The Pen-And-Paper RPG thread! Options

[Colonel Mustard]

Just posted this up out of curiosity to see who here on the forums plays any kind of Pen-And-Paper/Tabletop RPGs in the vein of D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Exalted etc. I'm a player of Pathfinder (think D&D version 3.75) and have dabbled in Call of Cthluhu and the Warhammer 40,000 RPGs, and I'm just interested in seeing what people on the forum have done in regard in regard to these games, seeing as these boards are devoted to an RPG series; you a hardened veterans of the dungeon crawl? An exhausted, baffled and exasperated DM? A fresh-faced level 1 fighter with little experience of the game and no idea why the DM keeps bursting into tears whenever you suggest Bull Rushing somebody? Or are you just RPG-curious*?

Anyway, this is the Colonel Mustard totally not a survey to see if he's truly alone in this harsh, dark world thread. Do have fun, and I am curious to see how many vidja gamers play on the tabletop as well.


*Like Bi-curious but with a much smaller chance of actually having sex.

[SubRosa]

I do not play P&P RPGs anymore. I sort of drifted away from all the people I gamed with. However I did play and GM for about 20 years or so. Like probably everyone, I started out with D&D. Back then it was Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, which really dates me. I still have my first edition Deities and Demigods with the Cthulhu Mythos and Fafnir and Grey Mouser gods in it.

I gamed with several different groups over the years. After those early D&D days we mostly did games like Call of Cthulhu (which is still one of my all time favorite RPGs), Earthdawn, Shadowrun, the old West End Star Wars, Marvel Superheros, and Champions/Fuzion. We also dabbled in a lot of other games for a session or two, just to see if we would like them or not. I remember DC Heroes, Chill, The Price of Freedom, MORG (I am not sure if I got that name right), Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf, Wheel of Time, Paranoia, Recon, and lots of others I cannot remember any more.

I GM'ed a Star Wars game, which was tons of fun as it started out with the players all being Imperials. I used West End's Minos Cluster expansion to set it in. The cool thing was that as the game went on, all of the PCs wound up defecting to the rebellion. I wove in a lot of characters and events from the Tie Fighter video games, like Admiral Harkov, Zaarin, and the Tie Advanced. The PCs were at ground zero for the final showdown between Vader and Harkov, and meeting Vader face to face is what pushed many of them right into the Rebel cause. It was all without me prompting them to do it either. They just saw the true face of the Empire, and did not like it. After that they became Rebel Commandos working for General Madine, and I kept the game going for a few more years that way. I really liked that, because the players were what determined the course of the game, not me.

I ran a Marvel Superheros game after that, which was a ton of fun. After about 5 years of that it got stale though, so I moved on to running Earthdawn, and then finally Shadowrun. Those two games were lots of fun, since they took place in the same world, just in different times. Because of that I was able to bring characters and ideas from my Earthdawn game into the Shadowrun one.

One thing I really loved about Earthdawn was the emphasis on legends, and the very real power they had in the world. In that game, items spontaneously enchanted themselves if they were associated with legendary deeds. The Horrors also made wonderful villains, since they could Mark someone and work through them without that person even knowing it.

Shadowrun also holds a very special place in my heart. It was a wonderful blending of magic and cyberpunk (granted they stole most of the cyberpunk from William Gibson, but he never minded). It was a very fun game, with a wonderfully dystopian future.

I was always more a roleplayer than anything else. Getting into another person's head - and away from the real world - for a while was always the appeal for me. Although we certainly had powergamers in the group too, and what I guess I would call puzzle-solvers. They got the most fun out of being faced with some conundrum and trying to figure out a way out of it. Call of Cthulhu was always good for that sort of thing, since going in guns blazing against a Shoggoth is never a good idea!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 4 2012, 05:17 PM

[King Coin]

I haven't actually played a P&P RPG, though I am very interested. I joined a group that was going to play one called Gamma World, but unfortunately it fell apart before it even got going.

[Lady Saga]

A friend introduced me and my brother to The Fantasy Trip (TFT) back in high school, in the mid 1980s! Yeah...long time ago! At the time, I was a sophmore, and running with a druggy crowd, which (of course) irked my folks to no end. I wanted to get away from all that, and turn-based RPGs were the answer.

TFT is similar to DnD, but it has a different system of attributes, making it impossible for a high-level character to wind up with a zillion hit points. I think the most hit points a PC could have (a Conan type of PC) was 30, which took a long time (years) to build up. Most PCs started with somewhere between 8 and 16 hit points.

I think TFT went out of business at some point, because their installments (their dungeon crawl books) stopped showing up in the stores after a few years. At that point we really started getting dorky, and began to hybridize TFT with DnD, because DnD had a much larger system of rules, monsters, installments, etc. Basically, if you could think of any subject (taxes, for instance) DnD most likely had some rules to play by.

