The Other pen'n'paper RPGs...

[fragment]

So what non-D&D RPGs have you played?

I've done the most gaming with Rolemaster... a long campaign in Middle Earth, then another couple of shorter (mainly because they're unfinished) fantasy campaigns in the GMs own setting, and a couple of one-offs in a more modern setting. These were all with the same GM, he knew the system pretty well and could run a pretty good game. Good times...

I've also played in a fantasy campaign with an obscure system called Foresight. It had a neat design philosophy which lead to a few good mechanics, although the game didn't really last long enough for me to get that familiar with it.

I tried running a Mage game once, but it didn't last past about three sessions. The game seemed to have some good ideas on paper, but I had trouble running it smoothly...that might just be my shortcomings at running a game though.

How about everyone else?

[brikenjon]

None since high school. I really liked Rifts, though, and had several of the books. They disappeared when I went to boot camp. I guess my mom figured that would be a good time to get rid of them. Heh.

The only other RPG I've actually played was Mage, but that was a one session deal, so we didn't get even as far as you did. The character generation was fun, though.

[brikenjon]

Oh, when I was talking to Brandi about D & D 4th Edition and trying to get her interested, we stumbled across an RPG called Little Fears. She's not into the fantasy setting, so I was trying to find something she'd be more interested in. Little Fears sounds really cool, but it's out of print and sells for $120 used on Amazon. Blech.

[fragment]

What setting is Little Fears?

[Uthgar the Brazen]

Lessee...Cyberpunk that lasted one session because the GM really sucked, GURPS (loveses!), and I've been picking up the Warhammer FRP stuff where I can find it. WAR stuff seems to have persistent difficulties with retaining publishers, but I really like the setting and overall feel. Haven't had the chance to actually play, though. :sadcheer:

[fragment]

I've never looked at GURPS. It's supposed to be a generic system usable in a wide range of settings, right? What do you like about it so much?

[Brimshack]

Tunnels and Trolls was an old favorite of mine. For the last year, I've been working with a group of players to design a system of our own. It's been a lot of fun, but I'm fairly certain part of the reason for that is that we are making one up of our own. And I actually think that was one of the best things about 1e D&D. It wasn't so much a game as a series of game systems that almost meshed, and in effect, the whole thing invited you to experiment and try filling in the gaps yourself. For me that was alowasy half the fun of gaming, at least until the culture of gaming seemed to change. I swear there are gaming fundamentalists. But away...

Have-bitch-will-whine!

[fragment]

I'm sorta interested in setting design, and think that systems should be adapted to fit the concepts of a world/campaign, whereas it seems like it's it's fairly common to go the other way and design worlds/campaigns to fit the system. I guess that's why I like the idea of generic systems.

Not that I've ever finished a system design or adaptation or a setting design and got people to play it, but the idea has an appeal.

[brikenjon]

What setting is Little Fears?

Little Fears - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fears)

Basically, you role-play 6-12 year old kids and the monsters in the closet are real. The setting, I guess, is "Closetland" and a belief system is the equivalent to a magic system. The wikipedia article explains it better than I can, especially since I haven't actually seen the book. Having never played it, the game might suck, but it sounds interesting.

[fragment]

If it's well done it could be intriguing. Dark and cute. Nice cover art, too.

[Adam]

I played like one session of the Palladium rules. I don't remember if it had a name of not...it was a generic system that waa adapted to a bunch of different settings. The particular flavor I played was TMNT. :donat::mikeangl::raphael::leonardo:

I also rolled up Shadowrun characters with a bunch of friends once, but we never got around to actually playing.

[Egor]

I've Played the White Wolf System World of Darkness it's very simple to learn and combat is short and sweet. It's more of a storytelling system better for Role Play than fighting baddies. It has allot of it's own story that you can delve into for ideas or you can take the custom route and run your own thing. I adapted a WW2 story and used the system for it and it was loads of fun. It seems like it would also be best run with about four people.

One that I would loooove to try is the Serenity RPG it looks ohh so cool but I have not picked up the books yet.

[Adam]

Oh, yah, I played the old WoD a couple times, too.

[Megatron]

Motherfucking RIFTS.

