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Isamu Dyson
2014-01-24, 07:11 PM
In your local community, that is. Should that be the case, what do you do in order to get your "fix"?

inexorabletruth
2014-01-24, 07:21 PM
Some questions/opinions I get in my community when I talk about D&D:


What's D&D?
Oh, okay. What's Dungeons & Dragons?
Isn't that demon stuff?
Is it like a board game then?
I don't believe in magic.
I can't play it with you. I had a dream last night about demons and I think it was because of your game.
Noooooo. That's like tarot cards and stuff.
I played that once in high school. It sucked.
I'll play 4e with you, but you have to DM because I don't have any of the books.


So yeah… I'm alienated.

I get my fix here on the playground… via PbP. I've tried getting my fix on Myth-Weavers but they're really in short supply of DMs and I don't want to try DM'ing a campaign there until I've played a few using some of their formatting and built a rapport with the players. You know how it is.

You know, I'm DM'ing a couple of PbP games now. If you'd like, I can see if one the players would like you to join. They're both D&D 3.5 though.

Velaryon
2014-01-24, 07:29 PM
Not exactly, but I do have a system I have wanted to try for years and never been able to get a game off the ground: WWE: Know Your Role. It's d20-based and looks like tons of fun, but every time I introduce it to a gaming group there's at least one person who categorically refuses to even try it, so we end up doing something else.

Totema
2014-01-24, 08:12 PM
Sure am! No one ever seems to like FATAL!

Slipperychicken
2014-01-24, 08:40 PM
Thankfully, my college is enormous and features a number of RPG groups, plus at least two official clubs, and many failed attempts to organize them into a coherent community (probably because we are busy and see little benefit to group membership).

TTRPG gamers might be a minority on campus, but there are enough of us that you can find a game if you know who to ask.

Isamu Dyson
2014-01-24, 08:43 PM
Sure am! No one ever seems to like FATAL!

That is likely because it is a grotesquely offensive RPG with an abundance of third-grade toilet humour.

Mastikator
2014-01-24, 09:02 PM
I used to be in a group that did RPG like Tarantino did movies, I got used to dialogue (with "funny" voices) being the main feature. Now in my current group this is a bit alien to do small talk in character and I find it a bit distressing when the DM narrates that a conversation occurs rather than playing the character while doing their voices.

I dunno what do to get my fix.

Jay R
2014-01-24, 10:35 PM
Yes, I'm in a minority. Why should RPGs be any different?

I'm in a minority in my interest in math.
I'm in a minority in my interest in science.
I'm in a minority in my interest in fencing.
I'm in a minority in my interest in Shakespeare.
I'm in a minority in my interest in comic books.
I'm in a minority in my interest in science fiction and fantasy.

Why wouldn't I be in a minority in regards to RPGs?

Shyftir
2014-01-27, 04:23 AM
My most preferred RPG is 13th Age. This makes me a clear minority among RPG gamers as a whole, but everytime I get one of my groups to try it, they generally enjoy.

inexorabletruth
2014-01-27, 04:55 AM
Here's a crazy thought:

Anyone up for an RPG shuffle?

Let's each name off our favorite RPGs that no one will play with us. Each person champions their own personal favorite RPG and become the GM for a simple campaign (or one-shot) online via whatever method woks best for the group. The rest of us agree to play it and give it a fair shot. The worst that could happen is that we learn a new, comparatively obscure system. We can all put on our beanie's and horn-rimmed glasses and swagger out like the smug hipsters we are.

The best that could happen, we learn a new system, discover a great new game, make new friends, and break down these barriers of trans-system xenophobia in the process. The way I see it, it's a win/win.

What do you think?

Personally, I say if we do this, we choose a gamer medium that allows flexibility for different time-zones and work/school schedules. I would like to recommend PbP, here on the Playground. It's not the easiest system in the world to work with total noobs, but it means that I (in Texas) for example can post at 4 am (when I am most alert) without holding the game up for every living in Italy, or Australia, or goodness knows where the rest of you are.

Also, it would be kind of cool to have time stamped and documented each time our group reached across system lines and embraced a new game and new type of gamer.

I saw 13th Age mentioned by Shyftir. I know nothing about it, so it's a perfect example. Shyftir would have to link us to some materials and possibly walk us through the character building process. Then, while we fumble with the rules and whatnot, Shyftir can set up a simple, intuitive game which touches on each of the main aspects of the system that makes it so unique and fun. Once our characters are ready, Shyftir can look over our sheets for errors and guide us through our first journey.

G.Cube
2014-01-27, 07:14 AM
I've always always ALWAYS wanted to play Cthulu D20, but seeing as I can't find a campaign log or even recruitment thread for a game, I've come to realise that no one, anywhere, has ever played it, and probably never will. :(

Rondodu
2014-01-27, 07:31 AM
My “community” is just a bunch of friends and friends of friends. But, no matter how hard I want to try it, I can’t seem to find more than one person interested in Continuum.

CarpeGuitarrem
2014-01-27, 10:42 AM
My “community” is just a bunch of friends and friends of friends. But, no matter how hard I want to try it, I can’t seem to find more than one person interested in Continuum.
At least you have a copy of Continuum. :smallbiggrin: (It sounds really brain-bending and interesting.)

On my end...most of the games I like are like this. I'm just lucky--I'll probably get them played eventually, because most of the gamers I know are interested in expanding their gaming beyond the scope of D&D.

