So I've been through Call of Cthulhu, 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e in the span of less than a year. Barring that I might be just tired of gaming, I'm wondering if there might be a better system for my group and me.
Here's a list of what I'm looking for in a system with a few concrete examples of the systems to describe these elements.
I'd appreciate your feedback.
Standard Fantasy
I like standard, Tolkienesque fantasy. 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e has just gotten too weird. I like hairy foot halflings and orcs that are monsters. I don't like strange races that feel more sci-fi than fantasy or classes that fall too far from the standard tropes of fantasy literature.
Easy to Prep
Really, it's gotten to be way too much. I prefer the style of prep for 2nd edition or Call of Cthulhu, where you focus on a handful of stats and the rest is interesting story and character development. I spent over an hour creating a villain's stats for a session of PF last week, a sixth level rogue.
No battlemat or miniatures
I am currently carrying more than 20 pounds of gaming paraphrenilia including mats, markers, erasers, and a tackle box of miniatures and tokens to track conditions. Besides being an unnecessary strain on the DM, it clutters the gaming space and leaves little room for food, character sheets, etc. 4e takes this to the worst possible outcome. When DMing 4e I found it necessary to pre-draw on giant graph paper every room in a 40 room dungeon because the maps are so detailed.
Positive AC
I hate negative AC and THAC0, the single most confusing aspect of pre-3.5 D&D. (Is there a single good reason why this was ever done?) Anyway, I'd like a simple way to determine success or failure in attack rolls and other checks. (The percentile system of Cthulhu and Basic is great.)
Characters can't be wimps
Here's a strike against Cthulhu, Basic, Gurps, Warhammer, 1st and 2nd edition AD&D, etc. Your character is about as powerful as your typical monster (or less). I don't want to completely slaughter players who come to the table to escape the stresses of daily life. I like the power level in 3.5 or Pathfinder pretty well.
Diversity of characters
I'd like characters to feel different from one another. 3.5 did this. 2nd edition did this with speciality priests. Castles and Crusades did not do this.
A Rules Lite but Rules "Tight" System
I don't want rules for everything, but I want the rules that are there to be good. Call of Cthulhu, for example, was rules lite but rules sloppy. The rules that are there aren't very workable.
If you can think of any system that meets most of these criteria, let me know. I'm not knocking any of these systems that I've mentioned, so I mean no offense with this post; these systems just aren't the right ones for me.
Thanks,
Retreater
Here's a list of what I'm looking for in a system with a few concrete examples of the systems to describe these elements.
I'd appreciate your feedback.
Standard Fantasy
I like standard, Tolkienesque fantasy. 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e has just gotten too weird. I like hairy foot halflings and orcs that are monsters. I don't like strange races that feel more sci-fi than fantasy or classes that fall too far from the standard tropes of fantasy literature.
Easy to Prep
Really, it's gotten to be way too much. I prefer the style of prep for 2nd edition or Call of Cthulhu, where you focus on a handful of stats and the rest is interesting story and character development. I spent over an hour creating a villain's stats for a session of PF last week, a sixth level rogue.
No battlemat or miniatures
I am currently carrying more than 20 pounds of gaming paraphrenilia including mats, markers, erasers, and a tackle box of miniatures and tokens to track conditions. Besides being an unnecessary strain on the DM, it clutters the gaming space and leaves little room for food, character sheets, etc. 4e takes this to the worst possible outcome. When DMing 4e I found it necessary to pre-draw on giant graph paper every room in a 40 room dungeon because the maps are so detailed.
Positive AC
I hate negative AC and THAC0, the single most confusing aspect of pre-3.5 D&D. (Is there a single good reason why this was ever done?) Anyway, I'd like a simple way to determine success or failure in attack rolls and other checks. (The percentile system of Cthulhu and Basic is great.)
Characters can't be wimps
Here's a strike against Cthulhu, Basic, Gurps, Warhammer, 1st and 2nd edition AD&D, etc. Your character is about as powerful as your typical monster (or less). I don't want to completely slaughter players who come to the table to escape the stresses of daily life. I like the power level in 3.5 or Pathfinder pretty well.
Diversity of characters
I'd like characters to feel different from one another. 3.5 did this. 2nd edition did this with speciality priests. Castles and Crusades did not do this.
A Rules Lite but Rules "Tight" System
I don't want rules for everything, but I want the rules that are there to be good. Call of Cthulhu, for example, was rules lite but rules sloppy. The rules that are there aren't very workable.
If you can think of any system that meets most of these criteria, let me know. I'm not knocking any of these systems that I've mentioned, so I mean no offense with this post; these systems just aren't the right ones for me.
Thanks,
Retreater
