RPG's

All discussions regarding Board, Card, and RPG Gaming, including industry discussion, that don't belong in one of the other gaming forums.

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Blackhawk
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Re: RPG's

Post by Blackhawk »

Well, I started with Castle Ravenloft, but I'd say Temple of Elemental Evil would be the best of the series, with Legend of Drizzt or Wrath of Ashardalon in second place.

They are cooperative board games, which means that you will lose sometimes, if that's an issue.

The upside is that you do get a selection of pretty good quality miniatures with them.
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hentzau
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Re: RPG's

Post by hentzau »

My youngest played Castle Ravenloft before they played a real game of D&D as well, but of the D&D boardgames Ravenloft is the furthest off of the "traditional" D&D theme. Loads of vampires and undead and the like, but nary an orc or goblin to be had. They are fun games though.
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Punisher
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Re: RPG's

Post by Punisher »

We played Temple of Elemental Evil tonight minus the youngin (she had homework and a test to study for...)
We wiped twice in a row early on, then finally finished the 1st mission on 3rd go round..
Then we realized we kept forgetting to use the "XP" to cancel out encounters (the source of most of our misery).. It was pretty fun though and we may do another run through next time or switch to Imperial Assault since I picked up all the expansion while in Florida.
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Blackhawk
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Re: RPG's

Post by Blackhawk »

Early on we had a house rule that made a lot of difference. We got some little tokens, one for each player (we used glass beads.)

The rule was simple: When you're supposed to draw an encounter, draw a token instead and put it on your character card. If you already have a token, put it back and draw an encounter.

We still lost a good bit of the time, so it didn't swing the balance that much, but it did take off some of the pressure of constantly being bombarded by encounters.
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Punisher
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Re: RPG's

Post by Punisher »

We might try that...
First game we had really bad luck. Only drop 2 extra tiles before we wiped. Game is brutal...
I do think we will get better over time. We kept forgetting to re-read each card and each character special ability and that hurt..
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Blackhawk
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Re: RPG's

Post by Blackhawk »

The risk-reward balance in that series comes from juggling the need to thin out what you've already got breathing down your neck with the need to keep moving to avoid encounters and get to the end before you run out of resources. It takes a while to get it right.
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baelthazar
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Re: RPG's

Post by baelthazar »

Can anyone tell me how long a regular session of Fate is? And I am having some trouble understanding how the GM prepares for a session of Fate. Are you not supposed to write up an adventure and just sort of ad lib the narrative? How else could you run a session at the same time you let the players build the world?

I am looking for something that can be quick and have fairly low prep time. I want to run a game of microscope or kingdom, but I also would love something more "traditional."

Part of me just wants the books to read some RPG books... they are some of my favorite reading material.
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Re: RPG's

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

You can read the specifics on running the game and what the GM does in Fate here. Or have a butcher's at this playlist on Youtube for a more in-depth demonstration and explanation of how Fate works, and how to get the most out of it.
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Blackhawk
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Re: RPG's

Post by Blackhawk »

Good videos. At least, once I finished I researched that "have a butcher's" didn't mean taking a cleaver to my PC.
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IceBear
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Re: RPG's

Post by IceBear »

Whenever I've got to run a game at the last minute, I pretty much always fall back to Dungeon World. I literally have no prep when I sit at the table - just a few leading questions in my head - and the group decides the adventure with the answers. I have enough experience at tradition D&D that it's well within my comfort zone to come up with stuff on the fly. My players have started to learn that they shouldn't be sharing the worst imaginations of what might be around the corner as it provides excellent fodder for me :)
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Re: RPG's

Post by Isgrimnur »

Image
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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baelthazar
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Re: RPG's

Post by baelthazar »

IceBear wrote:Whenever I've got to run a game at the last minute, I pretty much always fall back to Dungeon World. I literally have no prep when I sit at the table - just a few leading questions in my head - and the group decides the adventure with the answers. I have enough experience at tradition D&D that it's well within my comfort zone to come up with stuff on the fly. My players have started to learn that they shouldn't be sharing the worst imaginations of what might be around the corner as it provides excellent fodder for me :)
I saw Dungeon World and was interested. I also saw Monster of the Week, which looks like Dungeon World (same PbtA engine), only for Buffy/Monster Hunting/Cthulhu fans. I may grab Fate and one of those two, partly just to have more rulesets to read.

The videos were helpful for Fate, but I am still struggling with how much prep it requires. It sounds like you can largely ad lib or improv the entire game? Although, one thing I think would be interesting would be to play Microscope to build a world and its history, then jump into a Fate game to play a scene.
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Punisher
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Re: RPG's

Post by Punisher »

baelthazar wrote:Can anyone tell me how long a regular session of Fate is? And I am having some trouble understanding how the GM prepares for a session of Fate. Are you not supposed to write up an adventure and just sort of ad lib the narrative? How else could you run a session at the same time you let the players build the world?

I am looking for something that can be quick and have fairly low prep time. I want to run a game of microscope or kingdom, but I also would love something more "traditional."

Part of me just wants the books to read some RPG books... they are some of my favorite reading material.

