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Yes and no. Some classless systems that are more firmly grounded in reality don't do a great job of allowing you to model you character on fictional heroes at all, without house-rules or specialized rules that effectively change the genre - either because they don't let you do cinematic stunts...

The question is this - is it actually reasonable to expect RPG (or D&D, specifically) rules to closely accomodate many of the character types one commonly finds in fiction? I see a lot of people complain that they can't make a carbon copy of a character from their favorite book, movie, anime...

Well, we actually play with all those modifiers and it works for everyone involved. Like anything else, all it takes is familiarity. Though I do have to admit that I frankly don't get people who can't (or can't be bothered to) keep a few numbers straight, like in that simple example you...

Maybe. I certainly don't like "playing fast and loose with the rules" - if I choose a system to play, I want the (ideally, unique) game experience it provides, and I like to learn how to play the game well. (since as far as I'm concerned, the "game" part is just as important as the...

Really? I guess it just comes down to the way the games we played in have been GMed, because your experiences just don't match mine. Actual soldiers (not goons with assault rifles, professional troops - with military-grade weapons, ammo and armor, and the training to use them) would be a very...

I use a lot of enemy NPCs (as opposed to monsters) anyway, so designing specific "mini-bosses" is sort of redundant... If I had to choose, though, I'd probably go with Fighters - usually with some interesting feat combo that makes it fun/frustrating for the PCs, though casters of all kinds come...

I wouldn't. :) For me, the whole point of SR is that the PCs - short of having the right cyber or magic - are not James Bond, Batman, or a high-level D&D character. I like the fact that the SR equivalent to a 20th level D&D character can't just blithely face down a couple of starting runners...

Feist's one attempt at modern fantasy wasn't his best, and unfortunately for you, Shadow of the Dark Queen came after he turned into a total hack and started to re-write the same story he already wrote once for easy money... Magician, on the other hand, is a good book - so are Silverthorn and A...

Unless you get rid of the hard attribute and skill caps that SR4 has, SR4 characters - despite being less competent, on average, than their SR3 counterparts - still don't have a lot of room to grow. It's one of those many things that they changed and it's still broken. ...but if you just get...

1. A new SR3 character is (or rather, can be - the system certainly supports it) a highly competent professional, generally with his primary weapon skill at "professional" or "expert" level. 2. Yes, a character with a good weapon skill and the right cyber (which makes a huge difference) will...

I've been playing SR3 for a few years now (never played SR2) and SR4 doesn't do it for me. It's not an awful system, by any means - but it does away with a number of things I really like about SR3, and introduces a slew of poor design choices / things needing an errata or clarification. (I'm...

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit (After that, if they have half a brain, they'll make their way to the LotR on their own. So much for your 5-book limit!;)) Tim Powers - The Anubis Gates Lois McMaster Bujold - The Curse of Chalion Steven Brust - Taltos Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere I think that covers...

Good point, I somehow skipped over Baker.

It'd be easier to answer your question if you gave more examples of the stuff you like, but off-hand, if you liked the LotR novels because of the way they were written rather than despite the way they were written, I'd say avoid Dragonlance. In fact, I'd also say avoid Dragonlance like the...

The one I'm really sick of is: "Dragons are geniuses, they should be able to think of every tactic the party might possibly come up with." Funny how those people don't seem inclined to give so much leeway to PC Wizards with even better Int scores...

Right. It not only makes the use of the Hide skill impossible, it even makes you visible when someone doesn't have a direct LOS to you, because the light you hold reflects off of every surface. You announce your presence even before you enter a room or round a corner. Sort of a weird objection...

While I haven't been on the receiving end of too many save-or-die spells either, my frustration with how saves work stems largely from my inability to use them as a DM, because I don't want to have a wholesale slaughter of PCs on my hands. My players tend to be pretty casual about maximizing...

It's wrong to laugh at other people's pain, isn't it? Oh well. [Nelson Muntz]Ha-ha! Your cherished childhood memories are being violated![/Nelson Muntz] ...hey, that made me feel better about the SW prequels. ;) Seriously, though - we're talking about a Galactus storyline, here. The whole...

I agree - it's something I've been doing in my games (even if underground humanoids didn't get depressed seeing 60/120 feet in black and white 24/7, I figured they'd need fire for cooking and heat, like everyone else) but I felt it still left too many problematic situations, hence my "fix".

I suppose "supernatural" is an imprecise term to use in a D&D context. I certainly wouldn't, speaking casually, call giants, or most magical beasts, or many aberrations "supernatural". (not in a D&D context, where they're almost ordinary compared to elementals, outsiders, undead, etc.) Hence...