RPG Style Question

[Lanefan]

I voted #4 but only because #1 mentions things like battlemats, which we don't use.

We've always sat at the same table, if for no other reason than none of us have room for these multi-table set-ups people are talking about. Also, sitting on couches would, for some of us, all too quickly lead to dozing on couches - not optimal for play.

Lan-"I can sleep through anything except sleep, as I always wake up"-efan

 

[Pentius]

I feel a drive to explain a few things.

Firstly, the idea of a split between combat and RP is abhorrent to me. I play D&D as Hrothgar, exiled chieftain of a barbarian tribe(for a crime he didn't commit, natch), for example. Hrothgar seeks to slay many foes and become a hero of legend, such that his tribe will have to take him back, and screw the evidence. Hrothgar's story is told in combat, and scenes leading to combat. Talking to john the barber about his recent mortgage and the difficulties john has faced as a barber in uncertain times is wasted time for Hrothgar. Time not in some way leading to adventure is generally wasted time for any character I bring to a D&D table. My character's stories are told in combat. That is where my characters tell their tales. Combat is where Canus, the revenant addicted to souls gets his fix. It is where Noriaki, who fancies himself a famed swordsman gets his kicks and casts his spells(barbarian rages, mechanically).

In this spirit then, I do not see a split between combat and RP as good. Indeed, combat is where my RP shines brightest. It is where Noriaki challenges the spider (example) because godammit, don't ignore me. Combat is where my characters shine brightest, and **** talking to john the barber about his kids.

If I wanted RP divorced from any kind of action, well, that would equate to no game I have ever seen. I want ACTION. My actual life is dull. Let me have action, then, in my fiction.

EDIT: I just waxed about fiction, here. Oh, well. Screw 'RP scenes' of boredom. I crave action!

 

[Mark CMG]

But to critique that pic in more detail:

I wish you hadn't. These are some of my closest peeps. The generalizations and assumptions you make do, while admittedly meant to be off-the-cuff, come off as a bit rude. I'll try to get back to this thread this weekend but wanted to chime in for a moment before this sort of analysis got much further.

Pics never tell the full story and tend to get taken at these gamedays, that I helped found eleven years ago and have continued since three times a year at our host store Game Plus in Mount Prospect (by virtue of EN Worlders Buzz and thalmin), on the fly because the folks who grab pics are playing in games and take them when they can. They might not always be as flattering as they might be but they are intended to document and hopefully retain some memmories of the ongoing events, such as they are. That particular GM is a long time friend of mine, one of the kindest people I have known in my life, who invariably hopes to play in games run by others but always, when need arises, steps up to fill a GM chair as a back up and sometimes runs games when it appears the rosters are shorthanded (and also when he gets the itch to run instead of play).

[MENTION=90161]A flannel shirt[/MENTION] - I get what you mean. I'm a fan of both "styles" of gaming for different reasons. I'm not sure the gameday photos totally capture the feel of both as strongly as I think you would like to portray each, particularly since gamedaying, if you will, at a gamestore has certain table conventions that probably don't translate well to home game environements where, I dare say, both styles of games likely take on a decidedly different tenor.

 

[A flannel shirt]

[MENTION=10479]Mark CMG[/MENTION] The pics where the closest examples I could find. The examples were only used for player positioning, not about their demeanor.


However I did forget about my own game pics. I uploaded a few here a while ago. Those pics were from a game that was just a big battle. The players a head of time knew that.

EN World: Your Daily RPG Magazine - A flannel shirt's Album: Liberation of Jyrovia

Battle Mats and minis.

--------------------------------------------------------


Both styles are fun. There is no right or wrong.

 

[the Jester]

It is easier to show then explain fully. My fault for not being too clear.

I don't think the issue is clarity so much as the question itself being predicated on bogus assumptions.

#1 The group sits around one table together ....snip... Combat to RPing % is 55:45.

Why do you assert that the combat to rping ratio is 55:45 for this style of play?

#2 The group sits around their own table and on a couch or chair. A DM/ST/GM is sitting at a “Station” that is the head of the room. The game is centered around story telling. No maps, miniatures, or grid.... snip...
Combat to RPing % is 20:80[/B]

Why is this suddenly 20:80?

Why can't you have an all-combat, everyone has their own station campaign? Or a 20:80 combat:roleplay ratio at a table?

Like I said, your poll question comes off as highly slanted to me.

 

[Oryan77]

I wish you hadn't. These are some of my closest peeps. The generalizations and assumptions you make do, while admittedly meant to be off-the-cuff, come off as a bit rude.

Sorry man. I didn't mean anything by it. I was wondering in the back of my mind if someone might know them (or they might be posters here); so I was just being goofy in a light-hearted way and actually was trying to make an effort not to come off as insulting. I was trying to make my comments obviously outrageous so it was known that I was kidding around. I thought people would get a chuckle out of it and know I wasn't meaning to be mean.

I'm sure they are good guys. The pic doesn't look any different than me & my own group.

I tried giving you xp but I still gotta spread it around. Uhg, I always have to spread it around. I've been spreading it around. How much more do I need to spread before I can stop needing to spread it around?

[MENTION=10479]Mark CMG[/MENTION]However I did forget about my own game pics. I uploaded a few here a while ago.

Oh please let me critique your pic too!

 

[ryushima2011]

I like both ways!

 

[Water Bob]

Battlemat? Minis?

Doesn't anybody use graph paper and a No. 2 pencil anymore?

We use that, when a tactical plan is needed, or I'll use a black marker, large graph paper sheet, cork board, tacks, and colored dots that fit on the tacks (which I usually number to represent different beasties and NPCs).

This keeps us from erasing the pencil marks on the graph paper.

 

[ryushima2011]

I do, sometimes!

 

[TwoSix]

Battlemat? Minis?

Doesn't anybody use graph paper and a No. 2 pencil anymore?

We use that, when a tactical plan is needed, or I'll use a black marker, large graph paper sheet, cork board, tacks, and colored dots that fit on the tacks (which I usually number to represent different beasties and NPCs).

This keeps us from erasing the pencil marks on the graph paper.

Well, your group does.

No one else, though.

Sorry.