I played tabletop games probably into my 2nd year of college (early 90s), but by then all my friends and brother were off to their own colleges, and it's not much fun trying to play by yourself! I really wanted to find a videogame that simulated roleplaying games in real-time (starting with the original Nintendo/Legend of Zelda), and it took many years of course to find Oblivion. Soon as I read a review about Oblivion here on the 'net, it literally took me less than an hour to rush to GameSTop, buy Oblivion AND a PS3!

To answer your question, Mustard, I don't game tabletops anymore. I jsut don't have the time. My friend who originally introduced me to RPGs in the 80s still does, though, and he's been trying to get me to come visit and do some tabletop gaming with him (he lives about 3 hours away) but ...it'll probably never happen. BAck in high school, we had all summer to get a game going. Nowadays we all have full-time jobs, kids, and (gah) responsibilities!

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Oct 23 2012, 06:29 PM

[Zalphon]

I still play Dungeons & Dragons, but my last campaign died out and my new one is just waiting to be started. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the writers here who had played it, still play it. I love the creativity of them that videogames simply can not capture.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

My fiance got me DnD (basic starter game) for my birthday last year, and the one time I played I enjoyed it so much, but ever since then he says he wants to have an experienced DM. He was the DM and has played a few times and doesn't like being one.

I miss that game. I had so much fun.

[Colonel Mustard]

I still play Dungeons & Dragons, but my last campaign died out and my new one is just waiting to be started. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the writers here who had played it, still play it. I love the creativity of them that videogames simply can not capture.

I'm in a similar boat with my current gaming group (most of whom are now all over the place at University), and I'm currently bereft of a group to DM for; back at school we played semi-regularly and got about halfway through a Pathfinder campaign but now we never see each other at all often. The only other gaming I've done is online stuff through chat programs, and I'm wishing I could track down the online bunch I used to play Deathwatch and Rogue Trader with on MSN Messenger but alas, no such luck.

[Fawkes]

I always wated to play DnD ever since I found the 3rd edition monster book, I was into, well monsters back then, when I dug more into the whole pen and paper thin I had really wanted to try it, but all the response I would get would be, "That's for losers."
I still been trying to hunt down a group for few years already.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

In my school, the weirdos were cool. To me, at least XD

But nah, we all stuck together, we formed our metal bands on and off, played Magic tournaments(some of them still do) had Halo tournaments and now we all just sort of hang out once in a while and nerd out. But we haven't played DnD in over a year because no one really wants to take the time to remake their characters, since a lot of us are either way more OP'ed or, like me, since I haven't gotten to play as much as I like, so inexperienced that the rules have to keep being explained to us.

[Lady Saga]

I always wated to play DnD ever since I found the 3rd edition monster book, I was into, well monsters back then, when I dug more into the whole pen and paper thin I had really wanted to try it, but all the response I would get would be, "That's for losers."
I still been trying to hunt down a group for few years already.

Keep trying, they're out there. I would think the Internet makes it much easier than when I was active.

People said "it's for losers" or "dweebs" (or whatever) back in the 80s, too. But whateva. Guess I am a loser and a dweeb because to this day I still have fond memories of tabletop gaming, but I am also proud to be a loser and a dweeb. It's funny how in videogames it is cool to play an RPG nowadays, but for tabletops it's still considered a 'no no' or a shunned product or something..

But it does take a LOT of time. Figure a fight which takes 30 seconds in TES could take up to an hour or two in DnD (all those dice rolls, pencil notations, etc.) Still lots of fun if you've got a group to play with.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Dec 1 2012, 03:23 PM

[Colonel Mustard]

I always wated to play DnD ever since I found the 3rd edition monster book, I was into, well monsters back then, when I dug more into the whole pen and paper thin I had really wanted to try it, but all the response I would get would be, "That's for losers."
I still been trying to hunt down a group for few years already.

Honestly, you could do worse than try and find a chatroom-based campaign running somewhere or another; I've played some very fun games of Deathwatch and Call of Cthulhu in those.

Actually, that gives me an idea...

Attention ladies and gentlmen of Chorrol.com! Who would be amenable to semi-regular meetings on MSN/Skype/whatever for the purpose of playing RPGs? I've don it before, it's good fun.

[King Coin]

I'd be interested, but it better start after this semester ends for me. The work I have piling up is insane...

I have 0 prior experience playing RPGs as well.

[SubRosa]

Count me out. I have tried that before, and it did not do much for me. I like being in the same room at a group of people.

[Acadian]

My intro to D&D was via Baldur's GateI, then many years in BGII. By studying the mechanics, I ended up learning much of the AD&D rules of how things work. It was a system that. . . worked, but I enjoy some other systems much more.

I never played the actual tabletop or group sitting around mode and probably don't have much interest in it.

