So, I'm wondering if I'm the only one with that itch?
1e, 2e, 3e, 4e...been there, done that.
Loved it, by the way. I've had a great time in every edition. I've also got some mad love for Hero Games (particularly Champs), Rolemaster, and my new love: Hackmaster.
So, we started up a campaign of Hack recently, which went parallel to our 4e campaign. It wasn't really close, Hack by a mile. Even though the combat was at times stifling, the party balance is completely out of whack, and my character's "combat effectiveness" is ridiculously bad (I'm a pirate)...we're having a blast.
So, why? I love 4e. Insanely easier to DM, prep, etc. But the characters in Hack are so much RICHER!
I listen to all the podcasts that talk about RP, character aspects, building CHARACTER into your stories, and handing over the reigns of narration. That's sweet. I bought Burning Empires, but....wow. Where would I start, exactly?
So, what exactly's going to scratch that itch? Is it Pathfinder? Is it Hack? Is it 4e? Is it some INDIE HIPPIE GOODNESS, as yet undiscovered?
Is anyone else...here? Has anyone been here, and found a road out of this dense forest?
So here's the rules:
1) No edition wars. Love them all. Don't go there. Tell me how YOU scratch your itch.
2) No rules-systems wars. Love aspects of them all. Let's not go there.
3) Keep it to YOUR experience. I'd like to hear about what you did that WORKED. If you'd like to comment on others experiences, feel free to start your own thread.
Fork off, as it were.
Think this will pass the mod test? Can't wait to find out....
For me personally-without getting in an EW- Pathfinder will never scratch the itch because I'm just not a fan of 3.x in the grand scheme of things (great intentions, poor execution- *for my tastes*). PF seems to cater even moreso to the 3.x style gamer- and thats great, good for them, glad they have a game to scratch the itch!
I've got 4E to scratch my new millenium D&D itch and I've got the LBBs, S&W, S&S, BFRPG, Moldvay/Cook/Marsh and 1E/2E when it itches in that "old school" spot
EDIT- I shouild point out that only the above mentione d D&D games "scratch my D&D itch". BUt I love all kinds of systems, and sometimes I need to scratch the CoC itch or the RQ2E itch or WEG StarWars itch or Herowars/Heroquest (Glorantha) itch.
No one game covers all itches.
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Last edited by JeffB; 10th July 2009 at 03:38 AM..
Freeform. We're all GMs (mostly), we're all players. No mechanical rules. Concepts only limited by setting, and we break that fairly often. You can be as bada** or weird and powerful as you want so long as you're not a jerk and hogging everything. And in this version of freeform everyone can use everyone else's character within consideration of their creators so no wating in PbP.
Hmm...if richness and depth of character definition are what you're looking for, two systems come to mind. I haven't played either, but have heard many good things about the second, and have internalized a lot of the first over many years of reading.
The first, you already know, at least to some extent. HERO Games launches the sixth edition of the HERO System next month, and it looks like it's going to be a general reworking to get rid of some of the stranger bits and make character creation more modular and flexible. (Figured Characteristics aren't figured any more, COM is now a Talent, and it looks like many system elements are getting broken down and rebuilt as more streamlined, modular expressions of HERO's core principles, based on the advance news from Steve "Has Probably Written Another Supplement in the Time It's Taken Me to Write This Post" Long.)
A more 'indie' style that I've heard good things about is FATE, and you can check it out here for free and legally.
EDIT: Sorry, missed Rule 3. Still, this is more an information post than an advocacy post.
We will definitely have a delve/demo going on at the Paizo booth throughout the con, as well as a full slate of longer Pathfinder Society Organized Play events!
I got some cream to take care of that itch instead of rubbing it raw. Then I play 4e.
__________________ All we want to do is eat your brains
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All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
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I think Pathfinder is going to be a great game, just like 3.X was/is a great game.
I scratch my itches with OD&D, AD&D and Pathfinder, depending on the exact nature of the itch at a particular moment. Not been in a 4E game yet, but I would try it.
Point of clarfication: Is Pathfinder the fix for what? Sounds like you are inviting people to free-form discuss what is broken, on their favorite broken thing, and then speculate on whether Pathfinder will fix that thing. That's at least what I thought when I read the title of the thread. So, IBTL, and all that...
So, do you have the itch? Is it scratched for you? Will Pathfinder scratch it?
Do you have a game that scratches that itch for you, and how did you get there?
It's scratching my itch so far - but then, so is SWSE. 4e, while having some nice new stuff, veers too much in a direction I don't want to go or play in. Both SWSE and Pathfinder push at 3.5's boundaries without being nearly as alien to the game I've come to prefer.
__________________ Bill D
"There's a fine line between a superpower and a chronic medical condition."
- Doctor Impossible
Systems are nigh-irrelevant, IMO. My itches are scratched with great GM's, great stories, great characters, and people who are fun to hang around with and are into the game. I've played with the best, so my standards are ridiculously high. Since it is important with such games for the system to provide some structure and adjudication but otherwise stay out of the way, lightweight systems work best here, or midweight systems with a lot of handwaving. Savage Worlds, BRP, Dread, Mutants and Masterminds, Paranoia, all have given me joy. The best thing about 3e (and there were lots of good things about 3e) was that so many people knew it so well. Even a moderately complicated system can be very unobtrusive when the GM knows it like the back of his hand.
Now for those times when the GM was not one of the greats, and the plot and characters are tedious, give me a nice tactical combat system so I can kill sumpin. Mini's and maps, tiles and dungeon dressing work best here. 3rd was fine, but 4th is really nice. If Pathfinder is essentially 3rd with bug fixes, then I'm sure it will be fine.
My favorite is still Shadowrun, but mostly for it's setting and atmosphere. The system was interesting, but I ran it for a year and still had to flip through the books during combat. If Paizo comes out with a spellpunk-themed version of Pathfinder and licenses it to WizKids or whoever is holding onto the Shadowrun IP, I'll be their biggest fan. (And yes, I know about Urban Arcana. It's fine, but is missing too much of the flavor. I need my spell drain mechanics to be happy.)
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