Tengu_temp
2014-01-27, 12:39 PM
Some questions/opinions I get in my community when I talk about D&D:


What's D&D?
Oh, okay. What's Dungeons & Dragons?
Isn't that demon stuff?
Is it like a board game then?
I don't believe in magic.
I can't play it with you. I had a dream last night about demons and I think it was because of your game.
Noooooo. That's like tarot cards and stuff.
I played that once in high school. It sucked.
I'll play 4e with you, but you have to DM because I don't have any of the books.


So yeah… I'm alienated.

Yes, I'm in a minority. Why should RPGs be any different?

I'm in a minority in my interest in math.
I'm in a minority in my interest in science.
I'm in a minority in my interest in fencing.
I'm in a minority in my interest in Shakespeare.
I'm in a minority in my interest in comic books.
I'm in a minority in my interest in science fiction and fantasy.

Why wouldn't I be in a minority in regards to RPGs?

I think this thread is about your local RPG community, not about your local general community.

As for me, I have no earthly idea. I stopped playing tabletop RPGs in real life years ago. Now I'm mostly playing with online friends.

theduck
2014-01-27, 01:43 PM
Mine is less a system and more of a style - while I know a lot of people around here who like playing DnD, most prefer mid to high level play, while I really enjoy low level play. I don't know why, but I'd rather be running around with 6 hp and loosing my sh!t when an ogre appears than tearing down a castle with comets and earthquakes while fighting a dragon swarm.

Rondodu
2014-01-27, 02:55 PM
Aren’t there systems better suited to this style of gameplay than DnD? A system without levels, e.g.?

Slipperychicken
2014-01-27, 03:26 PM
Mine is less a system and more of a style - while I know a lot of people around here who like playing DnD, most prefer mid to high level play, while I really enjoy low level play. I don't know why, but I'd rather be running around with 6 hp and loosing my sh!t when an ogre appears than tearing down a castle with comets and earthquakes while fighting a dragon swarm.

I also prefer the lower end of such power scaling. To me, it feels more tense and relatable than higher levels.

inexorabletruth
2014-01-27, 03:37 PM
I think this thread is about your local RPG community, not about your local general community.

I'd have to have an RPG community first. I've tried creating one, but those are the responses I usually get. :smallsigh:

Which is why I'm suggesting we break the walls and form our own group. A few small sample sessions of each gaming group would be fun.

Also:
@theduck

Seek out my games. I only run low level games. I don't run more than 2 games at a time, but we may have need for a new player in one of my campaigns if you don't mind starting out as an NPC class.

@Rondodu

I'll play Continuum with you. I have no idea how to play, but give me a little guidance, and I'll bet I could figure it out. I bet my wife would give it a try too. So, with my wife, CarpeGuitarrem and me it sounds like you have a minimum party of 3! :smallbiggrin:

@G. Cube

I'll play Cthulu d20 with you as well. I'll bet we can find a DM out there. We just need to set up a recruitment thread. You with me?

@Totema

I'm a little nervous about it, based on Isamu Dyson's opinion of it, but I believe you should never make an uninformed opinion about anything or anyone. So, I'd be willing to give it a try. If it lives up to Isamu's description, I can't guarantee I'll stick with it though.

@Velaryon

I saw a recruitment thread for WWE recently. PM me if you open a game. I'll give it a try, but I'm not very good at PvP so I won't last long.

@Isamu Dyson

What makes you a minority in your gaming community? You never shared.

So who's game?

Kalmageddon
2014-01-27, 03:45 PM
My experience up until now has been that, in Italy, every gamer either only plays D&D, or he plays D&D but really loves Cyberpunk 2020 and other older rpgs, or he knows D&D but stopped playing after AD&D and is now only into weird local indie rpgs.

I like heavily homebrewed d20 Modern and Warhammer 40k rpgs. So yes, I'm in the minority.

Rondodu
2014-01-27, 06:10 PM
@Rondodu

I'll play Continuum with you. I have no idea how to play, but give me a little guidance, and I'll bet I could figure it out. I bet my wife would give it a try too. So, with my wife, CarpeGuitarrem and me it sounds like you have a minimum party of 3! :smallbiggrin:Possible issues: Finding a time slot which is suitable for everyone. I’m in the CET/CEST time zone; that’s UTC+1/+2 in summer.
Language barrier: I’m a native french speaker. I can hold a conversation, but DMing might be harder. Especially as
I’m not an experienced GM. Actually, I think I suck at it —*mainly because I suck at improvising and thinking on the spot.
I’ve barely experienced the game. I’ve never played the game, I GMed one introductory session.
Because it is brain-bending, I’m not sure you can enjoy the game in only a few sessions. The first session I GMed was meant for the players and myself to stumble upon the setting. Nothing eventful happened. The dices were rolled once, just for the sake of it.

The good news are: playing with people (probably) from around the world certainly seems culturally interesting;
I might improve my English speaking skills.
The system is quite rule light.

All in all, I think I’d probably be more at ease either playing a game that way, or DMing a game I’m much more experienced with, such as Rêve: the Dream Ouroboros (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rêve:_the_Dream_Ouroboros), which is a great game, albeit with an old school, heavy system.

But all in all, why not?

Totema
2014-01-28, 12:43 AM
I'm a little nervous about it, based on Isamu Dyson's opinion of it, but I believe you should never make an uninformed opinion about anything or anyone. So, I'd be willing to give it a try. If it lives up to Isamu's description, I can't guarantee I'll stick with it though.

WOAH WOAH WOAH! Hold on a second... :smalleek: It's sort of an unwritten rule that blue text is sarcastic... FATAL is an abominable trainwreck of a game system. No one should ever be subject to it, ever! Do NOT try it if you value your sanity!!

