I'm looking for some pros/cons based on actual play experiences. I run multiple Pathfinder campaigns for my kids and their friends and generally, I’m very content being the GM. Occasionally, however, I get the itch to be on the other side of the screen.
My oldest son is interested in running a game and had taken a few prior runs at it with his friends via the Pathfinder Beginner Box. He enjoyed it but some of his friends decided to be goofballs so he felt a bit burned on the prep time he put into things.
My son has also taken an interest in creative writing and I think GMing may be a way to help provide an additional outlet for that – i.e. plot outlines, character & setting development, etc. I’m not confusing writing a story with writing a rpg plot point, I’m just hoping to sneakily reinforce a potential scholastic endeavor with a hobby…
So, I’m looking for a game that facilitates fast PC-gen, is easy to run behind the GM screen, and most importantly to a busy high-school teenager, accommodates a prep-lite approach. We love Pathfinder but we need a lighter-prep alternative to see if he’ll get the “GM bug”.
The two potential candidates that seem to strike the fantasy beats that my son likes while appearing to meet the desired criteria are two games that, unfortunately, I have no first-hand experience with: Dragon Age and Shadow of the Demon Lord.
Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE seems to have decent buzz in terms of ease-of-play & GMing and the Stunt system seems well-regarded. Character gen seems easy while accommodating a broad range of PC concepts. The other pro is that my son is well versed in the world’s lore from playing the video games.
Shadow of the Demon Lord seems to check all the ease-of-prep & play boxes. Character gen seems very robust. My son loves the dark fantasy tropes but I don’t think he would want to use SotDL’s default setting. SotDL seems to have far superior adventure support which seems as though they could be easily adapted to other fantasy worlds.
So for the fans of these games, what’s your pitch for going with one over the other?
Anyone out there who’s played both long enough to be able to compare/contrast?
In advance, thanks all.
My oldest son is interested in running a game and had taken a few prior runs at it with his friends via the Pathfinder Beginner Box. He enjoyed it but some of his friends decided to be goofballs so he felt a bit burned on the prep time he put into things.
My son has also taken an interest in creative writing and I think GMing may be a way to help provide an additional outlet for that – i.e. plot outlines, character & setting development, etc. I’m not confusing writing a story with writing a rpg plot point, I’m just hoping to sneakily reinforce a potential scholastic endeavor with a hobby…
So, I’m looking for a game that facilitates fast PC-gen, is easy to run behind the GM screen, and most importantly to a busy high-school teenager, accommodates a prep-lite approach. We love Pathfinder but we need a lighter-prep alternative to see if he’ll get the “GM bug”.
The two potential candidates that seem to strike the fantasy beats that my son likes while appearing to meet the desired criteria are two games that, unfortunately, I have no first-hand experience with: Dragon Age and Shadow of the Demon Lord.
Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE seems to have decent buzz in terms of ease-of-play & GMing and the Stunt system seems well-regarded. Character gen seems easy while accommodating a broad range of PC concepts. The other pro is that my son is well versed in the world’s lore from playing the video games.
Shadow of the Demon Lord seems to check all the ease-of-prep & play boxes. Character gen seems very robust. My son loves the dark fantasy tropes but I don’t think he would want to use SotDL’s default setting. SotDL seems to have far superior adventure support which seems as though they could be easily adapted to other fantasy worlds.
So for the fans of these games, what’s your pitch for going with one over the other?
Anyone out there who’s played both long enough to be able to compare/contrast?
In advance, thanks all.
