Games that didn't survive first contact. . .

[jdrakeh]

Somebody started this thread over on RPGNet and I found it interesting, but I can't post there, so I figured I'd give the same thing a go here. Basically, what I'm asking for are examples of games that you played for one session before they folded (and, ideally, why they folded during or after that one play session).

To be clear, I'm not merely asking about games that you dislike (we all have plenty of those, I'm sure), but games that you actually had an interest in, attempted to play, and were utterly underwhelmed by to the point that you never played them again (or did, but were similarly thwarted during the first session).

I'll give a few examples of games that didn't survive 1st contact for me (or the people I was playing with):

• Dogs in the Vineyard - For me and my players, this looked really good on paper but ended up producing an unremarkable actual play experience that did not differ much from any traditional game system with gunslinger PCs (from Boot Hill to Deadlands), except that it took much more effort to achieve. Although it gave the PCs a larger degree of narrative control, our group had long since discovered that this can be achieved without actual game mechanics, so long as the GM is willing. As far as I know, none of us ever picked up the game again (not because it was bad, mind you, we simply found other "western" RPGs more to our liking).
  
  
• Rifts - This 'never again' is probably due to the GM allowing players to create any character that they wanted from any sourcebook without framing the campaign in any kind of context past "You all meet on a field to seek adventure!" This was a really bad idea. I'm open to the idea that the game might be great with a GM who is willing to reign in the system and provide some kind of a context for the game beforehand, but this "Anything goes! Whatevah!" experience scared me away from the game for more than a decade.

 

[ExploderWizard]

There are a few that I remember that collapsed right away.

1) Cyberpunk 2020

We fooled around with this one for a few hours and came to realize that anyone with body armor took forever to put down and anyone without was dogmeat in a single hit.

2) The Arcanum

Oh what a session. Kind of like D&D but not. It had some cool ideas and lots of classes but overall we didn't care for it.

3) Rolemaster

I had played MERP before, so when my friend got this, we gathered at his place to try it out. After a couple rounds of combat I found out that my weapon skill was too high to miss, but that didn't matter because my buddy had an armor skill that was so high that he didn't take damage.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Not an RPG but Burn in Hell a card game from Steve Jackson Games. The premise seemed interesting to us but it took only one play experience for our group to decide this was the worst game we had ever played. There was way to much math, which was both unfun and dragged the game way out. It has since become legend in our group and a way to threaten players, telling them that they would have to play Burn in Hell again.

 

[Corathon]

I once played a game based on "Usagi Yojimbo" (sp?) which is apparently a comic book about grim, funny-animal samurai. I wasn't familiar with (or too interested in) the subject matter, but the GM was very enthused, so we gave it a try.

Oddly, the setting was not the thing that killed the game for me. It was the rules. I can't recall the name of the system, but one had X number of d6 to roll and could choose to roll either red dice (attacking), green dice (defending) or yellow dice (some compromise between the two).

In practice, the combat system amounted to "Bang! You're dead". I played a bear for my animal type, which was very tough. That meant that I could survive one hit, but not two. No other character could survive even one. With no magic, no healing, and no armor, combat was essentially certain death. After the TPK we never played that again.

Another example was the old Runequest game. After a very long time spent in character generation, we went into an adventure called "The Hellpits of Nightfang" or something like that. In the first combat (IIRC, on my first attack roll), my PC fumbled and stabbed himself in the gut with his own 2-handed spear. The result was instant death. An unlucky outcome (and one that's hard to visualize; exactly how do you stab yourself in the gut with a 2-handed spear?)

After that, we went back to AD&D. A beginning PC might well die in his first combat in that game also, but at least he wouldn't have killed himself!

 

[jdrakeh]

3) Rolemaster

I had played MERP before, so when my friend got this, we gathered at his place to try it out. After a couple rounds of combat I found out that my weapon skill was too high to miss, but that didn't matter because my buddy had an armor skill that was so high that he didn't take damage.

I think there may have been a misunderstanding somewhere (which, in fairness, isn't at all surprising given the atrocious organization of older Rolemaster products). The system has certain results that always qualify as fumbles when attacking, just as it has certain critical results that always overcome armor

Having said that, I can add Rolemaster 1e, 2e, and RMSS to my list of games that didn't survive first contact, but not because of any innate brokeness in the rules. Rather, due to the aforementioned horrible organization, it was a real pain for our group to assimilate all of the rules necessary for actual play. We finally gave up all three times.

Rolemaster Fantasy (the red book) was the first RM core book that I got any significant mileage out of -- though it was a significantly stripped down version of past Rolemaster editions, reminding me a little of MERP (like MERP, it was complete in one book and contained a much limited list of character, combat, and magic options when compared to past editions of Rolemaster).

 

[Nikosandros]

I think there may have been a misunderstanding somewhere (which, in fairness, isn't at all surprising given the atrocious organization of older Rolemaster products). The system has certain results that always qualify as fumbles when attacking, just as it has certain critical results that always overcome armor

Also, armor skill in RM only offsets the penalties for wearing armor. It doesn't make you harder to hit.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I think there may have been a misunderstanding somewhere (which, in fairness, isn't at all surprising given the atrocious organization of older Rolemaster products). The system has certain results that always qualify as fumbles when attacking, just as it has certain critical results that always overcome armor

Oh yeah of course there was a chance. We just figured that a 3-4% chance of something actually happening wasn't enough incentive to play out the combats.

 

[jdrakeh]

Also, armor skill in RM only offsets the penalties for wearing armor. It doesn't make you harder to hit.

I think he alluded that his friend's character was impossible to damage, not hit. You're right, though. That said, it would take some insanely high scores or armor forged of unobtanium to create characters like either of those mentioned, which is why I assumed that there may have been misunderstandings about the system. As mentioned, though, this happens.

In fact, my own multiple aborted attempts to play RM2 and RMSS were both headed up by a guy who formerly worked as an aeronautical engineer and (at the time) edited technical documentation in the same industry. When a guy who edits technical texts for a living can't easily decipher the intent of an RPG author's instructions, I think it's a clear sign that the system has problems

 

[Obryn]

For me, FATE.

I read through the free PDF over and over again, loving how elegant and simple the character creation and rules were. I decided to give it a shot.

And really, it didn't play nearly as well as it read. The characters' self-chosen Traits didn't balance well, combat took forever, and overall it was neither as fast-paced nor exciting as I'd hoped it would be.

-O

 

[Jhaelen]

3) Rolemaster

I had played MERP before, so when my friend got this, we gathered at his place to try it out. After a couple rounds of combat I found out that my weapon skill was too high to miss, but that didn't matter because my buddy had an armor skill that was so high that he didn't take damage.

I had high hopes in Rolemaster because it looked really intriguing on paper. It turned out to be a complete fiasko in actual play, though. Although the GM seemed to be somewhat experienced combat was boring and slow with several results that seemed completely random. It didn't help that the GM had selected Forgotten Realms as a setting...

Several years later I gave MERP a try. I thought the system might work a bit better than Rolemaster but it turned out to be even worse. Well admittedly, it was probably partly the GMs fault. We had an interesting scene where one of us tried to slit the throat of a sleeping enemy and the GM told him he'd hit the target's foot (!).
After one encounter turned against us the GM decided to roll back everything we'd just done up to that point. Naturally, the second attempt went bad even earlier.