[brikenjon]

Motherfucking RIFTS.

Is that a good or a bad motherfucking? "Hell yeah I play motherfucking RIFTS!" or "I hate motherfucking RIFTS!" :D

[Megatron]

The good kind, haha

[Sock Puppet]

I played Traveller for awhile in high school & early college. It's a sci-fi RPG with lots of gunplay. The GM gets to design an entire subsector of a galaxy (or an entire sector if he's ambitious), with star systems of various types, some inhabited, some not. It had its good points, although we had to tweak it a bit to make up for the weak points.

The weakest bit was that for all the sci-fi setup, actual gameplay often wasn't particularly futuristic; even most of the weaponry was of a type that either already exists or was a souped-up version of modern firearms. A few alien races were in it, but not nearly enough. We generally had to make a lot of them up, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would have been better if the game contained standard mechanics to do so.

[Zehava]

Lets see...

All flavors of D&D
Rolemaster
MERP
TMNT
Shadowrun, 2nd ed.
Traveller
Megatraveller
GURPS
Gamma World, all editions
Torg (mechanics suck but world is very interesting)
Star Frontiers, we played the hell out of this
Marvel Superheros, the one with all the charts
Warhammer FRP, played this a lot as well
Twilight 2000
Mechwarrior

Probably more but that is all that comes to mind this early in the morning.

[Crumb]

Rifts

Mechwarrior

Made a character for Wraith, don't know if I ever played it.

99.9% of my RPG experience is 2nd edition D&D, supplemented with older materials.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

I've never looked at GURPS. It's supposed to be a generic system usable in a wide range of settings, right? What do you like about it so much?

Well, that it is so usable in a wide range of settings. It's a somewhat more detailed do-it-yourself kit. :)

[fragment]

I think Zehava wins the thread.

Well, that it is so usable in a wide range of settings. It's a somewhat more detailed do-it-yourself kit. :)
So it actually works pretty well then? I might have to check it out. I'm a stingy bastard, though, so don't often get to look at game books unless I can borrow them from someone...

[Uthgar the Brazen]

There's a lot of fleshing out and tweaking to do, but it provides, at least in my opinion, a fairly solid base on which to build. I've only read a little of the 2.0 stuff, so am not as familiar with it.

ETA:

Hi, I'm Zehava. I'm a level 42 star elf druid/assassin, and I think you're pretty!
:nerdy:

;)

[Zehava]

I think Zehava wins the thread.


So it actually works pretty well then? I might have to check it out. I'm a stingy bastard, though, so don't often get to look at game books unless I can borrow them from someone...

It does a decent job of handling any setting you might want to put it in. My brothers and I never got to heavily into it, but was pretty good.

ETA:

Hi, I'm Zehava. I'm a level 42 star elf druid/assassin, and I think you're pretty!
:nerdy:

;)

I'll have you note I never played a star elf, druid or assassin in my life. And level 42, hardly, things get way out of hand after the mid teens and we rarely ever played a campaign that long.

I actually prefer to play Clerics, especially 2e Forgotten Realms specialty Clerics. This preference spilled over to my playing MMO, where I also prefer classes that can heal.

[Megatron]

99.9% of my RPG experience is 2nd edition D&D, supplemented with older materials.

Good man.

[Crumb]

I still have most of those materials in a box somewhere.

[Deadlokd]

I played like one session of the Palladium rules. I don't remember if it had a name of not...it was a generic system that waa adapted to a bunch of different settings. The particular flavor I played was TMNT. :donat::mikeangl::raphael::leonardo:

I also rolled up Shadowrun characters with a bunch of friends once, but we never got around to actually playing.

I played TMNT too. For a few years actually.

Robotech was cool. Played that for a few months

Car Wars.

Marvel.

And shitloads of D&D 2e. Shitloads.

[Farren]

Anyone else tried Paranoia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game))? It basically sets everyone up to work against each other secretly while they try to keep the appearance of all having the same goals. I only vaguely remember it from many years ago but it was a refreshing departure from the normal formula.

[Sock Puppet]

I haven't, but that sounds like it's deliriously fun.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

You would think that, wouldn't you? Or would you?
:narrow: