Games you thought you'd like and hated and games you thought you'd hate and liked

[Piratecat]

I wanted to love Deadlands. I love the genre, I love the feel! But for me, those rules drag the game down like a lead balloon. And the d20 adaptation is half-assed and rushed. I'm not even crazy about the Savage Worlds version, although I like it more than the original rules.

I thought I'd hate Pelgrane Press's game The Dying Earth, set in Jack Vance's world. Instead, it's one of my favorite con games ever. Tremendous, nonstop fun.

 

[Mort]

I wanted to love Deadlands. I love the genre, I love the feel! But for me, those rules drag the game down like a lead balloon. And the d20 adaptation is half-assed and rushed. I'm not even crazy about the Savage Worlds version, although I like it more than the original rules.

I thought I'd hate Pelgrane Press's game The Dying Earth, set in Jack Vance's world. Instead, it's one of my favorite con games ever. Tremendous, nonstop fun.

I have to say though, Deadlands has the best fate chip mechanic ever (and using poker chips really works for the feel of the game). It's good enough that I'm porting it over to my Savage Tide Campaign (though the feel won't be quite the same).

 

[evilbob]

As the OP: RIP GURPS. BUT - I will say that GURPS truly shines when put into a COMPUTER. Honestly, it's probably a bit sad, but it works a lot better as a computer game than a PnP. For proof, check out Fallout 1 & 2.

Another disappointment: Big Eyes, Small Mouth. Everyone like anime, right? ...Right? /cry

I've played a couple of other systems that seemed cool until you realize that every action takes like 2 or 3 dice rolls - or sometimes 5 or 6 - to resolve. Um, that's horrible. Give me 1 roll or watch me sleep during other players' turns!

Another great idea that didn't work in play: the magic system from Sovereign Stone. (You use actions to "charge" spells; can never "run out" of spells.) I LOVED the idea of never running out of spells. In practice you never cast them because the battle was already over or the battle conditions that warranted the spell had changed. Or you just ended up using low-level spells the entire game.

Someone else also said this: high-level D&D. Who knew that having 50 different buffs and access to dozens of different moves and powers and everything would be so horribly frustrating to play? (Battles take HOURS of your life just to prep!)


Something I thought I'd hate and ended up not really hating as much? D&D magic. I really dislike the idea of "fire and forget" casting mechanics - but after messing with a few casters, I really see how it can work... so long as you don't have more than a couple encounters per day and you start at level 3 or higher (preferably 6+).

 

[JeffB]

Thought I Would Like But Hated:

Throw me in the GURPS camp as well. Thought it would be the "be all-end all", and ended up as the "not at all" for me. GREAT source books though.

3E. Started off excited, and within 2.5 years I'd had enough. Bought the 3.5 books hoping for some improvement and it wasn't there. Too much emphasis on rules-crunch and "builds", etc. Not my cup of tea.

HERO-I enjoyed the original 1/2E Champions, Espionage and Justice Inc back in the early mid 80s. When FRED rolled around..yikes..this wasnt the game I grew up with. Far more clunky, far more generic (i.e. boring) , and far more rules and math intensive.

RUNEQUEST 3rd Edition: Ooof....what HAPPENED to the folks at Chaosium? were they TRYING to kill AH's entry into the RPG market?

POWERS AND PERILS: Heh...if you've seen it...you'll know (and prolly just cringed when you read the name). Another AH "gem"

 

[sukael]

As the OP: RIP GURPS. BUT - I will say that GURPS truly shines when put into a COMPUTER. Honestly, it's probably a bit sad, but it works a lot better as a computer game than a PnP. For proof, check out Fallout 1 & 2.

The Fallout games use the SPECIAL system, not GURPS.

 

[Rackhir]

The Fallout games use the SPECIAL system, not GURPS.

It was designed to use Gurps as the RPG system for the game, however there was some sort of dispute between the game makers and Steve Jackson games and the game people created SPECIAL which was largely just GURPS with the serial numbers filed off.

