[Galahad]

So what's your favorite RPG?

So who likes to play what?

I like to differentiate between my favorite game and my favorite system. My favorite RPG system for the moment is probably d20. It's nice and stable, easy to play...we'll see what happens then 4th edition comes out.

But my favorite game, setting-wise, would probably be Cyberpunk, or maybe Bureau 13 (I bet nobody;s heard of that one without google)

 

[Katie Drake]

My favourite RPG is by far World of Darkness (and its extensions like Vampire, Mage, Werewolf and the like). I love the story, I love the mechanics and above all I love the mood. Excellent game.

 

[Galahad]

I've played WoD, and it can e a lot of fun...but I confess, I don't care for the mechanics. The rules are very light and loose, which works ok only so long as you have a whole group of dedicated RP/storytellers. But a loose system also has bigger loopholes for abuse. Most of the people I played with just made uber-twinked characters and stomped around obliterating things.

Not that d20 is perfect or anything. I just prefer a tighter set of rules.

WoD is fun though. I enjoyed Werewolf, and I played a bit of Aberrant and Mage...man, Mage is where you really have to watch out for people abusing the system.

 

[Culler]

My favorite system atm is BESM 3.0. You can literally build any character with it, so you are in no way limited by concept. The system is such that it balances your concept against the other character in an efficient way. You are not restricted at all in what your character can do except by power level and genre constraints.

However, there are balancing issues (ones that can be easily fixed, thankfully). The biggest problem is that it has no support. There is only the core book (which includes some cool settings), and all monsters etc. must be created by the DM. It doesn't really need a lot of extra books for character options as everything a character could do is pretty much included in the main book.

It's about 2 steps away from the perfect roleplaying system (one step being some system rewrites like skills and some rebalancing issues and the other step being proper support).

You can literally run almost every other system printed under its umbrella.

To play in right now mostly I prefer 3.5 D&D. It's got lots of problems but it isn't bad and its the common denominator that people are familiar with. Savage worlds is also a fun system that's pretty quick and can handle a wide variety of characters, campaigns, and genres.

And 4th edition is pretty much like playing WoW on the tabletop. I'm prevented from telling you why by a legal agreement, but don't be surprised if 4e is full of the fail.

 

[Galahad]

I've played BESM as well, but it had the same problem as DoD for me, the loose and flexible system is far too prone to abuse. Bubblegum Crisis used the Interlock-based Fuzion system similar to Cyberpunk 2020. It was skill based, rather than level base, and there weren't many limitations on character creation, but it also had a solid core of game mechanics that were less prone to needing on the fly fixes and friendly interpretation. In a lot of ways it was like d20 before d20 was invented.

You can find the core fuzion system online for free from R.Talsorian if I recall.

d20 modern came close to the idea of freeform gaming with its genericized classes and pick your own class features sort of setup.

But yeah, I'm not optimistic about 4th ed.

 

[Sword Slasher]

The Eldar Scrolls IV: Oblivion

 

[Galahad]

Pssst, Slasher...
We're talking Pen & Paper RPGs, here.
Video games are thataway

 

[ACoz]

I've played almost everything, in the 20+ years I've been an RPG-nerd.

Everything from the original Basic D&D, through Twilight 2000, to Rifts and beyond.

My preferences (and my moods) vary wildly with what I like playing and/or am currently deep into, but... for the last 12 or 13 years or so, I've got to say my favorite RPG's been Battlelords of the 23rd Century.

Oddly enough, I just don't like the d20 System (for many reasons I won't go into)...

 

[Druchii in Space]

My main game is Werwolf the Apocalypse, although I find all the original WoD games are pretty good. However with Werewolf I find a strong connection in the idea of trying to save the world, well in their eyes, against almost unbeatable odds. With a good mix of spirituality, horror and social gathering thrown into the mix.
As a StT I ran septs as they they where described, with politics that can easily match any Vampire game, and I loved the epic feeling the game gave as you fought often really long campaigns that could last for as long as you pretty much wanted.

Other faves have included Dark Sun, perhaps my fave D&D setting of all time, don't know what it was but something just clicked with me and that game.
If I'm honest I have had a real trouble with D20 due to the horrible in my eyes 'feats' system. Mainly as I don't agree with giving Humans more just to attract players to them. If folks play an Elf for the rules, change the players mind not the rules to try and make him pick what many see as a weaker race. I was just of the opinion they should have made classes that would make folks rather play Humans, or trust in players to play what they wanted, rather than jangle rules in front of them as a reason to play a Human.

Although it does occur to me I should probably just pick up D20 again to try one more time, if feats still annoy me I can always Doctor the rules. :grin:

The other reason to look at D20 is I am a fan of Forgotten Realms, and there are quite a few D20 lines out now that look quite interesting.

 

[Nato13]

My favorite would have to be Cyberpunk 2020, we've had some epic campaigns over the
years. Nothing else i've played gives the atmosphere and overall feel that Cyberpunk 2020 does.

