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Hack Or Heartbreaker?
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<blockquote data-quote="Brodie" data-source="post: 7718422" data-attributes="member: 6776288"><p>I would definitely read that article.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Fair enough and a point I won't argue. I've enough personal experience with a multitude of systems to have gained an idea of what works and doesn't work in a given system. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed on that. Also, I LOVE that someone has gone and played/run a game based on that series. Those were great books and the perfect example for a setting focusing more on social interactions and scientific discoveries than combat.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I like what GURPS tries to do. I say 'tries' because I don't like the system's mechanics. When I sit down at a table for an RPG, I don't want to think about math. At least, not too much. Math in D20 games is relatively quite simple. Then there's the wonkiness (to me) of rolling UNDER your skill number. That may seem weird to me having started gaming with D20, though. But going back to the subject of math, that's the thing I absolutely HATE about Champions. In my group, the guy that's running that system switched from Hackmaster (a game I was quite thankful to actually get to play) to that. He wasn't the greatest at explaining the rules of the system, much less the math involved in character creation, and half the group was getting frustrated during that process. I personally got to the point where I told him what I wanted and let him make the character for me since he ended up telling us if it was too hard he would make the characters we wanted for us. We haven't voted for him to run very often and when he does, we have no idea what we're supposed to be doing. But... that's not what this thread is about so I'll put that aside and move on.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Rules should also limit that. And oWoD rules generally do in character creation. Requiring a character to reach a certain plateau before being able to use a certain ability makes sense. Like Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia. He can't use his power without hurting himself in the process, but the whole thing is about he 'became the world's greatest hero.' He'll obviously reach that plateau at some point where his power won't hurt his body when he uses it. (At least I hope that happens.)</p><p></p><p>Back to the idea of levels being unrealistic, life is full of 'levels' if you close enough. Martial arts are prime example. A 5th degree black belt is going to be better than a brown belt. Ranks in the military is another example. A general has more abilities at their disposal than a private. With gaming, levels are only unrealistic when it's just 'I just leveled up, now I've got all these supercool powers I didn't have last level!' Maybe it's more that sudden shift that some people don't like about a level-based system? Life is all about gradual progression. This is more the reason why I like L5R so much; you spend your xp to raise a trait or a skill and eventually you rank up. Sure, you get a new ability at that rank but you worked towards it and you had an idea when it was just around the corner. That said, I do like the level-less progression of FFG's Star Wars games as they show a character gradually increasing in power/capability.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Brodie, post: 7718422, member: 6776288"] I would definitely read that article. Fair enough and a point I won't argue. I've enough personal experience with a multitude of systems to have gained an idea of what works and doesn't work in a given system. Agreed on that. Also, I LOVE that someone has gone and played/run a game based on that series. Those were great books and the perfect example for a setting focusing more on social interactions and scientific discoveries than combat. I like what GURPS tries to do. I say 'tries' because I don't like the system's mechanics. When I sit down at a table for an RPG, I don't want to think about math. At least, not too much. Math in D20 games is relatively quite simple. Then there's the wonkiness (to me) of rolling UNDER your skill number. That may seem weird to me having started gaming with D20, though. But going back to the subject of math, that's the thing I absolutely HATE about Champions. In my group, the guy that's running that system switched from Hackmaster (a game I was quite thankful to actually get to play) to that. He wasn't the greatest at explaining the rules of the system, much less the math involved in character creation, and half the group was getting frustrated during that process. I personally got to the point where I told him what I wanted and let him make the character for me since he ended up telling us if it was too hard he would make the characters we wanted for us. We haven't voted for him to run very often and when he does, we have no idea what we're supposed to be doing. But... that's not what this thread is about so I'll put that aside and move on. Rules should also limit that. And oWoD rules generally do in character creation. Requiring a character to reach a certain plateau before being able to use a certain ability makes sense. Like Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia. He can't use his power without hurting himself in the process, but the whole thing is about he 'became the world's greatest hero.' He'll obviously reach that plateau at some point where his power won't hurt his body when he uses it. (At least I hope that happens.) Back to the idea of levels being unrealistic, life is full of 'levels' if you close enough. Martial arts are prime example. A 5th degree black belt is going to be better than a brown belt. Ranks in the military is another example. A general has more abilities at their disposal than a private. With gaming, levels are only unrealistic when it's just 'I just leveled up, now I've got all these supercool powers I didn't have last level!' Maybe it's more that sudden shift that some people don't like about a level-based system? Life is all about gradual progression. This is more the reason why I like L5R so much; you spend your xp to raise a trait or a skill and eventually you rank up. Sure, you get a new ability at that rank but you worked towards it and you had an idea when it was just around the corner. That said, I do like the level-less progression of FFG's Star Wars games as they show a character gradually increasing in power/capability. [/QUOTE]
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