Rosstin
2014-01-28, 01:01 AM
DnD is sort of THE de-facto game. If you don't like it, you tend to be a bit boned in cities that don't have a large enough tabletop culture to have any variety.

I recently moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and DnD is the only game in town. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania wasn't much different. It's a good thing I LIKE DnD.

Still, I've always wanted to play Paranoia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)). It sounds AWESOME.

inexorabletruth
2014-01-28, 03:52 AM
Possible issues: Finding a time slot which is suitable for everyone. I’m in the CET/CEST time zone; that’s UTC+1/+2 in summer.
Language barrier: I’m a native french speaker. I can hold a conversation, but DMing might be harder. Especially as
I’m not an experienced GM. Actually, I think I suck at it —*mainly because I suck at improvising and thinking on the spot.
I’ve barely experienced the game. I’ve never played the game, I GMed one introductory session.
Because it is brain-bending, I’m not sure you can enjoy the game in only a few sessions. The first session I GMed was meant for the players and myself to stumble upon the setting. Nothing eventful happened. The dices were rolled once, just for the sake of it.

The good news are: playing with people (probably) from around the world certainly seems culturally interesting;
I might improve my English speaking skills.
The system is quite rule light.

All in all, I think I’d probably be more at ease either playing a game that way, or DMing a game I’m much more experienced with, such as Rêve: the Dream Ouroboros (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rêve:_the_Dream_Ouroboros), which is a great game, albeit with an old school, heavy system.

But all in all, why not?

We can handle worldwide time zones easily enough by doing this in Play-by-Post. And I checked out the link you added for Rêve: the Dream Ouroboros; I could get into that. I'll start trying to find some online rules and I'll hit up the library to see if they have something. I don't want to invest much money into materials unless it turns out I like the game. But I'm pretty good about financially supporting games that I like.

Anyone else feel like joining us?


WOAH WOAH WOAH! Hold on a second... It's sort of an unwritten rule that blue text is sarcastic... FATAL is an abominable trainwreck of a game system. No one should ever be subject to it, ever! Do NOT try it if you value your sanity!!
Oh! I was not aware of the blue text rule. :smallredface: Well now I'm a bit embarrassed, but thanks for saving me from what sounds like an unpleasant experience. :smallsmile:

banjo1985
2014-01-28, 04:23 AM
I have a diverse gaming group that are willing to play almost anything, but I think I'm the only one that loves World of Darkness. Shadowrun sounds good as well, but I've only ever played it with a poor DM who really didn't sell it well.

I would definitely push Paranoia as a game to try, if you have a gaming group, in particular a DM, that like fun and don't get annoyed by inter-party conflicts. We don't play it often, but it's an absolute blast.

Eldan
2014-01-28, 05:33 AM
The local RPG community plays Shadowrun, Dark Heresy, the Old World of Darkness (apparently, they aren't aware that there's a new one) and the Dark Eye. Most I've talked to haven't even heard of D&D. The one or two who have know it as "that boring hack&slash game".

Jack of Spades
2014-01-28, 06:42 AM
I'm in the minority in the Denver gaming scene in a few ways:

I despise Savage Worlds

I actually prefer 4e over 3.x

I'd like to LARP something other than WoD

My favorite systems are:
Deadlands Classic for something pulpy
Burning Wheel for something crunchy
Turn of the Card for generic/freeform system purposes
Fiasco for something insane
And just about no one here has even heard of any of those.

D20ragon
2014-01-28, 07:21 AM
Ooh! I'd like to play almost all of the games listed. In particular, Dark Heresy(or any other 40k game) and Deadlands. I'd prefer to play, rather then GM, but if anyone has a game request, pm me. I'll in all likelyhood say yes. The cry of Gmless players is as poison to my soul.
Then again, if anyone feels like humoring a tired Gm, pm me. please...
With the exception of the games I have mentioned, I've been getting into freeform and rules light games.

arcane_asp
2014-01-28, 07:55 AM
Some good examples there - I've always wanted to run a game of "My Life With Master" but most peeps in my group read the description and run a mile.
D&D is great but more vairedor rules-light games are definitely on my agenda. :smallsmile:

Angel Bob
2014-01-28, 09:05 AM
Most of my peers think D&D is some kind of video game, so for my fix, I spend time on these forums. Of course, even here I'm in the minority -- I only own 4E books, and as I'm sure I don't need to explain, 4E is not very popular on these forums. (inb4 anyone responds with "4E IS THE WORST PILE OF [expletive] I'VE EVER NOT PLAYED!!1!!1!")

AMFV
2014-01-28, 09:46 AM
Most of my peers think D&D is some kind of video game, so for my fix, I spend time on these forums. Of course, even here I'm in the minority -- I only own 4E books, and as I'm sure I don't need to explain, 4E is not very popular on these forums. (inb4 anyone responds with "4E IS THE WORST PILE OF [expletive] I'VE EVER NOT PLAYED!!1!!1!")

Well the 4E subforum has more threads than the Older D&D and other Specific systems threads. So I'd imagine that a good percentage of folks like it.

theduck
2014-01-28, 10:20 AM
@ inexorabletruth

I think I'd be up for it - which campaign do you need a character in?

CarpeGuitarrem
2014-01-28, 11:26 AM
The local RPG community plays Shadowrun, Dark Heresy, the Old World of Darkness (apparently, they aren't aware that there's a new one) and the Dark Eye. Most I've talked to haven't even heard of D&D. The one or two who have know it as "that boring hack&slash game".
I've heard that The Dark Eye is to Europe what D&D is to the US...accurate?

