Everquest P&P RPG, Anyone Playing?

[DM_Jeff]

So, is anyone here running or currently playing in an Everquest Pencil & Paper RPG campaign?

How’s it going? Been going at it for a while or just get into it?

Do you like it better than ‘core’ 3.X? What stands out as superb about it?

Would you describe the actual game play and flow as very different from a regular D&D game based off of the Quests, Factions, and Spell System it uses or does it just play like a variant?

Anything about it that’s really not working in your game that you house-ruled or use a core 3.X mechanic instead?

I’ve been purchasing the books since the EQ PHB came out at GenCon two years back, and have faithfully gobbled up every release for it since. I’m intrigued by the idea, totally love the artwork (the best of 2nd edition art with some new edition style thrown in) and have found the reading to be quite entertaining. I want to start a campaign using the system before the year is out and was curious what others think of the game. Interestingly I never played the computer game, nor had any interest in it.

I’d go to the EQRPG.com message boards, but they’re mostly rules issues, I wanted to get a vibe from the community over here. Apparently it’s doing well, as S&S continues to put out product.

-DM Jeff

 

[Thanee]

One player in our group has the books (he also plays Everquest online, go figure ).

Some of the stuff in there is quite good (i.e. some of the breakdowns of spells, like haste).

In general it seems a bit overdone with different bonuses and it's probably quite easy to get into a very hack & slashy gaming style with those rules (they are probably also aimed for that gaming style, much like the Diablo D20 rules - not saying that there is anything wrong with that, really).

The artwork... I am blinded by the screaming orange coloring and generally the very... uhm... tasteful application of color in those books...

If those were undone, the artwork would probably be pretty good, ya.

Bye
Thanee

 

[jollyninja]

i was in a campaign for a while. i found that the primary difference in the magic was in the lack of utility for casters. my character was a wizard, now in dnd i could find traps, open doors, identify and create magic items and the like. in EQ, all i could do was nuke, nuke, nuke. one rule i did like was the weapon speeds (big weapon = reduced attack rate, smaller weapon = faster attack rate), which have been incorporated in my dnd game. anyway, it might have just been the dm's style but it seemed like to stay alive against the creatures we were supposed to be going against for our level, we had to do some serious min/maxing. i had an int bonus of every type just so there would be a possibility that i might get a spell past some saving throws on occasion. just for posterity, my alcohol tolerance skill was maxed and the highlite was accidentally burning down the thieves guild building in the barbarian city while fighting death. or accidentally collapsing the freeport millitia's hq when a hammer with a tremor like ability proced and collapsed the sewer underneath. hated the character class and the system but had a good time none the less.

 

[DM_Jeff]

Everquest stuff

>>i found that the primary difference in the magic was in the lack of utility for casters.

I'll have to look more into that, but as I understand there are not as many options for spellcasters, yeah.

As for min/maxing and being a numbers game, I certainly think that was the DM and the style, not a forced issue. Maybe I'm wrong; I have read an enoprmous amount of roleplaying and character development material in the books, but have also heard the adventures are little more than glorified crawls. I'll have to see as I read more.

As for the Art, I agree, Thanee, that it's a bit extreme at times, which oddly enough is a draw for me reminding me of earlier, simpler artwork fo the game. From a purely aesthetic point of view, I like the art for it's old-time feel.

Thanks for your viewpoints, I do get a vibe of the numbers playing a more important role than in a usual D&D game.

-DM Jeff

 

[Red Baron]

As with any rpg, I would say the numbers can be vitally important, sure - but the style of the group/GM can always counteract that tendency 100%, so the game is as roll-based or as role-based as you want it.

Just though I'd jump in to mention that the EQrpg has some big news on the horizon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Cheers,

 

[Terwox]

I still need to buy it.

I want to run a party of first level characters, go up to an orc camp, break their spawn, and fight them for nine excruciating hours. Man, good ole Everquest.

But my players would prolly just call up some guy who had a high level druid or something to powerlevel them up so they could sit for 29358203 hours on raids. Oh well.

Diablo would be fun too. Whenever people started talking to the story, players would immediate have to cut them off and run to the shops to buy potions and more tp scrolls and the like. "Hell, I'm Deck.." -get stuff identified, slap him, run to akara-

I dunno how I'd handle exited the game to do 259823057 pindle runs in a day, though.

-hides in shame in the corner-