I know there are a few of you out there....

[BlackJack2063]

You Roleplayers out there I have some questions.

What is your favorite game?
Why?
Do you prefer tabletop. LARP, online play, or just video roleplaying games?
Why?
If you like D&D, what is your preferred campaign setting? (If you have one)
Why?

If you want answer the questions if not, oh well. Or go ahead and interject any thing RPG, I have been going through withdrawals after moving to a new city lol.

My answers:
Shadowrun.
Basically unmatched versatility, from swords and sorcery to guns and cyberware, this game has got it.
Tabletop, but not with miniatures, to many 12 hour combats from Warhammer and Battletech.
Forgotten Realms.
Mainly cause it is what I first played for D&D, plus it has the most material, (I hate its poster boy though, Drizzt)

I have plenty of other favorites, my first RPG love was ROBOTECH, which up until a few years ago was the top selling title for Palladium Books, I also enjoy all of the other games, aside from RIFTS ( I hate munchkins and RIFTS is a munchkin playground).
I also enjoy playing STAR WARS, I made the jump to D20 last year, but I own almost all the WEST END stuff. Same with D&D, made the D20 jump around the same time, it is a superior system to the old.)

Just throw in your thoughts, I know you guys are more than just video game fans.

 

[cff]

> What is your favorite game?
My own developed one called Sirros (rules) / Schattenland (setting-semi complete). Free, but German only unless someone ever wants to translate it.

> Why?
Very easy rules. 'Realistic' combat system. Extremely rich magic system.

>Do you prefer tabletop. LARP, online play, or just video roleplaying games?

Classic pen and paper style play

> Why?
LARP I did never try.
Online is usually MMORPG whith monhly payments which I object to.
PC and Online both are basically only the combat parts of a system with serious shortcomings in the actual RPG part. I want to roleplay not to hack and slay.

> If you like D&D, what is your preferred campaign setting? (If you have one)

I don't really know D&D. What I especially hate about it is the thac0 value that subsums armor and parrystrength.

 

[Nomad Terror]

My most memorable PnP-type RPG experiences have been online over IRC

 

[Capn Johnny]

I like LARP's.. because I can run around in the woods dressed like a female elf-mage, shouting "Lightning-bolt! Lightning-bolt!" and throwing wads of paper at people..

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I'm sorry, but the Princess is in another castle.

 

[Nomad Terror]

He's wearing the wrong type of hat for that...

 

[BlackJack2063]

D20 D&D got rid of Thaco and those rules to make it simpler. I have created my fair share of games too, they just never take off cause my old group are not what you would call intellectuals. As you could imagine subtle plot twists are way to much for them, especially when it gets into political and right and wrong.

 

[cff]

That's why you build second and third plans into good adventure settings. And yes, I had to practically force my group onto some decisions you'd think are logical and ethical undoubtful as well.

 

[BlackJack2063]

It is just aggravating when players aren't smart enough, or if they are not into it enough to get really into character and get stuff done.

Over a decade of roleplaying and I still have the same problem, oh well I left that group when I moved, now just have to find a new one.

 

[Bloodspray]

What is your favorite game?

Rifts

Why?

Longest running game for us, most fun characters, total freedom, and it's all encompassing from high tech to "magic level" tech to magic, and limitless possiblities to explore.

Do you prefer tabletop. LARP, online play, or just video roleplaying games?

If by table top you mean dice and pen and paper, then that. If you mean miniatures....BattleTech is awesome, but even when we do that we incorporate the MW supplement for some RP action

Why?

First thing I experienced in the RPG area. LARPs I've never tried, but the whole idea is a bit.....'odd'. Video games aren't RPGs IM(NS)HO. They are too restrictive having to limit the player to specific options due to the nature of the beast. Plus, the player often plays an entire party him(her)self. And it's a very solitary thing. True RPGs have you and a bunch of friends sitting in the same room, talkin, having fun and sharing the theater of the mind, working off of each other and the GM to create the story on the fly. Simply putting a bunch of characters together in a D&D-esque setting isn't enough to call a game (speaking of the video games) an RPG.

My answers:
Shadowrun.
Basically unmatched versatility, from swords and sorcery to guns and cyberware, this game has got it.

I'm a purist. I don't like magic in my CP. lol I think that Rifts is much better for the combination of high tech and magic, but, that's because I prefer the feel of the setting and the lack of Cyberpunk nature to it.

I have plenty of other favorites, my first RPG love was ROBOTECH

Ah yes....Siembada sure did a number on that one. I suspect he was high when he made stats for the stuff in there. lol

which up until a few years ago was the top selling title for Palladium Books

How many is a "few"? lol I may be wrong, but, I was under the impression that Rifts was the main Palladium title for a loooong time.

I also enjoy all of the other games, aside from RIFTS ( I hate munchkins and RIFTS is a munchkin playground).