Some good examples there - I've always wanted to run a game of "My Life With Master" but most peeps in my group read the description and run a mile.
D&D is great but more vairedor rules-light games are definitely on my agenda. :smallsmile:
I love the concept of MLWM, it just sounds...so very intense. I'm honestly not sure I'd play it either, even though it sounds like a brilliant game!

Delta
2014-01-28, 11:59 AM
I've heard that The Dark Eye is to Europe what D&D is to the US...accurate?

It's accurate for Germany, Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) is still by far the biggest RPG here (and going into its 5th edition later this year, as well), I don't think it's ever been very successful outside of german speaking countries though.

Rondodu
2014-01-28, 12:00 PM
I've heard that The Dark Eye is to Europe what D&D is to the US...accurate?I’m in Europe and I don’t remember having heard of it anywhere but on these forums. It might still be that in Germany, though.

Jay R
2014-01-28, 12:34 PM
I think this thread is about your local RPG community, not about your local general community.

Yes, I know. My preferences are original D&D, Champions, TOON, and Flashing Blades. We're currently playing 1E and 2E.

In the last twenty years, I've run the Flashing Blades and the original D&D, and nobody's done TOON. I have gotten to play a couple of games of Champions, however.

Telok
2014-01-29, 03:37 AM
Still, I've always wanted to play Paranoia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)). It sounds AWESOME.

After a couple of years of having Paranoia on my shelf I recently got to run it over the holidays. It was hilarious.

Highlights included:

People telling the talking elevator to go to hell, and then wandering around lost in the abandoned service tunnels under the complex.

Explosive misuse of R&D stuff resulting in the detonation of a crate of experimental grenades.

The hijacking of an ultraviolet hovercraft and the resulting accidental use of it's emergency thruster (an open cycle nuclear thermal rocket) in a confined area.

Shooting a cone rifle into an active sewer pipe to kill a roach.

A donut break during the debriefing after which the entire team was executed for treason.

Personally I'd love to play A Call of Cthulhu Dreamlands game where everyone was a native of the dreamlands.

Dimers
2014-01-29, 11:02 AM
I'm certainly in a minority in meatspace -- the people I talk with about 4e D&D here are all "square fireballs lol" ... despite most of the same people enjoying AD&D, which is full of cubical spell effects itself, and despite me being happy to reshape their spell effects if they want approximately-round on a square grid. Just can't take it seriously. And I haven't run across one person yet who wants to use oWoD Mage. This hasn't been a problem online. I get plenty of what I want here on the forum.

Isamu Dyson
2014-01-29, 07:05 PM
I'm certainly in a minority in meatspace -- the people I talk with about 4e D&D here are all "square fireballs lol" ... despite most of the same people enjoying AD&D, which is full of cubical spell effects itself, and despite me being happy to reshape their spell effects if they want approximately-round on a square grid. Just can't take it seriously. And I haven't run across one person yet who wants to use oWoD Mage. This hasn't been a problem online. I get plenty of what I want here on the forum.

Square fireballs :smallconfused:?

Eldan
2014-01-29, 07:14 PM
Square fireballs :smallconfused:?

In 3E, spell effects had sometimes quite complicated shapes, like approximated circles on the battlemap, so a fireball with a radius of ten feet looks like this:


......
..XX..
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
..XX..
......

4E did away with complicated shapes on the battlemaps. Spell effects just hit x by x squares, so a two square radius fireball looks like this:


......
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
......

Isamu Dyson
2014-01-29, 07:19 PM
In 3E, spell effects had sometimes quite complicated shapes, like approximated circles on the battlemap, so a fireball with a radius of ten feet looks like this:


......
..XX..
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
..XX..
......

4E did away with complicated shapes on the battlemaps. Spell effects just hit x by x squares, so a two square radius fireball looks like this:


......
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
.XXXX.
......

That is complicated? Yeesh :smalltongue:. I suffer from a small degree of mappaphobia, and even I can get on board with the rounder radius representation.

AMFV
2014-01-29, 07:26 PM
That is complicated? Yeesh :smalltongue:. I suffer from a small degree of mappaphobia, and even I can get on board with the rounder radius representation.

Well it becomes complicated when you try to target vertices and in the fact that the "circle" ruins mathematical abstraction, saying that everything it the square is affected makes more sense from a geometric standpoint.

G.Cube
2014-01-29, 09:44 PM
Here's a crazy thought:

Anyone up for an RPG shuffle?

Let's each name off our favorite RPGs that no one will play with us. Each person champions their own personal favorite RPG and become the GM for a simple campaign (or one-shot) online via whatever method woks best for the group. The rest of us agree to play it and give it a fair shot. The worst that could happen is that we learn a new, comparatively obscure system. We can all put on our beanie's and horn-rimmed glasses and swagger out like the smug hipsters we are.

The best that could happen, we learn a new system, discover a great new game, make new friends, and break down these barriers of trans-system xenophobia in the process. The way I see it, it's a win/win.

What do you think?

Personally, I say if we do this, we choose a gamer medium that allows flexibility for different time-zones and work/school schedules. I would like to recommend PbP, here on the Playground. It's not the easiest system in the world to work with total noobs, but it means that I (in Texas) for example can post at 4 am (when I am most alert) without holding the game up for every living in Italy, or Australia, or goodness knows where the rest of you are.

Also, it would be kind of cool to have time stamped and documented each time our group reached across system lines and embraced a new game and new type of gamer.

