Pen and Paper Roleplay - what do you still play and whats new

[Haven]

Its been a while since I did any pen and paper RP and I'm a few years out of date now. I know there's a new revision of AD&D coming out (4th edition I think) but I've no idea what else is on the market in the last few years.

The systems I used to play were mostly White Wolf, Warhammer Fantasy and AD&D (2nd edition).

So the point of this thread; If you still RP then what do you play and whats new and worth a look at?

 

[T-Bone]

Well I don't really know what new as such but I still play DandD 3.5 Edition. The new fourth edition is similar to wrath of the lich king and oblivion. They've removed a lot of the complexity to make it more accessable for the masses. I suppose in some ways thats a good thing but for people who like the complexity and all that it can give it's not that great. I really enjoy DandD but suggets that if you are going to pick it up again to go for 3.5. I don't think 3.5 will ever be topped in terms of quality and balance.

Zooggy might have a lot more insight here though as he plays lots of them regularly including 4th edition I believe.

Cheers,

-- La Bone.

 

[oobermybeer]

big supporter of the genre, jsut dont really ever have time to play, i know the people around me play DnD, "house rules", Call of Cuthulu, and noticing tbones sig, ORDER OF THE STICK! haha

 

[Zooggy]

Ahey,

If you still RP then what do you play and whats new and worth a look at?

Well, then, this, this is a tall order! (Not to stretch the point too much, but it's almost like asking, I haven't been to restaurants in a few years, what's worth trying...)

Anyway, what I currently play, have very recently played or will, in a very near future will play:

• DD3.5, DD4 (these were made to address the same type of play experience, but 3.5 starts to break down at around level 12...)
• The Shadow of Yesterday (indie game, and my all time absolute favorite RPG ever)
• Solar System in a Wild West setting (Solar Sistem is a clone of TSoY developed to be setting-agnostic)
• Dogs in the Vineyard (indie)
• PrimeTime Adventures (indie, and so far, the bestest bestest ever game I've ever found to play with inexperienced role players)
• Bushido (totally tradidtional, and actually, we've just abandoned our campaign and there are no plans to pick it up again)
• Legend of the Five Rings (to be honest, we're still trying to get this one off the ground, as we've drifted it a bit)
• Burning Wheel (indie, and very, very crunchy)
• Storming the Wizard's Castle (indie)

You'll notice there's a lot of indie stuff in the above list. This is because I have found that the so-called "mainstream" RPGs (if there is such a thing as mainstream in an industry that's totally niche to begin with) are really all alike.

Yes, that's right, ADD2, White Wolf stuff, Cthulhu, Warhammer, ShadowRun, and even L5R, they are all the same game. Or at least, the same play mode, which I have come to call "traditional RPGs".

I have a big 4-part rant about the problems and limitations of traditional play:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Now, there's a lot of different directions I could take this thread, like the differences between ADD2, DD3/3.5 and DD4, or the indie vs mainstream, or the traditional vs non-traditional, or what sort of different things there are to draw fun from in a face-to-face session, or even full-blown RPG theory.

But, since this is your thread, not mine, I'd rather ask:

What do you want to know?

Cheers,
J.

 

[Haven]

I want to know whats cool and fun and out in the last 5 years - I think you've kicked that off nicely Zooggy

This is a post made from curiosity, I love the worlds that I used to play in (particularly world of darkness, forgotten realms and Tolkiens universe (as exposed through MERP and Rolemaster)) and I'm potentially looking for more worlds to be lead into.

I'm very much a world and characters person rather than interested in the rulesystem governing them. I adore well written and beautifully crafted books ala Vampire and Changeling as they are worth the value in story back line, and wonderful artwork alone. Run with that as you will or just outline whats good in your minds eye.

 

[Gizmo-5]

You have not lived till youve tried Paranoia (Paranoia XP as its now known)

You live in a massive segregated society ran by a computer very similair to GlaDOS in portal. Everything is Colour coded, Touching things that arent your colour come under penalty of death, Being a mutant comes under penalty of death, did i forget to mention that your all Commie mutant traitors?

Kill the rest of the party before they kill you!

Not really a Campaign level RPG but definately provides some memorable moments for 4 hours play.

 

[Angelic]

Well, any time you're stuck you can reach for GURPS You can play anything with that damn system!

 

[DocBot]

Mutant! Swedish post-apocalyptic satirical noir rpg with mutated animals, humans, and broken robots. The amount of work they've put in re the world is amazing.

and a little bit of Conan. And some freeform stuff

 

[Zooggy]

Ahey,

I'm very much a world and characters person rather than interested in the rulesystem governing them.

And RPG system is much, much more than a simple rules set. So much more, in fact, that two people playing the same published rules may not be playing the same game at all...

Which is not to say that the rules set doesn't matter: it matters quite a lot. (If you skipped that, don't. It's a shorter read than it looks, and it's well worth it, even if the defintions in it are now quite dated.)

Anyway, I'll pipe back up in a few days, with some more questions for you, after you've had a chance to think about that stuff.

Cheers,
J.

 

[Xarlaxas]

I tend to dip in and out of it depending on mood/the amount of free time I have.

My favourite system by far is definitely the Old World of Darkness Vampire games, I just really like Vampires. <.< >.>

D&D 4th ed is pretty fun, playing in a campaign of that at the moment with another to be starting soon, also playing in a Pendragon Campaign. A game which goes between being awesome and being awful (like how I lost a character by giving the wrong answer to a yes/no question and had to make a new one).

Tempted to give my copy of Cyberpunk 2020 a whirl, that or the Bubblegum Crisis RPG I have, or start running a new Vampire campaign.

I shall also be attending a role-playing convention in Edinburgh on Saturday + Sunday! \o/

 

[oobermybeer]

You have not lived till youve tried Paranoia (Paranoia XP as its now known)

You live in a massive segregated society ran by a computer very similair to GlaDOS in portal. Everything is Colour coded, Touching things that arent your colour come under penalty of death, Being a mutant comes under penalty of death, did i forget to mention that your all Commie mutant traitors?

Kill the rest of the party before they kill you!

Not really a Campaign level RPG but definately provides some memorable moments for 4 hours play.

mmmm must play this

 

[Xarlaxas]

Oh yeah, Paranoia is most fun. Makes fun of the Cold War and all that jazz as well as having lasers and pretty colours! \o/

 

[oobermybeer]

just was inspired to created my first DnD 4.0 character sheet, (with housemates help) mmmm human rogue

 

[Zooggy]

Ahey,

Been really hectic, lately, and I haven't been able to come back to this thread, but I just wanted to say that it's not forgotten.

Cheers,
J.

 

[Thunder]

I've played D&D for a decade or so (well, not quite a decade, but it's getting close). I've been both a regular player and a DM, and both roles have been great fun. I'm currently a game master in a D20 Modern campaign, and it's going great. They do, however, cause me to miss sunday raids

 

[oobermybeer]

http://kotaku.com/5205225/dd-co+creator-dead-at-61

Co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and one of the founding fathers of the role-playing genre, Dave Arneson has passed away at the age of 61.

While the late Gary Gygax, who passed on a little more than a year ago, added fantasy elements to war gaming to create the basis for Dungeons & Dragons, it was Dave Arneson who took those rules and altered them to a point where instead of controlling large armies, players controlled a single character with a role to play, giving birth to the role-playing genre as we know it. It may have taken a 1979 lawsuit to get him listed officially as D&D's co-creator, but role-players around the world will always remember his contributions to gaming, both tabletop and otherwise.