Tabletop session that just released for Fate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFXtAHg7vU

Now that I've seen it in action, assuming this is how the game really works (and since one of the designers is running it, I'll say yes), this is probably not the game for my group to start with... Way too much for the GM and the players to have to know regarding RPG's in general... IE: I don't think my group would understand enough to be able to make their characters on the fly or to explain their actions during a game.. Same with me as a GM... I think i'd like to try it as a player, but would definitely need a noob friendly game.... It does look interesting though, and I don't mind buying the books (and I'll probably pick up the dice just to have)
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: RPG's

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Punisher wrote:Tabletop session that just released for Fate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFXtAHg7vU

Now that I've seen it in action, assuming this is how the game really works (and since one of the designers is running it, I'll say yes), this is probably not the game for my group to start with... Way too much for the GM and the players to have to know regarding RPG's in general... IE: I don't think my group would understand enough to be able to make their characters on the fly or to explain their actions during a game.. Same with me as a GM... I think i'd like to try it as a player, but would definitely need a noob friendly game.... It does look interesting though, and I don't mind buying the books (and I'll probably pick up the dice just to have)
In that case, the aforementioned Fiasco would likely be a better fit, since it's GM-less and almost anyone that's ever enjoyed a caper-gone-wrong movie will grok it.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
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Punisher
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Re: RPG's

Post by Punisher »

Anonymous Bosch wrote:
Punisher wrote:Tabletop session that just released for Fate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFXtAHg7vU

Now that I've seen it in action, assuming this is how the game really works (and since one of the designers is running it, I'll say yes), this is probably not the game for my group to start with... Way too much for the GM and the players to have to know regarding RPG's in general... IE: I don't think my group would understand enough to be able to make their characters on the fly or to explain their actions during a game.. Same with me as a GM... I think i'd like to try it as a player, but would definitely need a noob friendly game.... It does look interesting though, and I don't mind buying the books (and I'll probably pick up the dice just to have)
In that case, the aforementioned Fiasco would likely be a better fit, since it's GM-less and almost anyone that's ever enjoyed a caper-gone-wrong movie will grok it.
Nope. Same thing.. Players would need to come up with their own stories/scenarios.. My group doesn't really have the imagination to pull that off... It looks like I need to ease them into it with a structured game first. something where I take the brunt of the story telling and nudge them into describing their actions.. I really wanted them to sit in on a game of Edge of the Empire at Celebration to see what it was about, but the timing just didn't work.
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: RPG's

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Just to clarify, Fiasco playsets specifically provide you with all the scenarios and stories, and has players roll dice to allocate further details to the narrative using the provided charts (i.e. nudging them into describing their actions), so it really couldn't get much simpler and easier. Add a suitable intoxicant and just a smidgen of creativity, and your group will have a blast. The SU&SD review of Fiasco provides a good rundown of exactly how it works, and what makes it so enjoyable.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
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hentzau
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Re: RPG's

Post by hentzau »

I'd still go with the D&D Starter Set. But I'm Old School. None of these new-fangled story telling things! :)
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baelthazar
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Re: RPG's

Post by baelthazar »

Punisher, Edge of the Empire is a bit of a mix between traditional and storytelling. For example, when something succeeds or fails (more importantly succeeds with "but..." or fails with as "but...") the players are supposed to come up with what happened. My players initially found this a bit jarring, coming from a Call of Cthulhu and D&D background where the GM/DM/Keeper tells them exactly what happens and why. If you are looking for something more direct, then that may not be the best bet. You CAN have the GM do all the heavy lifting, but I found that to be pretty exhausting.

I think I am with Hent here - get the D&D starter. There is a reason why D&D has been the gold standard of RPGs. These days, the rules are far more streamlined and easy to grasp - we are not in AD&D 2nd Edition territory anymore, where figuring out the saving throw table took a math degree. I always found that the rules were often there but not always followed, in the sense that they were useful when a question arose, but the GM could usually just make a ruling and - if it was acceptable to the players - it would stand.

I just picked up Monster of the Week and Dungeon World. These are one-book RPGs that are using the Powered by the Apocalypse engine (from Apocalypse World). The rules are pretty heavily redacted, requiring very little other than 2d6. It is a bit of an improvisational game, so that may be too advanced.

I would also suggest Savage Worlds, which was mentioned far earlier in the thread. It is pretty rules light compared to D&D, and has been described as fast and furious. It has some major problems - the PCs tend to start overpowered and then plateau and you have massive swings in luck (a high-level PC can be brought down by a tiny goblin if the person keep rolling the highest number on the dice and you get a major dice burst).
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Punisher
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Re: RPG's

Post by Punisher »

Well, I currently have: Fate, Savage World, Edge of the Empire, and D&D Starter.... I too am leaning with D&D, but have some interest in jumping right into Edge... Only because everyone is more familiar with the theme. I did get to play Edge a little at Celebration and liked it, but did see the story telling in action so I know what you mean..
I'll probably start with the D&D one though and take it from there.
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IceBear
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Re: RPG's

Post by IceBear »

Yeah I used Edge of the Empire and Numenera as a stepping stone for my traditional D&D players go get into the story telling frame of mind before throwing Fate, Cortex and the PbtA games (Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, Spirit of 77, etc)

As others have said you won't go wrong with the D&D starter set.

We are having fun with Savage Rifts (Rifts using Savage Worlds). It is a pretty light rule system (but 5E D&D isn't too heavy in my opinion). The only issue I have had is the same issue in base Rifts....the glitterboy and dragon characters mixed in with "standard" characters made things very hard to balance. Anything that could threaten them would annihilate the rest
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