Buddha's New D&D Thread is Groovy, Man.

[Neil]

Shadowrun is glaringly cool.  Although it's wacky since they went wireless.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

@ Neil .

thx.  got the quickstart pdf from their site, to check it out!

[Darth Wagtaros]

That Vampire crap is popular on campus from what I've gleaned.

[crazy canuck]

That's true of every RPG, of course. You just need a good grasp of the rules really, and some imagination.

Yes, but if you saw all the rules and charts that have been published for Rolemaster you would probably run away screaming.  It started out as a fairly basic game but book after book was published with not only new classes but also large numbers of additional rules, skills and charts.  It got so detailed that you could actually make rolls to see whether somebody successfully walked from point A to B and determine with some accuracy how well they did it.  I always tried to run the game true to its roots and only added in new stuff if the players really wanted it.

[Darth Wagtaros]

That sounds like RIFTS.  I didn't play much of it but I went over to the DM's house once and was told to create a character, he then pointed to BINS of books to choose from.  Shit.

[Sophie Scholl]

Shadowrun is glaringly cool.  Although it's wacky since they went wireless.

I never cared for the setting in Shadowrun.  My firends play roughly weekly, and I've attempted to get a character and some interest at their suggestion, but I can't do it.  Something about it just does not appeal to me at all.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

That's true of every RPG, of course. You just need a good grasp of the rules really, and some imagination.

Yes, but if you saw all the rules and charts that have been published for Rolemaster you would probably run away screaming.  It started out as a fairly basic game but book after book was published with not only new classes but also large numbers of additional rules, skills and charts.  It got so detailed that you could actually make rolls to see whether somebody successfully walked from point A to B and determine with some accuracy how well they did it.  I always tried to run the game true to its roots and only added in new stuff if the players really wanted it.

well yeah, see it may be all charts and rolls (no experience myself, but have heard a lot about it from Sask, actually. I think he and I rolled up a character and did a bit of a test run once iirc.) I like easy to understand charts and hit/damage etc.... shouldn't take longer to look up a roll result than it does to describe a chest full of gold.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Shadowrun is glaringly cool.  Although it's wacky since they went wireless.

I never cared for the setting in Shadowrun.  My firends play roughly weekly, and I've attempted to get a character and some interest at their suggestion, but I can't do it.  Something about it just does not appeal to me at all.

I like the cyberpunk angle... but I dunno... have to read up a bit more on it myself.

[katmai]

Shadowrun is glaringly cool.  Although it's wacky since they went wireless.

I never cared for the setting in Shadowrun. 

You disgust me.

[Malthus]

It's been years since I've played any ... but when I did, I preferred a minimum of rules & charts & that sort of thing, and a maximum of set & setting. Dice rolls kept to a minimum.

[Neil]

That sounds like RIFTS.  I didn't play much of it but I went over to the DM's house once and was told to create a character, he then pointed to BINS of books to choose from.  Shit.

Actually, character creation in Rifts isn't that bad, and I don't even mind the setting.  It's more the system that makes my brain melt.

[Neil]

Shadowrun is glaringly cool.  Although it's wacky since they went wireless.

I never cared for the setting in Shadowrun.  My firends play roughly weekly, and I've attempted to get a character and some interest at their suggestion, but I can't do it.  Something about it just does not appeal to me at all.

To each his own.  I've always enjoyed both the setting and mechanics.

[Savonarola]

I liked the setting for RIFTS, but I found that some of the templates (or whatever they called "Classes") were incredibly overpowered.

I disliked Shadowrun; the few times that I played there were long periods of time when one character would deck into cyberspace and the rest of the characters would sit around and watch him.

[saskganesh]

That's true of every RPG, of course. You just need a good grasp of the rules really, and some imagination.

Yes, but if you saw all the rules and charts that have been published for Rolemaster you would probably run away screaming.  It started out as a fairly basic game but book after book was published with not only new classes but also large numbers of additional rules, skills and charts.  It got so detailed that you could actually make rolls to see whether somebody successfully walked from point A to B and determine with some accuracy how well they did it.  I always tried to run the game true to its roots and only added in new stuff if the players really wanted it.

well yeah, see it may be all charts and rolls (no experience myself, but have heard a lot about it from Sask, actually. I think he and I rolled up a character and did a bit of a test run once iirc.) I like easy to understand charts and hit/damage etc.... shouldn't take longer to look up a roll result than it does to describe a chest full of gold.

it only gets tough when you have a situation like 14 characters/NPCs fighting twice as many monsters, each with their own unique weapons/armors and associated charts. gak.

hence "you are attacked by 6 orcs in chainmail. they all, without exception, have shortbows and broadswords. OBs are all 40, base DB 5, AT is 15. HTK 40"

the core rules are really fairly streamlined, the character customisation is great, spell system is point based and scaleable by level. most of the dozen supplements are very optional. and you only need d100s.

[Neil]

I liked the setting for RIFTS, but I found that some of the templates (or whatever they called "Classes") were incredibly overpowered.

Yeah, that was the whole thing with Rifts.  Why play a wilderness scout when a dragon or a power armour jockey or a Juicer are about a million times more effective.

I disliked Shadowrun; the few times that I played there were long periods of time when one character would deck into cyberspace and the rest of the characters would sit around and watch him.

Yeah, that was a weakness of the game.  They've pretty much eliminated decking in the 4th edition, and although I mourn its passing, it makes for a better game.