There does seem to be some interest here in interactivity however. At the risk of straying off topic a bit, I've always watched our own Roleplaying forum here at chorrol. Now that I'm not currently writing, I wouldn't mind considering the right RP thread.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Dec 2 2012, 06:58 PM

[Grits]

I played AD&D with my brother and his friends way back in the day. We were too young for jobs and our parents thought it was all about devil worship, so we managed with one kid’s allowance and my babysitting money. We had the Player’s Handbook and the Monster Manual, plus I think one or maybe two modules. So I got some graph paper and made things up. It was tremendous fun. I still have my blue canvas binder with pen drawings on it, and somewhere in the attic lurks a bag full of dice.

I would love to see more activity on the roleplaying threads here. I’m one of the silent readers.

[mALX]

I played AD&D with my brother and his friends way back in the day.

I played "ADHD" with both of my sons and no Ritilin (or should I say they played it and I didn't have any Ritilin?)

[Lady Saga]

I played AD&D with my brother and his friends way back in the day. We were too young for jobs and our parents thought it was all about devil worship, so we managed with one kid’s allowance and my babysitting money. We had the Player’s Handbook and the Monster Manual, plus I think one or maybe two modules. So I got some graph paper and made things up. It was tremendous fun. I still have my blue canvas binder with pen drawings on it, and somewhere in the attic lurks a bag full of dice.

I still have all my dice, I still actively use them here and there for TES! I also have all my old books. I sometimes consult my Monster Manuals to compare DnD monsters (goblins, for instance) and humanoids to TES's versions. I do notice that Beth does seem to take into consideration some ancient facts, like trolls regenerating health and having a weakness to fire. Ghosts not being affected by "normal" weapons, etc.

I spent a lot of money back in the day, too. Hundreds of dollars, I'm sure. Far more than I've spent on TES's games so far. Not just on books, but also on all the little figureines they sold in the hobby stores. We'd buy those and paint them, which added to the fun, but this means we were also buying paints and paintbrushes by the dozen.

To answer your Q, Mustard, I will check out the MSN/Skype at some point, but I can't promise I'll join. My schedule would just get in the way at some point, but I'll look into it.
.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Dec 4 2012, 05:52 PM

[PhonAntiPhon]

I still have all my dice, I still actively use them here and there for TES!

that's a great idea!
I used to play loads actually - I played a chaotic evil thief in AD&D, as I recall. Had loads of figures and everything.
At uni I playedva lot of Warhammer 40k.

[Lady Saga]

I still have all my dice, I still actively use them here and there for TES!

that's a great idea!
I used to play loads actually - I played a chaotic evil thief in AD&D, as I recall. Had loads of figures and everything.
At uni I playedva lot of Warhammer 40k.

I can actually recite from my (bad) memory my best characters from back in the day. And yea, I'm at work and I'm bored.

The Blue Wizard: Was probably my first character, whom I created at age 14 perhaps, hence the unoriginal name. He lasted very many years, and could make himself invisible, teleport to many destinations, etc. We adopted a system of Feudalism into our game at some point (super-geeks we were, this is the pen & paper version of mods, lol) and TBW became a Baron, owning land and collecting taxes. I made a TES version of TBW, whose name was The Grey Wizard. He's the one who saved Tamriel from Oblivion, and now has very little to do, other than receive constant compliments and chase pretty Arcane Uni apprentices around.

Randorf: a dual-wielding swordsman who wore enchanted light armors and also lasted a very long time. I am thinking of making a Skyrim version of Randorf, who will also dual-wield. I am a little hesitant though, because of the lack of blocking.

Simone: sword & board elf who also wore enchanted light armors. Simone lasted a long time, too. He died, though, while on his way from the Blue Wizard's castle to his homeland, a forest full of other high elves. He traveled alone for this journey, as I got overconfident and did not have anybody accompany him. Big mistake. At night he was surprised (lost initiative) by 3 dire wolves, who did double damage, triple damage, double damage. Since he lost initiative, and did make his 'saving throw', all this damage was compounded. Simone was dead. I could not believe it. Simone would have normally swept the floor while fighting 3 wolves.

To portray how rare this occurance would have happened, imagine rolling 3 6-sided dice three times (to simulate the wolves attacking). First roll would have been two 1s and a two (4) which was double-damage, second roll would have been three 1s (triple damage), and the third roll was another double. Try rolling some dice to see how rare this sort of attack would show up. This is why I believe in some sort of random 'fate', even in our games.

Justine: she was a mace-wielding fighter, and was Randorf's girlfriend. She died at some point, though, while fighting some boss-type NPC. I forget the details.

I also had a cleric, paladin, a halfling thief who could pick any lock, and other typical old-skool RPG type characters, but I'm not remembering names and details. There was also a long string of hirelings who would want to carry stuff, but who would get over-eager and rush into combat and die.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Feb 4 2013, 05:06 PM

[mirocu]

Never done that but I think those who do are to be respected. Remembering tons of info and statistics takes time and brain capacity.

I have one of those