Unpopular opinions go here

[overgeeked]

For all its flaws, TSR’s Marvel Super Heroes RPG is the best all-around superhero game of all time. The only game that comes close is Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. The Ultimate Powers Book is a gold mine of ideas for powers and really drives home the sense of “no really, just make it up.” Story-specific supers games like Masks are in a different category.

 

[Guest 7042500]

Unpopular Opinion:

I am utterly unable to understand the fetish for using CHAINMAIL to resolve D&D combat.

 

[Velderan]

For all its flaws, TSR’s Marvel Super Heroes RPG is the best all-around superhero game of all time. The only game that comes close is Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. The Ultimate Powers Book is a gold mine of ideas for powers and really drives home the sense of “no really, just make it up.” Story-specific supers games like Masks are in a different category.

Wish I could love this post twice.

 

[Panzeh]

I find the DM advice not to put mook NPCs with players to be fundamentally misguided- having people in the group you can kill who aren't the PCs is just great. I don't know how people end up playing such simple characters so slowly in combat.

 

[Scribe]

Unpopular Opinion:

The Paladin is just a Fighter/Cleric.

Maybe unpopular but 100% true.

More Unpopular: there is no difference between the cleric and paladin.

 

[Autumnal]

Not so much an unpopular opinion as an unpopular taste: I want a game with the smart good stuff from class and level games like various chunks of D&D lineage, 13th Age, etc etc, and/or various versions of WHFRP, with cool magic of various sorts and multiple species of PCs and lots of room for adventure, but with very little combat. I want characters to go places, meet people, uncover secrets with minimal bloodshed - often, none. But designing such a game in which almost all the combat-related mechanics, advice, and setting elements are outright replaced by other things is apparently not a thing to do.

 

[Reynard]

Not so much an unpopular opinion as an unpopular taste: I want a game with the smart good stuff from class and level games like various chunks of D&D lineage, 13th Age, etc etc, and/or various versions of WHFRP, with cool magic of various sorts and multiple species of PCs and lots of room for adventure, but with very little combat. I want characters to go places, meet people, uncover secrets with minimal bloodshed - often, none. But designing such a game in which almost all the combat-related mechanics, advice, and setting elements are outright replaced by other things is apparently not a thing to do.

Characters as traveling judges might be an interesting setup for such a game. They still explore this strange fantastical world and travel through the wilds between the points of light. but instead of killing people once they get there, they are presented with a problem of law and have to investigate and ultimately make life altering decisions for the NPCs. All the fantasy adventure exploration and interaction, with none of the bloodshed. Off the top of my head I think you could probably cobble together something with GUMSHOE as a foundation.

 

[Autumnal]

Wow. I never thought of that, and me even a Judge Dee fun.

Gumshoe, alas doesn’t work for me. I like the investigative abilities, but general ability use keeps confusing me and 1d6 is no fun. I’d end up looting from it for QuestWorlds or Fate Accelerated.

 

[Reynard]

Wow. I never thought of that, and me even a Judge Dee fun.

Gumshoe, alas doesn’t work for me. I like the investigative abilities, but general ability use keeps confusing me and 1d6 is no fun. I’d end up looting from it for QuestWorlds or Fate Accelerated.

Adding a floor to what you can gain from a "skill check" (which is GUMSHOE'S real innovation) shouldn't be hard in any number of games. The harder part would be the robust character creation/development you mentioned.

 

[Autumnal]

Yeah. I could shuck the whole infrastructure and go for something more fundamentally flexible - Fate, QuestWorlds, Over The Edge, Lords of Gossamer and Shadow, etc. but I’m much more bored by combat focus than class & level systems as such.