I saw 13th Age mentioned by Shyftir. I know nothing about it, so it's a perfect example. Shyftir would have to link us to some materials and possibly walk us through the character building process. Then, while we fumble with the rules and whatnot, Shyftir can set up a simple, intuitive game which touches on each of the main aspects of the system that makes it so unique and fun. Once our characters are ready, Shyftir can look over our sheets for errors and guide us through our first journey.


I'd have to have an RPG community first. I've tried creating one, but those are the responses I usually get. :smallsigh:

Which is why I'm suggesting we break the walls and form our own group. A few small sample sessions of each gaming group would be fun.



@G. Cube

I'll play Cthulu d20 with you as well. I'll bet we can find a DM out there. We just need to set up a recruitment thread. You with me?



I'm totally in!

Volos
2014-01-29, 10:55 PM
When it comes to my preferred RPG, I am not a minority. But if we're talking play style, I am far in the minority. As a DM I prefer to run E6, using Pathfinder rules as a base. I just don't enjoy the game past 6th level. Spellcasters start breaking every encounter, and monsters are either too powerful or too weak at any given CR. All of my players enjoy Pathfinder, but only if they are far into the double digit levels. One of the best Role-players I've had in years almost refused to join my first campaign after a long break because I was starting at first level (It's an adventure path, you kinda have to start at first level or do hundreds of hours of reworking all of the encounters). The way I deal with it to get my fix is to basically force my players to accept starting at a lower level than they'd like but conceding by running upward of 14th or 16th level before wrapping the campaign up. Comprise in the name of the game.

inexorabletruth
2014-01-30, 01:39 AM
I'm totally in!

Cool, I'll PM you the link.

D20ragon
2014-01-30, 06:43 AM
Me wants a Linky toooo....:smalltongue:

inexorabletruth
2014-01-30, 05:01 PM
Ok, cool! The more the merrier!

In case anyone else wants to hop in on the D20 Cthulhu game, here's the link!

Cthulhu D20, Noob Friendly, Recruitment Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328375)

CarpeGuitarrem
2014-01-30, 05:34 PM
That is complicated? Yeesh :smalltongue:. I suffer from a small degree of mappaphobia, and even I can get on board with the rounder radius representation.
It's more...how you figure it out without using a template. It's much cleaner to say "hits every character within X squares" than to say "hits every character within X squares orthagonally, and within .6 squares diagonally, and fill in a few more squares so that there aren't holes in the circle". :smalltongue:

Totema
2014-01-30, 08:23 PM
Ok, cool! The more the merrier!

In case anyone else wants to hop in on the D20 Cthulhu game, here's the link!

Cthulhu D20, Noob Friendly, Recruitment Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328375)

I'm a little curious, actually... I might check it out. :smallsmile:

Alejandro
2014-01-30, 11:19 PM
This thread makes me grateful for my gaming group. We've done three different editions of D&D, Star Wars D6 and Saga, some WoD, Savage Worlds, Shadowrun, and a few other random things. And I live in a moderate size town.

banjo1985
2014-01-31, 07:06 AM
Variety is the spice of life. I'm getting slightly fed up of Star Wars in my group at the moment, as I have absolutely no knowledge of the setting.

GM: There's a Chiss in front of you, he's got some cargo he want's delivering to a Grann in Geonosis.
Rest of the party: Great! No problem.
Me: :smallconfused:

D20ragon
2014-01-31, 07:18 AM
If anyone needs a Gm, Dm, St, Lm or some other abbreviation for game master, Toodle on over here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16902651#post16902651)

Hida Reju
2014-02-01, 04:19 AM
Spycraft 2.0 - Usually I can find one player in 50 that even knows about it. Let alone wants to play it. Then add in a 50-60$ Price tag for its core book and almost no produced material afterwards since the devs decided to scrap it for a new one they have not even written yet.

Dreamscarred Press Psionics in Pathfinder, Its Psi in D&D so its automatically hated by many.

Aberrant - White Wolf's most unbalanced yet interesting universe outside of Trinity. White Wolf is hit or miss by many and this was the red headed stepchild of the bunch.

Isamu Dyson
2014-02-01, 04:28 AM
Spycraft 2.0 - Usually I can find one player in 50 that even knows about it. Let alone wants to play it. Then add in a 50-60$ Price tag for its core book and almost no produced material afterwards since the devs decided to scrap it for a new one they have not even written yet.


I can sympathize with you :smallsigh:.

Hida Reju
2014-02-01, 04:36 AM
I still one day want to run a Gi Joe Campaign using Spycraft 2.0. It will happen sometime its now on my damn bucket list.

Isamu Dyson
2014-02-01, 04:40 AM
I still one day want to run a Gi Joe Campaign using Spycraft 2.0. It will happen sometime its now on my damn bucket list.

I'd love to play in a Pitfall campaign where the anti-hero PC operatives are a very light shade of grey.

Broken Twin
2014-02-01, 03:07 PM
I'm certainly in a minority in meatspace -- the people I talk with about 4e D&D here are all "square fireballs lol" ... despite most of the same people enjoying AD&D, which is full of cubical spell effects itself, and despite me being happy to reshape their spell effects if they want approximately-round on a square grid. Just can't take it seriously. And I haven't run across one person yet who wants to use oWoD Mage. This hasn't been a problem online. I get plenty of what I want here on the forum.

I play my D&D 4E with a hex grid, so I've never needed to worry about square fireballs. :smallbiggrin:

Large size creatures, on the other hand...

----

As to OP, I'm definitely the miniority in my groups. They're either straight Pathfinder or 4E, while I have a list as long as my arm of systems I want to play. Still, I enjoy PF/4E, so it's not all bad.