 

[fuindordm]

Holy crud, someone else out there remembers Powers & Perils??? What a stinker. Tried it with a friend and we kept rerolling our elf characters until we were tall enough (yes, tall enough) to get special powers. Ha!

Ahem.

In a more modern vein, I would have a lot more to say in a thread titled "Games you loved but never got to try out." Among those I did try:

Thought I'd love but hated:

Amber Diceless. What an awesome book, what a cool idea. But to find the right players you'd have to hold a citywide audition!

CHILL left me cold.

Arcana Unearthed: stole a lot of stuff, but at least half the book left me thinking "Boy, this is goofy".

Thought I'd hate but loved:

Earthdawn: I bought the book because it was pretty, then tried out a campaign that went really well. Started eating up every sourcebook I could get my hands on. They had really high-quality fluff, and the system was pretty robust and at the same time flavorful. Definitely "special", but it all fits together pretty well.

HERO: Excellent system, but in the future I'll use it only for relatively short-term campaigns.

1st edition D&D. I'm playing it again after an 18-year hiatus, and having a blast! There's something really refreshing about its simplicity.

 

[sukael]

It was designed to use Gurps as the RPG system for the game, however there was some sort of dispute between the game makers and Steve Jackson games and the game people created SPECIAL which was largely just GURPS with the serial numbers filed off.

I'd say using a level-based system with separate point pools for skills, stats, and special abilities isn't very much like GURPS. ;D

 

[Tolen Mar]

The odd thing about my dislike of GURPS is that it was the second RPG I ever read, and the first I bought with my own money (way back in the 2E boxed set days). I remember being very highly impressed with how many spells my first magic user had access to, but have never been able to duplicate the same results.

Running the game is a night mare. When the characters are THAT detailed, it just means that there are that many more things to track during an encounter. Of course, you could use a lower point value to make characters with, but then you have fewer abilities and are less capable.

Moreover, the way the mechanics work (3d6 under your skill total) means that you pretty quickly reach a point where you dont need to spend skill points on your core skills anymore.

Hrmmm...come to think of it, that's why I've grown to dislike d20 as well...

And of course, Advantages/Disadvantages. It was a neat idea, until the Min/Maxers started making blind, mute, hemophiliac combat monsters. Thankfully, in most of the games I've run, my players were understanding with the limits I placed.

But enough about why I dislike GURPS...

 

[Cadius]

Hated em, loved em

I thought I would hate the old TSR Marvel Super Heroes RPG. The class ranks (incredible! unearthly!) seemed childish even in middle school. But the mechanics move so quickly, everything resolves so smoothly. I've still never played a faster combat system, ever. And if you got the Ultimate Powers book, you were set with just about every power you could possibly imagine. (Dragon mag had a few they left out, but still)

Out of nostalgia, I picked up the newer Marvel "RPG" if you want to call it that. It sucks. Period. It's a low-end board game at best.


Cyberpunk 2020 seemed like such a cool concept when we bought it. I never did figure out the rules to make PCs in that system. Just too cumbersome.

Unlike everyone else here, our group is warming to GURPS 3rd ed. We're playing a steampunk game in it, and actually like it. Oh, so far we've avoided the advanced combat rules. Perhaps that'll make us hate it. But we kind of like having a few disadvantages on the Char sheets.

I used to love D&D, but have burned out on it. I'm just tired of the logical holes in the engine. Everything is combat-focused, so if you want to play a character-based game, things don't make sense. We quit playing 3.5 when two of us got tired of defending it against questions like, "Why is 'Create Musical Instrument' a lower level spell than 'Bless Water'? Shouldn't it be easier to say a few words over the jug than to create a complex, working instrument out of nothing?" I mean, the questions are legit if you look at it logically.

I played D20 Star Wars for a while and liked it more than I thought I would. I liked the idea of Fatigue and Wounds instead of base hit points.


I like Shadowrun until one gamer goes into the Net and suddenly everyone else at the table is on vacation while that gets resolved. And I've yet to get the magic and sci fi rules to blend smoothly.