Looking for new fantasy RPG - story & roleplay oriented !

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I would say that the amount of roleplay involved is 80% dependant on the DM and 20% dependant on the players. If you want more story and roleplay then your DM should be desinging his adventure based on that. On the other side of the road if you're telling him that's what you want, but don't put effort into roleplay, you're DM is going to get board and probably resort to monster bashing as a relief.

Like Mark said there are products out there that are very much geared to roleplay over hack and slash, it just so happens his stuff is a good example of that.

If you really have issues with the game being too mechanics heavy, then i would suggest old D&D. Try and dig up the series of boxed sets, basic through master. It's a great version of the game and easy on the maechanical end.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi all!

Never has been like that for me. Roleplaying in D&D doesn't have to be about *just* the numbers.

Absolutely.

Its always been my experience that you only get out of roleplaying as much as you put into it. The system is always secondary to this point.

D&D does have a lot of rules, but these should be seen as an aid rather than a constraint.

Unlike a lot of modules or supplements you may have seen in the past that plug in monsters to fit levels and run PCs from encounter to encounter in an unending pursuit for experience points, CMG adds a depth to roleplaying that can ideally come from some who's been there since 1974 and has evolved with the game from the beginning.

My own background outside of the game is in playwriting, acting and directing which I think manifests itself in how I've run games and how, since the advent of the OGL/d20SL, I've approached creating materials through the company I have founded.

Don't be too quick to write off the gaming system simply because you haven't discovered products on the market that strike a balance between combat and character relationships. They are here, and continue to be developed, by Creative Mountain Games.

If I do say so myself...

Funny you mention it, it was the characterisation in the Locus Jalston that really made it stand out, that and the great writing.

 

[MattyHelms]

Re: Re: Looking for new fantasy RPG - story & roleplay oriented !

Don't be too quick to write off the gaming system simply because you haven't discovered products on the market that strike a balance between combat and character relationships. They are here, and continue to be developed, by Creative Mountain Games.

Boo ya, as the kids say. D&D is the most supported fantasy RPG out there, which means you're going to find a huge variety of support material. The majority is going to be the combat-heavy stuff that you're sick of, Shadowlord, but some of it is going to be like CMG's product.

The numbers and rule in D&D are about having quick, consistent resolution to actions, but should never be the focus of the game. You are truly roleplaying when you realize the rules are just another tool for adventure.

Do yourself a favor and check out some of CMG's products. You may see D&D in a different light - heck, it even converted me back to a D&D player for the first time since 1989!


Thanks,
Matt

 

[Henry]

SAVAGE WORLDS.

www.peginc.com

It has received rave reviews from many gamers who are looking for a game that handles small-scale combat, up to large squad-sized combat with dozens of combatants, and is low on preparation time, while still allowing for varied gameplay.

Shane Hensley gives a long "why and wherefore" series of columns on his web site offering insight into what he designed the game to do, and why he did it.

Also included are fast-play rules, and several important tables and charts and pre-fab adventures to help you get started.

There is also a quite staunch group of supporters of it over in the Savage Worlds Forum on www.dragonsfoot.org .

Give it a look-see!

 

[Shadowlord]

Bottom line, it is not the system that makes something story oriented or conbat focused. Rather it is the Gm and the style of adventure he choices to run.

It's not that simple!

I know what responsability the GM has, but so do the players have to be involved to get a game they find awarding. The GM has a lot of work to do and writing his own rules and breaking those found in the books which he disagrees with will cost him even more time he could spend on developing the story and the world.

Bottom line: You'd better find you a game that suits your style instead of buying 4 hefty corebooks where you disagree with lots if their content.

I didn't ask to convince me of my error (if any). I'm not new to this game and I can make my own conclusions. D&D is too combat & rule oriented compared to some other RPGs. It's these "other RPGs" I'm looking for, so please stay on topic.

 

[Shadowlord]

If you've been playing D&D for a while, and gotten into the headspace that it's all about the numbers, you can have a lot of difficulty getting out of it just because other people say it doesn't have to be like that.

So, I say go and play something else. Let D&D rest a while. Then, come back and think of how you can apply what you've learned from the other system to your D&D game. That's a large part of what got us 3E, after all.

You're the one who catched my thoughts the best. Now I have to know WHAT other RPGs I could play (for a while).

My short story:
In the beginning, before I played any d&d, we played very spontaneously and had lots of fun. But we wanted more, we wanted to explore some options we couldn't find in those "basic" RPGs. And then I found d20 some years ago. Lots of possibilities, yet pretty easy to learn. Perfect!

Or so I thought. After two years of "more prestige classes, more feats, more silly monsters and more stuff I never needed", d20 (and D&D) failed me. It became munchkins paradise.

Now I realize what I liked so much in the very beginnings about RPGs; it's not the endless options, not the rules, it's the game itself when played with friends. That is, a deep story and some fun character play. This basic element seems to be undermined today in those limitless d20 products.

All these options don't make the game (or setting) more believable; to the contrary! I don't need all this! So let's get back to the basics!

 

[Tsyr]

I know you said no anime/manga, but I'd suggest taking a peek at BESM... It's very, very universal... And is great for story-based games. I've ran both Dragonlance and Greyhawk quite fine with it. It's my travel book... Whenever I go places for a few days with friends, that and a few dice get thrown in the car... It works for anything!

 

[Voadam]

If you want to get away from combat but stick with medieval fantasy I'd say go GURPS, not as combat centric because everyone is vulnerable to quick death there. It gets a little tough to handle epic high fantasy though as the power and point scales escalate. More designed for gritty low magic fantasy use.

WFRP (Warhammer fantasy roleplay) is great gritty dark fantasy.

If you want a great epic fantasy setting I'd suggest Earthdawn, the system is FASA d6 which I find very cumbersome and unwieldy but they have great epic fantasy materials.

Rolemaster is deadly and a ton of charts but they have a bunch of high fantasy stuff too.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Decipher's Lord of the Rings RPG should fit the bill. You don't have to use it for just Middle Earth; the system works quite well on its own in a classic medieval campaign world.

 

[Xeriar]

IMPORTANT: I'm not interested in any manga/anime, oriental, gothic or sci-fi RPGs; I want a classic medieval fantasy RPG. Can you help me find it?
It should preferably come in only one or two corebooks, with moderate support, not the zillion of books as in D&D or GURPS.

No Drama - there goes 7th Sea
No Orientals - there goes L5R
No Anime - there goes Exalted / BESM
No Scifi - you probably don't want Deadlands

You've already excluded GURPS.

Lord of the Rings? - That's going into 'zillions of books' mode though
Ars Magica? Some people don't like playing the communal setup...

I dunno man, you've kind of wiped your slate clean. You want something not D&D, but you don't want to try something 'different' to you.

I'm beginning to find that the most vivid settings have the system tailored for them. L5R vs. Rokugan and 7th Sea vs. Swashbuckling Adventures are prime examples of this:
they bring a lot of neat ideas into their d20 counterparts, but they lose a hell of a lot of flavor.

The card drawing and poker ship mechanics in Deadlands are perfect examples of system elements that reflect the setting - play with the hand you are dealt, and all.

There are a ton of fantasy heartbreakers out there. You're definately looking for one.