Fun to Read... Boring/Bad to Play

[Scribble]

My vote goes to Shadowrun. They managed to write even catalogues of high-tech equipment in an entertaining way. Creating characters was fun, as well, but whenever we tried to play it, it always capsized after a single unsatisfying session.

I had a love hate relationship with Shadowrun- Like you said the rulebooks were tons of fun to read (I find it interesting they kind of foreshadowed the modern day "comments" section on blogs and catalog pages) but the sessions always seemed to end up being:

"I shoot him... "

"No damage- he shoots you."

"No damage. I shoot him again."

"Oh you got- err wait- no damage."

"Hey wait while you guys are having this fight can I hack into something?"

 

[Obryn]

The classic case of that for me is 'Paranoia', which is a great game but which I haven't got a hope of being able to run successfully. It takes a game master with a particular skill set to do it, and I don't have it.

IME, it's much more important to have the right players for Paranoia. The GM is at least partially irrelevant, so long as the players are wound up and pointed in the right direction.

-O

 

[Nifft]

Exalted?

I found Exalted was, sadly, less fun to play as a campaign than I expected. It was more of a PITA to GM for, basically.

IMHO Exalted is fun to read and fun to play.

100% agree that it is painful to prep for as a GM, though.

Cheers, -- N

 

[pawsplay]

I had a love hate relationship with Shadowrun- Like you said the rulebooks were tons of fun to read (I find it interesting they kind of foreshadowed the modern day "comments" section on blogs and catalog pages) but the sessions always seemed to end up being:

"I shoot him... "

"No damage- he shoots you."

"No damage. I shoot him again."

"Oh you got- err wait- no damage."

"Hey wait while you guys are having this fight can I hack into something?"

Really? Whenever I've played it, they could have called it House Painters: The Splattering.

 

[Kafen]

Rifts! Joking... I thought about joining the band wagon. However, the one that is really fun to read and horrible to play for myself is The Doctor Who Role Playing Game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The system is horrible in action, but the modules and rules 'read' okay.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

I've had fun with Wraith. The best way to run it, in my experience, is to give the PCs a common cause of death. The last time I ran it, we set up the PCs mortal lives and then opened the first session with all of them dying in a plane crash. It gives them common ground while they discover the secrets of the afterlife.

As to the topic at hand, Dragonlance. And Star Wars. And really any RPG or Campaign Setting based on another media. I read Dragonlance Chronicles first and then got into D&D and thus felt that the Dragonlance story had already been told. What's my character going to do? Clean up after Tanis and Raistlin. Same with Star Wars. Luke and Han destroyed the Death Star, my PC will just be over here fighting some insignificant side battle, thanks.

 

[pawsplay]

As to the topic at hand, Dragonlance. And Star Wars. And really any RPG or Campaign Setting based on another media. I read Dragonlance Chronicles first and then got into D&D and thus felt that the Dragonlance story had already been told. What's my character going to do? Clean up after Tanis and Raistlin. Same with Star Wars. Luke and Han destroyed the Death Star, my PC will just be over here fighting some insignificant side battle, thanks.

I don't think these examples really fits the thread. Running games set in media like that do have some particular challenges, but there is no general reason why such games should focus on "insignificant" and boring stuff.

 

[Simrion]

What?! No World of Synnibarr?! Come on this has to be hands down worse than Rifts...calulating 1/10ths for damage resistance....Golden Tiger Martial Artisits with Cyber Warriors and Wizards....

 

[Obryn]

What?! No World of Synnibarr?! Come on this has to be hands down worse than Rifts...calulating 1/10ths for damage resistance....Golden Tiger Martial Artisits with Cyber Warriors and Wizards....

It's not really fun to read, though...

-O

 

[Shades of Green]

Shadowrun has tons of flavor, loads of in-setting flavor-text, excellent writing, a highly detailed and uber-cool world and a huge amount of plot hooks. But, on the other hand, I find its mechanics - especially combat-related - quite cumbersome and complicated. It has too many rolls per attack AND each of them is done with a dice-pool which could get up into 8+ dice when skilled combatants are involved. And then most combat rolls are opposed, which, in combination with the dice-pool mechanics, makes probabilities extremely difficult to gouge. Shadowrun 4th edition made things a lot easier, but combat still feels cumbersome, especially when a large number of mooks is concerned.

Earthdawn has a lot of flavor and originality and a well-designed setting high-fantasy setting, but I don't like its mechanics; while (unlike Shadowrun) I haven't tried it in actual play, its dice-step-table mechanics seem quite cumbersome to use.

Paranoia is downright cool and funny to read; its mechanics also look great (though a bit too random IMHO), but I can't find myself in the right mood to run it.