 

[LVix]

Although it does occur to me I should probably just pick up D20 again to try one more time, if feats still annoy me I can always Doctor the rules. :grin:

Damnit and I was just getting attached to out current game!

I've had limited experience with different systems myself but I have to say I prefer the WoD system by far. Mainly as I like the freedom of it (I... hate... feats...): I do bow however to the fact it is extremely open to abuse; so I just have to console myself that I keep it to a minimum myself. (Though with Mage tbh I wouldn't have stood a chance as my lateral thinking is way below par.)

As for setting I'm a Fantasy girl at heart so its pretty much anything with Elves and Dragons. I don't have much of a view on D&D's various worlds as I've played a lot of homebrew settings through the years, almost to the exclusion of the pre-existing ones. I have to say though Werewolf comes in a very close second here and might have overtaken the fantasy side if it were not for a bad group or two.

...need to find more (any) roleplayers in my area. *twitch*

 

[ACoz]

Coming out of the printer's from Palladium on November 14th is Dead Reign!

zombie apocalypse gaming with Palladium's system... should be neat.

 

[chromedog]

1: Cyberpunk 2020
2: WoD (before the world ended and began again). Played a formidable Glass Walker Hacker known as "the chrome God" (my alias is the result of a misspeaking of his name.) - primarily Vampire and Werewolf. Never played Mage or Wraith (but had books) - but had the girlfriend of a player want to play something, so I wrote up a wraith character for her (with 7 pages of notes so she could understand bits of the game) for my vamp game.

I've also played Bureau 13, rifts, Merc2000, Star Trek RPG (klingons subrules) and Shadowrun (currently playing 4th ed). Never really got into any of the 'fantasy' games. So, no MERPS, or D&D etc. Couldn't stand the mechanics of Gurps.

 

[Epic Fail]

My first and favourite is Shadowrun. I really like what they did with the 4th edition. I was horribly worried about life without combat pool but it works. Really really well.

I enjoy Dark Heresy, the rules system allows a group to easily fudge and attempt things not described in the rules in detail. The experience system in that is interesting too, but it does suffer from railroading if you follow the career paths as writ.

DnD 4E has been a big surprise for me. I never got into 3E, but we've got a bunch of people pllaying 4E now, which I suspect is due to the simple and accessible rules system. The RP/storytelling side has suffered, and it gets to feeling like a tabletop MMORPG.

 

[Djinn24]

Used to be DnD 3 and 3.5 but now it probably is Vampire and all of its off shoots.

 

[Leatharnak]

Legend of Five Rings has one of the most interesting and unique storylines ever. Immersive and ever changing with player interaction via the collectible card game, L5R has a deep east asian mythology to it. The rules mechanics are one of the best as well. L5R incorperates a heroic system of roll and keep along with "dice booming" that is unrivaled in my mind. WoD does this same thing but L5R does it better than any other.

Rune also has an interesting system that could have work with a little more play-testing. Overall a great setting in Viking Europe but bawls rules.

WoD is also pretty good but I find that the people who play are way too emo or goth for my tastes. I much prefer players who want heroic deeds sung rather than crying in a basement while a vampire steals your soul.

 

[Druchii in Space]

Aye that is a sterotype I've heard about Leatharnak, not seen it myself though, though that might be because my core group came from AD&D first, Werewolf was the main game for us as well, The few Vampire games I ran where interesting, its the best way I can describe it. I think some of the group had a real issue with the idea of working for their own interests over the others.

Legend of the Five Rings is an excellent background and game, I used to have loads of the books but sold them after moving up here as LVix was never into the game as much as some of the other group members down in Cornwall. I still have thousands of the cards in a box somewhere though, and a good dozen decks made up.


Interesting comment about 4E there Epic Fail, as someone one who hasn't got the books yet, what would you say is causing that. The decline in the storytelling I mean, have they focused harder on using figures to represent the players due to the Collectable minatures game or do the combat rules just feel more clunky?
I did notice this with the Star Wars RPG reload a year or so back, and I was a little bit dissapointed they had fudged the RPG to just try and sell more of their collectable figures. Although if thats the problem, I'll be honest and say that I'll do what I always do and ignore the figures part anyway.

Oh and Chromedog I do wonder how many of us there are, like you I have not moved into the nWoD. I did get some of the new books but I saw it for the PC edited, wimpy version it was and was extremely dissapointed. Well no that's an understatement, I am very annoyed that the many books that could still have been made will never see the light of day due to this poor reload of one the best RPG's out there. But oh well.

 

[Col. Schafer]

The way I see it, the simplified and beefed up combat rules in 4th ed D&D just make the combat encouners get over faster, so the players can converse with the mysterious scorcerer. So right now 4th ED is my favorite.

 

[Druchii in Space]

Starting to sound that I at least owe it to myself to actually order the game then, see how much has changed sinced 3rd. I never picked up 3.5 in the end.

 

[WoRLoKKeD]

Definately Shadowrun, and I agree with Epic Fail that 4th works really, really well.
Dark Heresy is also fun, as are the Fallout rules. (A bashed together set of rules availiable from No Mutants Allowed)