Besides D&D, what are you playing?

[innerdude]

It's okay, @Esau Cairn, I am also no longer a "lover" of D&D.

There was a point in time somewhere between 2004 and 2006 where I would have laughed in your face if you'd asked if I wanted to play anything other than D&D 3.5, because why would I want to play anything besides the "perfect embodiment of RPG play"?

Now? I haven't touched a d20 system in nearly a decade, for the simple fact that there's flat-out better game systems out there than D&D. For me to have anything to do with 5e (or a d20 system of any sort), it would have to be as a player, and I'd have to be darn sure that the GM was capable of running an exceptional campaign. Otherwise, why would I waste my time with what is, IMHO, an inferior product in its own market?

That said, I'm significantly grateful for the long-term impact 5e has had on the hobby. It's amazing how far we've come in the last 6 years in terms of exposure to the hobby in general. My hope is for a long, glorious, successful age of D&D 5e bringing people into the hobby . . . who I can later convert to a different system along the way.

 

[Bluenose]

Ran a short adventure last night over Zoom with my players. We used Barbarians of Lemuria, playing a modified version of the old WFRP scenario Shadows over Bogenhafen. We'll probably try and finish it either Friday or Monday. There's a chance that I'll run some more after that, although we're still waiting to finish the F2F games that we were running and no-one wants to put those online - too much work for a couple of sessions at most, I'm sorry to say, especially since we're not familiar with the tools.

 

[TurinTurambar]

Ran a short adventure last night over Zoom with my players. We used Barbarians of Lemuria, playing a modified version of the old WFRP scenario Shadows over Bogenhafen. We'll probably try and finish it either Friday or Monday. There's a chance that I'll run some more after that, although we're still waiting to finish the F2F games that we were running and no-one wants to put those online - too much work for a couple of sessions at most, I'm sorry to say, especially since we're not familiar with the tools.

We end playing in zoom too, after trying roll20 and Discord.

 

[uzirath]

We end playing in zoom too, after trying roll20 and Discord.

I’ve been running with Roll20 and Zoom, but for the last two sessions we didn’t use Roll20 at all. I like being able to see everyone’s face.

 

[TurinTurambar]

I’ve been running with Roll20 and Zoom, but for the last two sessions we didn’t use Roll20 at all. I like being able to see everyone’s face.

Same here. I don´t usually play with a grid in our tabletop sessions either, so I don´t need that kind of software.

 

[TheCultMachine]

I got to run Savage Worlds a couple times. Wish my group liked it as much as I did. I would happy convert from 5e to Savage Worlds.

 

[pemerton]

We've played three (? I think - maybe four) online sessions - using Skype or Zoom, and an online dice roller for the dice pools in the Cortex+ session.

 

[aramis erak]

My Sentinels Game hits ep VI on sunday... ending their first collection.
I'm still running Dragon Warriors...
I'm playing in my 20YO daughter's L5R game.

Looking forward to Dune, even tho' I'm not a fan of 2d20. Most of my issues can be solved by not allowing momentum for extra d20's and limiting the reroll spends on effect dice (d6's).

 

[Fenris-77]

Would anyone care to give me a rundown on the similarities and differences between Pendragon and Prince Valiant? I own the former, but not the latter. Both are by Greg Stafford and @pemerton has been pretty effusive in his praise of PV, so I want to see if it was worth trying to source a copy when I already have Pendragon.

 

[pemerton]

Would anyone care to give me a rundown on the similarities and differences between Pendragon and Prince Valiant? I own the former, but not the latter. Both are by Greg Stafford and @pemerton has been pretty effusive in his praise of PV, so I want to see if it was worth trying to source a copy when I already have Pendragon.

You'll probably get a fuller picture by reading some of my actual play posts.

But the short version: Pendragon is ultra-sim and defaults to the players playing through a pre-figured story.

Prince Valiant uses very simple PC build: allocate 7 dice across Brawn and Presence; then allocate 9 dice across 6 skills with choice of occupation establishing some required skills (eg all knights and squires need Arms and Riding). The skill list has 14 skills in the Basic game and 29 in the Advanced game (the Advanced game allows playing PCs other than knights).

Resolution is dice pools (or coin toss, but we use dice) - 50% win/lose for each die, and counting successes. It's either opposed or vs a target number if there's no active opposition; and can be simple or extended (in the latter case margin of failure reduces the loser's pool; keep going until someone gets to zero).

Pools are typically stat + skill, but some are stat only and some skill only.

Fictional positioning - which includes emotions and morale on both PCs and NPCs - is handled as adjustments to the size of the pool.

Consequences can either be reductions to Brawn and/or Presence, or purely changes within the fiction. The GM has full authority over adverse consequences (including, if a PC loses a combat, how bad the injuries are, how long they take to heal, whether or not they require a Brawn check to avoid dying, etc).

The default way to play is for the GM to frame the PCs into a situation that would prompt knights-errant into action, and then find out what happens. In our game the PCs have fought jousts, married (in one case because bullied into it by his wife and her father; in one case out of love, in one case to cement a political alliance); founded a holy military order (the Knight of St Sigobert) and have travelled from Britain to Anatolia where they are hoping to do some crusading.

I know that Greg Stafford thought Pendragon was his masterpiece, but I think that Prince Valiant is the better system. I'm very surprised it doesn't seem to get more play.