Edition, Shatterzone, and Marvel Superheroes (the original version with the kick-ass universal chart).


Over The Edge was a personal favorite. It was an RPG without stats, based loosely on "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs. The creator, Jonathan Tweet, was also responsible for Everway, an RPG without dice where all results were determined using a character's "elements" as interpreted from a deck of tarot cards. I've always been a little upset that Tweet's genius approach to RPGs never got the sort of attention Gary Gygax did.


Also, if you ever run across a game book called HōL, buy it immediately and cherish it. The game itself is virtually impossible to play (at least not seriously), but reading it is like unpacking the mind of a thousand screamingly insane RPG designers. Seriously, I dare you to read this Wikipedia article about it and not want to go hunt down a copy.