Hiro Protagonest
2014-02-01, 03:34 PM
I'm pretty much guaranteed to be ridiculed whenever I bring it up in Neverwinter. I like 4e, and when it comes to simulationist I greatly prefer GURPS Fantasy if they insist on something rules-heavy, or FUDGE otherwise (but that's like the "build your own computer" of TTRPGs).

Maybe I should get HackMaster.

Telok
2014-02-01, 08:30 PM
4e is a good game, it played like a slow motion action cartoon or kung-fu movie (the old 80's ones that played fast and loose with everything). Unfortunately it kept breaking down for us with things like mules being 10x10x10 creatures and horses being too weak to carry armored characters. The warforged paladin was so heavy that we needed an elephant to carry him, and then the elephant out-swam the druid who was turned into a otter.

Back on topic I'd love to play Cyberpunk again but but a couple of my group aren't mature enough to handle it. Heck, we've got one guy who can't handle the moral and psychological complexity of Shadowrun. It's really sad.

Dimers
2014-02-02, 08:12 AM
Unfortunately it kept breaking down for us with things like mules being 10x10x10 creatures ...

If you assume (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_cow) a spherical cow (http://abstrusegoose.com/406) ... :smalltongue:

Hiro Protagonest
2014-02-02, 03:22 PM
Unfortunately it kept breaking down for us with things like mules being 10x10x10 creatures

Last edition where it's been otherwise was 3.0.

AMFV
2014-02-02, 05:41 PM
4e is a good game, it played like a slow motion action cartoon or kung-fu movie (the old 80's ones that played fast and loose with everything). Unfortunately it kept breaking down for us with things like mules being 10x10x10 creatures and horses being too weak to carry armored characters. The warforged paladin was so heavy that we needed an elephant to carry him, and then the elephant out-swam the druid who was turned into a otter.

Well if it helps spacing is a nebulous concept, it's not the actual space taken up by the creature but the amount of space it needs to function in combat without having problems, it's still pretty problematic, but all necessary abstractions are.

Xallace
2014-02-03, 10:17 PM
My faves are d20 Modern and Promethean: The Created, and I definitely feel like the minority there. It's nice that everyone seems to enjoy them when we play, though.

squiggit
2014-02-04, 08:54 PM
The people I tend to hang around with don't believe in any RPG other than 3.5 or pathfinder. So I tend to get weird looks or eyerolls when I want to try anything more obscure... and this is a group where VtM or Shadowrun would count as obscure. And I'm pretty sure I'd start a fight if I brought up 4e.

mephnick
2014-02-04, 09:52 PM
There is no gaming community here.

I keep thinking about play by post but I'm not sure I could handle the slow pace.

Silus
2014-02-04, 09:59 PM
"What's D&D?"
"Oh, so do you play it on a board?"
"Oh, so it's all in your head then?"
"Man, this sounds too geeky/nerdy for me."

Granted I work at a gym, but still.

Personally, I prefer D&D and Pathfinder. Really any D20 system that is cross-compatable. With a bit of fudging you can run a Pathfinder game blended with D20 Future in the Sword and Sorcery setting with Dragonmech mecha. It would be weird as heck, but you could do it.

phobiandarkmoon
2014-02-06, 08:21 AM
The local RPG community plays Shadowrun, Dark Heresy, the Old World of Darkness (apparently, they aren't aware that there's a new one) and the Dark Eye. Most I've talked to haven't even heard of D&D. The one or two who have know it as "that boring hack&slash game".

Newer != better. I actually quite like both WoD systems for different reasons, but these days I prefer oWoD to nWoD because the rules systems are better defined. nWoD has the advantage of cross-compatability between systems and a very easy to understand mechanic, but unfortunately it makes combat too easy to minmax. From a narrative point of view that doesn't care too much about the actual system, nWoD is really great as it doesn't get in the way too much.

Delta
2014-02-06, 08:48 AM
Newer != better. I actually quite like both WoD systems for different reasons, but these days I prefer oWoD to nWoD because the rules systems are better defined. nWoD has the advantage of cross-compatability between systems and a very easy to understand mechanic, but unfortunately it makes combat too easy to minmax. From a narrative point of view that doesn't care too much about the actual system, nWoD is really great as it doesn't get in the way too much.

Yeah, the problem is that with most gamers in germany, you can't even have that discussion, because the people who translated the oWoD books into german were even more elitist and weird than WW ever was and completely botched the transition to nWoD on such an epic level that they finally had to scrap the german nWoD translations before nMage was even released. It was ridiculous, they never gave out any info during the ToJ, what little information they gave out was mostly wrong (seriously, I've had several very frustrating discussions with people about what Gehenna would look like while I had the english book in my hand...) and so the german nWoD was completely rejected by what little fanbase they had left.

Techwarrior
2014-02-08, 06:05 AM
Here's a crazy thought:

Anyone up for an RPG shuffle?

Let's each name off our favorite RPGs that no one will play with us. Each person champions their own personal favorite RPG and become the GM for a simple campaign (or one-shot) online via whatever method woks best for the group. The rest of us agree to play it and give it a fair shot. The worst that could happen is that we learn a new, comparatively obscure system. We can all put on our beanie's and horn-rimmed glasses and swagger out like the smug hipsters we are.

The best that could happen, we learn a new system, discover a great new game, make new friends, and break down these barriers of trans-system xenophobia in the process. The way I see it, it's a win/win.

What do you think?

Personally, I say if we do this, we choose a gamer medium that allows flexibility for different time-zones and work/school schedules. I would like to recommend PbP, here on the Playground. It's not the easiest system in the world to work with total noobs, but it means that I (in Texas) for example can post at 4 am (when I am most alert) without holding the game up for every living in Italy, or Australia, or goodness knows where the rest of you are.