Only if the GM allows it. Possiblity can equal power, and with power comes responsibility.....or something like that. lol

One thing though, high powered does not equal "munchkin". In fact, I've seen and heard about very little *actual* "munchkinism" going on, even in the P-Books forum. People throw that around *way* too much. Some campaigns are just high level, but everything is in proportion, some characters are super powerful but not abused by the players, some players are power gamers, but also "real roleplayers", "real men", and "real loonies" (for anyone who remembers those lists) in any combination. We were all the above. lol

Our party, at it's peak strength, could have taken on a few gods, or even a small pantheon and won. Not easily mind you, but we could have done it. Most people cry "munchkin!" when they hear that. But it couldn't be further from the truth. We craved and often created role playing situations where the GM wasn't being much help. And we had more fun just being wacky and creative than running around smashing large quantities of baddies (even though we certainly could if we wanted to).

 

[BlackJack2063]

The one gripe that I had about some Palladium games is the fact that levels aren't necessarily important to building powerful characters.
I had a munchkin in my group, my brother, no matter what restrictions I or the other people that ran games in my group placed on attributes, character classes or what not, he always was a powerhouse. In PFRPG, 1st edition, it was not uncommon for him to defeat dragons on his own, I had to throw in house rules to slow him down.
I never got into RIFTS cause it was so big, although one of my favorite palladium books is the Coalition War campaign.
You are right about the sales in the respect of book sales, but RIFTS has three times the books that ROBOTECH had, and is still in print, it was a few years ago that RIFTS title book, took out ROBOTECH's main book. It still is 2 or 3 though I believe.
I was leary about D20 D&D, but after I tried it, I came to, it is a better game, the rules more balanced.
That is another good thing about Shadowrun, you can't really ever let your guard down and get cocky, cause even a lowly gang member can get lucky enough, and you unlucky enough. Plus the world is interesting, and the sourcebooks are some of the most entertaining out there.
Tabletop is pen and paper, I don't consider baittletech a roleplaying game, but if you use miniatures for a RPG it is still tabletop. You are right about Video games not being "true" RPGs, but they are still entertaining, I was hurt when Black Isle got shut down, I enjoyed Baldur's Gate, and the IceWind Dale series.
It was kinda jacked when ROBOTECH mechs were inferior to the robots in RIFTS, the conversion guide.
gives rules adding more MDC and bonuses to the superior technology of the RDF. Macross II the game on the other hand is over powered lol, or where they are supposed to be, those Valkerie's kick ass!!

 

[Bloodspray]

The one gripe that I had about some Palladium games is the fact that levels aren't necessarily important to building powerful characters.
I had a munchkin in my group, my brother, no matter what restrictions I or the other people that ran games in my group placed on attributes, character classes or what not, he always was a powerhouse. In PFRPG, 1st edition, it was not uncommon for him to defeat dragons on his own, I had to throw in house rules to slow him down.

This sounds like a case of poor player/GM interaction, and the GM not standing his ground. It's very easy to restrict players in any game or setting, even PFRPG.

Although, maybe power gamers make the best GMs in that respect because they know all the rules so well that the players can't out lawyer them or pull any fast ones. lol

That is another good thing about Shadowrun, you can't really ever let your guard down and get cocky, cause even a lowly gang member can get lucky enough, and you unlucky enough. Plus the world is interesting, and the sourcebooks are some of the most entertaining out there.

It's all about setting. We preferred the open expanses of the wilderness and using the whole megaverse as our playground. But, we ran a higher level campaign (that evolved from about as low level as you can get).

On the other hand, low powered characters in a city setting, or near vampire or monster territory can get real scary and lethal for the players in a similar manner that you describe.

But, like I said, I'm a purist. Anything with a CP feel to it should be devoid of magic IMO. When we did something in that genre, it was RTG's CyberPunk 2020, and we did it straight (some house rules to modify the physics of combat to more accurately reflect realistic gun use, but that's it). Eventually someone tried to start a Shadowrun campaign I think, but I refused to play because of what it was (plus I thought poorly of his GMing ability. lol)

Tabletop is pen and paper

We sat around living rooms and what not. The use of the kitchen or dining room table didn't last long once our group exceeded 4 people. We would write and roll on books, and some of us even started tracking characters on PDA and laptops. lol So "tabletop" tends to have a miniature connotation, which itself has a wargame connotation.

I don't consider baittletech a roleplaying game

With the MechWarrior supplement it was (not the PC games).

 

[BlackJack2063]

Different game in the same setting, the rules weren't the same.

I might limit how the players role attributes, but I won't limit what they roll fairly, my brother just always happens to roll 16, 17, and 18's on his attributes, and always gets critical strikes. He beat my six natural twenties in a row, and that is like a once in a lifetime deal.
Rifts was hard for my group, due to the ethical beliefs of the players, half wanted to be coalition soldiers, the other half don't, and I have had enough of player vs player games, I end up being a referee more than the GM.
I played CP once, one of my freinds used to play it with his old group, he tried running it for us, but alas what a piss poor GM can do to one's perception of a game.