The "G" in RPG

[Clint_L]

5e is at the extreme end of how much game I want in my RPG. I love Dread, and its basic mechanic is jenga.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I don't know how to quantify G but I do like some of it, maybe more than most people? At the same time I'm pretty open-minded about what RP is, with one notable exception: I really need at least one other human being involved in the process to be convinced it's RP rather than a creative writing exercise or voice practice or something. Solo (like, say, TFT's Death Test played solo, or an adventure book, or many CRPGS) can be a fine G experience, but it just doesn't feel like RP for me.

Even something like Diplomacy, one of the finest board games every invented, has RP elements as you take the role of the head of a nation state.

I've played with people who insisted that if you don't own a period costume you weren't taking the game seriously. Thankfully they were cool with loaning out suitable garb. Less intense groups often use hats and (generally dreadful) accents.

Heard stories about games where everyone spoke in French because it was the language of Diplomacy.

I think some people just like to argue with premises.

We used to get those pretty regularly in one of my old neighborhoods. If you put up "No Trespassing" signs at least you can have them carted off by the police when they start ranting at your garage about politics at 3AM in the morning.

"Sir, please go home to bed. My domicile is not part of the military-industrial complex."

 

[Reynard]

.

"Sir, please go home to bed. My domicile is not part of the military-industrial complex."

That's exactly what someone who lives in a secret MK ULTRA lsd distribution bunker would say!

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

That's exactly what someone who lives in a secret MK ULTRA lsd distribution bunker would say!

Look, the rent's really reasonable, okay?

 

[Committed Hero]

In all but the most random of games, you have the ability to get better at playing it. For me this doesn't necessarily mean "winning" a game, just having the ability to derive more enjoyment from it.

Also, games imply rules, and rules imply some predictive regularity that players can exploit to improve their chances of success.

 

[MichaelSomething]

This porridge is too hot!
This porridge is too cold!
I want porridge that's jussst right!

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Gamey things I need:

• Dice Would alternative randomizers do instead, eg a deck of cards or some kind of blind token-drawing mechanic?
• A unified resolution mechanic
• Hit points, XP, other "points" Both XP and Levels seem kind of tied together to me. Would other forms of character advancement work instead, eg Chaosium's incremental skill improvement through use and training?
• Stats Is this roughly the "classic six" from D&D, or would other approaches like Tri-Stat's Body-Mind-Soul trinity or WoD's array of nine physical-mental-social stats do? Would non-numerical stats like narrative "tags" do, or do they need have some kind of objective value attached like FASERIP does when you dig behind the adjectives?
• Levels See above - would other types of character advancement do as long as they have obvious mechanical effects?
• Core rules

That's an interesting list, and I'm honestly curious about the questions I've edited into it in bold print.

Going by the full list as written, Talislanta seems to be your dream game, unless maybe you count the kajillion species/profession classes as subclasses, which they sort of are and sort of aren't - more like BECMI's Elf "racial" class to me.

 

[TiQuinn]

How much game is too much game in an RPG?

I have a pretty high bar, I suppose. I want tactics, choices that matter, and a fair bit of crunch. Where it becomes too much is when the game takes forever and/or the number of rules become difficult to manage. Usually that’s when people start ditching rules in favor of speed of play.

Can I threadjack and say I’m much more concerned with the opposite. I want there to be a game, not simply a role play, and games have rules that sometimes go against the players. That’s part of the game. I’m not a fan of the mindset that feels if it ruins the fun for a player then it should be discarded. I’m thinking about the so called “save or suck” spells and abilities like Hold Person or Counterspell. I enjoy these features even when used against me. My fun is having rules that we all play with. I don’t get mad if I lose a turn. That’s the game. (Steps off soapbox)

 

[CleverNickName]

That's an interesting list, and I'm honestly curious about the questions I've edited into it in bold print.

Going by the full list as written, Talislanta seems to be your dream game, unless maybe you count the kajillion species/profession classes as subclasses, which they sort of are and sort of aren't - more like BECMI's Elf "racial" class to me.

1. Sure, cards etc. would work just fine. I've also used dice pools, rock-paper-scissors, and Jenga towers. It's all good. Dice are just easier and more ubiquitous.

2a. XP and Level are tied together, except when they aren't--some people use levels without XP ("milestone leveling," "benchmark," and so forth). I prefer to have both though, because it avoids a common "DM May I?" complaint that some of my players have. "DM, may I gain a level now?"

2b. When we aren't playing D&D, we're playing Call of Cthulhu...so yeah, we love us some incremental skill improvement too. We've tinkered with other types of character advancement as well, like the old E6 house rule, where you no longer gain hit points and spell slots past a certain point and gain feats instead.

3. Oh when I say "stats," I meant way more than just ability scores. I mean any one of a number of numbers that change over time, and affect each other. Hit points, luck rolls/save throws, wand uses, stuff to track. I need at least some resource management to avoid handwaving everything, and to avoid that "DM May I?" situation I mentioned earlier. ("DM, may I use my wand again?")

4. Honestly, BECM D&D is my "dream game." I still play it on the side, and still with my old high school gaming group, over Roll20. We're keeping it Old School over here, no Renaissance needed.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

4. Honestly, BECM D&D is my "dream game." I still play it on the side, and still with my old high school gaming group, over Roll20. We're keeping it Old School over here, no Renaissance needed.

Understandable. Still holds up well today.