Also, it would be kind of cool to have time stamped and documented each time our group reached across system lines and embraced a new game and new type of gamer.

I saw 13th Age mentioned by Shyftir. I know nothing about it, so it's a perfect example. Shyftir would have to link us to some materials and possibly walk us through the character building process. Then, while we fumble with the rules and whatnot, Shyftir can set up a simple, intuitive game which touches on each of the main aspects of the system that makes it so unique and fun. Once our characters are ready, Shyftir can look over our sheets for errors and guide us through our first journey.

I'd be down to DM for my "noone knows" system: Silver Age Sentinels D20. I might even be convinced to play in a game or two of someone else's system if they're simple enough. I know I found an online PDF somewhere...

Delta
2014-02-08, 06:54 AM
The one thing I'd love to GM for but can't is Eclipse Phase. Everyone who looks at it is like "Wow, that looks awesome!" but whenever I ask around what everyone wants to play there's always something else.

Eldan
2014-02-08, 07:16 AM
Yeah, the problem is that with most gamers in germany, you can't even have that discussion, because the people who translated the oWoD books into german were even more elitist and weird than WW ever was and completely botched the transition to nWoD on such an epic level that they finally had to scrap the german nWoD translations before nMage was even released. It was ridiculous, they never gave out any info during the ToJ, what little information they gave out was mostly wrong (seriously, I've had several very frustrating discussions with people about what Gehenna would look like while I had the english book in my hand...) and so the german nWoD was completely rejected by what little fanbase they had left.

Oh, is that the reason. I'm not too familiar with WoD myself, I only know it from reading over a few Wikis, forum discussions and playing Bloodlines.

Out of interest, which company was that that did the translations?

Wraith
2014-02-08, 07:19 AM
Some good examples there - I've always wanted to run a game of "My Life With Master" but most peeps in my group read the description and run a mile.

Is that anything like Maid: The RPG (http://www.maidrpg.com/) by any chance? I went to a convention a couple of years ago, and there was a sign-up sheet for a game of Maid. Quickly Google-ing it on our 'phones, my little group and I didn't dare play it with a stranger as the GM....

....We later met him having lunch, as no one had signed up to his game and he was all alone, so he sat watching us play the Arkham Horror boardgame and generally being helpful by teaching us the bits we hadn't figured out yet. I still feel kinda bad about it, he was a nice (if introverted) person.... But I still wouldn't want to play Maid with him. :smalleek:


Aberrant - White Wolf's most unbalanced yet interesting universe outside of Trinity. White Wolf is hit or miss by many and this was the red headed stepchild of the bunch.

Hey, I've played Aberrant, and I loved it!
I didn't find it any more unbalanced than any other WW game, although it helps greatly to have a balanced party with sensible powers.... And if you don't play a guy whose only power is Mind Control and in every fight you pick the one guy with a level 5 Mind Shield as your target...... :smallannoyed:

My 'minority' RPG is SLA Industries (http://www.sla-industries.com/). It's basically Mass Effect but set in a bleak and dystopian Blade Runner-style universe, so it can swing wildly between trigger-happy fire fights and Call of Cthulhu-style intrigue and horror.
I will admit that the character creation process is a big hurdle to get over, and in the wrong hands it can feel like an inferior Shadowrun knockoff, but I do wuv it so.

It's also free to download (and legally!) so I'll take this chance to urge people to take a look at it, and pray that you never learn The Truth. :smallbiggrin:

Telok
2014-02-08, 08:39 AM
I'd be down to DM for my "noone knows" system: Silver Age Sentinels D20. I might even be convinced to play in a game or two of someone else's system if they're simple enough. I know I found an online PDF somewhere...

I inherited a copy of that when another gamer had to lose his books years ago. I wasn't real impressed, but I'm a bit jaded by Champions. The Hero system is really solid and plays quite well. It helps that I'm not put off by character creation or the fact that the GM has to run char gen to suit the game. It's a good system I'd like to play again if I could get people to stop panicking about doing multiplication during character generation.

Has anyone played Bloodshadows or the Renegade Legion RPG? I picked up one of the Bloodshadow books to crib some stuff for a homebrew magic system and the Legion book had a really nice character creation system in it that I'd like to see again. Unfortunately I lent them to someone who moved several thousand miles away and never saw them again. No more copies have turned up at my local used book store and they're both very much out of print.

inexorabletruth
2014-02-08, 03:35 PM
I'd be down to DM for my "noone knows" system: Silver Age Sentinels D20. I might even be convinced to play in a game or two of someone else's system if they're simple enough. I know I found an online PDF somewhere...

Well, right now, I'm having trouble gaining support for the Reve and the Cthulhu d20 game I've been invited too. I'd like to join in your game, but I'm trying to learn 2 systems, play another game, and DM two more games. I'm tied up.

If Reve and Cthulhu don't work out, then my schedule will open up. It looks like it may putter before it gets past character creation though. Apparently these systems are quite obscure.

Rosstin
2014-02-08, 04:43 PM
Sliiiightly off-topic, but my close friend and I had a funny experience. We were playing with a small group of 1 GM and her boyfriend. She ran a quite good Shadowrun game for our 3 PCs. This was my first time playing Shadowrun, and I became quite fond of it. She ran it very well.

The group broke apart eventually because she and the BF insisted we try Palladium. She was trying to sell us on it hard, saying "You can be anything!" and eventually we were like "OK, we'll try it."

