Tell Me About These Three RPGS (D&D 5e being one)

SuperFlySwatter wrote: I want this fucking expression banned. Its an abomination unless used in cases where you actually mean you are physically speaking to someone

eg.
I can't speak to the headmaster today as that twat is on his holidays.

you do NOT speak to the issue of this or that unless you are (in your own words) one of BGGS most influential reviewers

If you do not look like this, you should not be using fucking stupid constructions like "I can't speak to the issue of whether this game is too random or not",

AND THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO BARNES!

Sorry, but... you're wrong. That usage has been in play since the 17th century. It's been common in British English since then, and I've heard it in American English my whole life. Maybe it's coming into more popular use or something. "To speak to" in this context is "to address," as in, "I can't address that issue..."

If I may to speak to your outrage: get over it

san il defanso wrote: I'm really interested in The One Ring. I've been curious about a good Tolkien RPG for a long time. How difficult is that one to learn and manage in terms of complexity?

Difficulty to learn is hard to say. It is a medium-complexity RPG, but the complexity is pretty strictly regimented. When you are Journeying, you use the journeying rules. When you are fighting, you use the Combat rules. When you are interacting, you use the social interaction rules. In between adventures, you use the Downtime rules.

There's not a lot of overlap between those subsections of the rules. The core of the game is Shadow and Hope: when you do bad things you gain Shadow points and when you do good things you might gain Hope points. You can call upon your shadow and hope in times of need, but both lead you deeper into Shadow.

So internalize the Shadow/Hope cycle, and learn the rest as needed.

My 16-year-old son and I only play RPGs at GenCon, so we're in a similar situation (I guess) in that we don't have much of a background in them. Years ago I played D&D & Champions and maybe a couple others I forgot.

Anyway, we *loved* D&D 5e last year. It was very accessible for new players and flexible enough for the DMs to incorporate lots of storytelling without mechanics bogging things down. It was streamlined and fun, and the feedback from other players around us, who were much more hardcore than we were, was that they thought it was great, too. One guy had been playing since the '70's and swore this was the best edition ever.

So, I don't know anything about the others. But we both really liked our experience with 5e.

Yeah, I think the mechanics of D&D 5e are sound and possibly the best. The concepts of D&D are so ingrained in us nerds at this point (things like hit points, levels, armor class, etc) that it's sort of like Talisman...anyone can play almost right away.

I just can't get over the blandness of the setting. Maybe if Wizards dedicated some resources to some of their unique worlds this time around (like they did in 2nd ed with lots of cool choices), but it doesn't sound likely.

I'm a fan of bizarro swords and sorcery settings (Basic/1st Ed AD&D, DCC, Dark Sun) or those deeply entrenched in British flavour (WFRP, LotR, Lone Wolf, Dragon Warriors). 5e doesn't appear to be settled in either, but just generic fantasy land.

Interesting. There aren't materials for a fan-made campaign, or the general outline of a campaign world somewhere? I imagine you could create one, but it would be a pain.

Have you considered the Shadowrun RPG? We played that before D&D 5e. It's starts to get a little fussy as your character advances, but it's an interesting cyberpunk setting and at the start it's pretty easy to set up & understand. Combat & skill checks are done by rolling a handful of 6-siders, it's easy.

Oh, yeah, I'm very familiar with Shadowrun. I've started up several threads over the years about it. Here's the last one, I believe.

fortressat.com/forum/15-games-catchall/1...d-games?limitstart=0

The thing about the state of SR (besides the system), is I believe the nature of the PC has sort of changed. The whole 'Pink Mohawk' vs 'Black Trenchcoat' debate. In the early editions (Pink Mohawk) PC focus was very much on being Robin Hood types striking back against the evil corps. From what I understand of the recent editions (Black Trenchcoat), the criminal nature of PCs has been underscored and it's more about committing crimes for personal gain. I dunno, could be wrong. Also, I suppose you could take the game and play it old-school style, but I'm more of an RPG tinkerer than wholesale re-writer. Which is why I tend to only run published modules (with slight tweaks to personalize for PCs) rather than create my own.

It's interesting, because I can see that tension in our experience with the SR community at GC. We were very lucky to have a couple of great old-school style GMs working with us a couple of years ago to help us build characters we were really proud of, and a different GM ran a fantastic, colorful, thrilling last adventure on the morning of our departure. But last year it wasn't the same. The spirit around our table was much more mechanical & mercenary, and there was not really esprit d' corps, panache, or joie de vivre. Much less fun, so we cruised on over the D&D area and had a blast.