Help my gaming group choose the system for our next game

[oni no won]

Quickleaf has it right. The biggest difference is on the GM's side. There is less prep with 4th ed and it is easier to game on the fly.

In terms of combat, at higher levels, combat can drag in both editions.

From what you want out of d20, I highly recommend True 20. Prep time is quicker than 3.x/PF as well as combat since it uses the wound system and rids itself of the grid layout. Chargen is very versatile too.

 

[Li Shenron]

I would suggest first to use 1st level characters, and second to play OD&D/BECMI. This minimizes both character creation and adventure preparation time.

 

[xenophone]

I went through this exact same decision process for the exact same reasons. I haven't played 3.5, but I can talk about 4ed vs PF:

- PF makes the best published adventures around. The writing is top notch, and the adventure path books are filled to the brim with flavor and awesome art.

- PF character creation is incredibly flexible and powerful. In PF, you can come up with an idea for a character in your head, and then figure out how to realize that character using the system.

- Rules for 4ed are much more logical, streamlined, and modular.

- Pathfinder has faster combat than 4ed. At low levels (1-10), you can expect an average combat to last maybe 20 minutes. 4ed for us was more like 45-60. I've heard that PF can really slow down at higher levels.

With those points being made, I'd like to add a few things. While combat in PF is faster than 4ed, it is still slow compared to most systems. If you're looking for faster combat, you should avoid both systems.

Also, while the PC options in PF are enormous and can be a lot of fun to play with, the number of options out there approaches the absurd. I'd say the same thing about the rules. The rules set for PF is huge. If you're players aren't the kind of people that will buy the books themselves and pour over them, hatching up crazy build ideas and memorizing the rules, than PF is just not a good system for your group. It's a really great game, but ultimately quite turgid, and I'd only recommend it for a more hardcore group.

I GM for a group of casual players. Just regular people who thought it'd be fun to try out some D&D. PF and 4ed both failed with this group unfortunately, and I ended up having to hold everyone's hand through every step, from PC creation, to combat, to leveling up.

 

[scourger]

Then there is always Savage Worlds as a game system. Anything can be played with SW

Yes, Savage Worlds can do anything.

But, along 4e lines, I recommend Gamma World. It is a simplified version of those rules, and the game is fire & forget out of the box.

For an easy D&D flavor, have a look at the new playtest.

 

[Lwaxy]

Gamma World rocks, setting and system

*mumbles* No I will not start a new GW game, I am drowning in campaigns already.

 

[blargney the second]

My suggestion would be to play Pathfinder RPG with a hard cap max level similar to E6. You could probably run an adventure path as E10 with relatively little difficulty.

 

[Lwaxy]

You'll die in the higher modules if you don't go to level 20

 

[blargney the second]

Depends on the path. Kingmaker expects PCs to be about level 15 at the end. An E10 or E12 character with a raft of epic feats could be up to the challenge.

By that point, I would expect the DM to have a pretty good feel for what the party can handle CR-wise. He might need to tweak the contents of the final module a bit, which should not be difficult or even time-consuming.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Maybe...perhaps...DCCRPG? That's Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games. Very old-school feeling, heavy on the swords & sorcery, based kinda on d20, and only goes to level 10. May be worth taking a look anyway...

^_^

Paul L. Ming