I played a giant mutant bear with a monocle and my buddy was a punkrock catboy/girl, we were army mutants or something. (We weren't doing this to be weird, this was a normal thing in the setting.) There was some zombie invasion, and we were fighting the zombies.

The most confusing part of the game for me was the idea of "super damage", which is basically damage that is 100x more powerful than regular damage. Basically, damage caused by a giant robot or kaiju or antimatter, things like that. I made the mistake I guess of assuming that the game was about doing "super damage" and I got my bear to get ahold of an antimatter cannon. He was huge and crazy strong so somehow he was able to carry this thing and power it with the city's electrical grid. He sprayed the antimatter cannon across the field of zombies and... they were fine. My buddy and I were like "What? How did they live?" And she was like "They're supernatural... they can soak up that sort of damage?"

I don't know exactly what we did wrong but the game just sort of embarrassingly stopped there, and sadly we never played with them again. They sent us an email saying that we just didn't get Palladium and they needed to find another group who understood it.

Vanitas
2014-02-09, 05:08 PM
I'm in a minority in my interest in Shakespeare.

:smallconfused:

You're really not.

Isamu Dyson
2014-02-09, 06:35 PM
It sucks when you are a minority of the system you love due to the rest of the players of said system being either Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs or horribly elitist.

Techwarrior
2014-02-10, 12:45 AM
I inherited a copy of that when another gamer had to lose his books years ago. I wasn't real impressed, but I'm a bit jaded by Champions. The Hero system is really solid and plays quite well. It helps that I'm not put off by character creation or the fact that the GM has to run char gen to suit the game. It's a good system I'd like to play again if I could get people to stop panicking about doing multiplication during character generation.

Has anyone played Bloodshadows or the Renegade Legion RPG? I picked up one of the Bloodshadow books to crib some stuff for a homebrew magic system and the Legion book had a really nice character creation system in it that I'd like to see again. Unfortunately I lent them to someone who moved several thousand miles away and never saw them again. No more copies have turned up at my local used book store and they're both very much out of print.


Well, right now, I'm having trouble gaining support for the Reve and the Cthulhu d20 game I've been invited too. I'd like to join in your game, but I'm trying to learn 2 systems, play another game, and DM two more games. I'm tied up.

If Reve and Cthulhu don't work out, then my schedule will open up. It looks like it may putter before it gets past character creation though. Apparently these systems are quite obscure.

Sadly, my system is pretty obscure too. I tried to run a game here in the PbP forums and got only 1 person interested, who disappeared while 'borrowing a copy.' I looked and sadly, couldn't find a PDF online legally. If you (or anyone else interested) can get your hands on the ruleset, and find you would like to play, shoot me a PM.

Delta
2014-02-10, 01:13 AM
Out of interest, which company was that that did the translations?

Feder & Schwert.

CarpeGuitarrem
2014-02-10, 11:03 AM
The people I tend to hang around with don't believe in any RPG other than 3.5 or pathfinder. So I tend to get weird looks or eyerolls when I want to try anything more obscure... and this is a group where VtM or Shadowrun would count as obscure. And I'm pretty sure I'd start a fight if I brought up 4e.
Ah, ahem, wow. Yeah. I keep forgetting that groups such as that exist. I mean, I know they do--I know gamers like that (although I've introduced some of them to Fiasco)--it's just...odd, from my perspective.

Isamu Dyson
2014-02-14, 03:30 AM
Generally, how successful are players that turn into GMs out of necessity?

inexorabletruth
2014-02-14, 03:48 PM
Sadly, my system is pretty obscure too. I tried to run a game here in the PbP forums and got only 1 person interested, who disappeared while 'borrowing a copy.' I looked and sadly, couldn't find a PDF online legally. If you (or anyone else interested) can get your hands on the ruleset, and find you would like to play, shoot me a PM.

I don't have a lot of money, so if I can't get my hands on a rule set from the library or from a friend to at least test the game, I won't buy the ruleset. I always buy the rules for a game if I enjoy it, but I'm a fan of the "test drive."

Of course, I just got a new job, so I may take a look at these obscure games and see if I can't support an underdog, once I get my finances in order, of course.

Tassyr
2014-02-15, 12:03 AM
I'm in the minority here in my choice of RPG, in that I like RPGs.

No, I'm dead serious. The only games I've found realside in the last several years have been DnD PvP Tourneys.

How do I get my fix? .. uhm. Depressed reading, rereading, and rereading of rulebooks, and making characters that'll never get used? XD

Living_Dead_Guy
2014-02-15, 01:22 AM
The most confusing part of the game for me was the idea of "super damage", which is basically damage that is 100x more powerful than regular damage. Basically, damage caused by a giant robot or kaiju or antimatter, things like that.

My one experience with rifts was like that, everyone in mech suits while I payed a monk....

There is only one group that I know of that plays RPGs in my area. Unfortunately, they only play D&D, and while I have nothing against D&D I would love to play some Vampire sometimes.

Isamu Dyson
2014-02-22, 06:33 PM
The only games I've found realside in the last several years have been DnD PvP Tourneys.

Do folks get paid to win?

DigoDragon
2014-02-23, 07:43 PM
That is complicated? Yeesh :smalltongue:. I suffer from a small degree of mappaphobia, and even I can get on board with the rounder radius representation.

I cut out some templates using transparency shapes. My group never had an issue since.


As for preferred RPG... no, not really a minority. I liked GURPS a lot and my local friends were usually amicable to joining in a game. We even had a booklet of the combat rules watered down a little to make fights move smoothly. We also enjoyed D&D, Shadowrun, and d20 Modern. I don't think any of the members were in a minority for the systems we played.