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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 2892714" data-attributes="member: 40177">So, I've been in the dumps lately concerning RPG's.  It seems like I spend so much time worrying about character builds and monster books, and other stat-related aspects of the game, that there isn't a whole lot of role-playing going on.  Our group consists of two people who will use the rules to make strong characters (one uses whatever feats look best;  the other tends to just focus on things that are "cool" but often just a bit broken), and two who are more into just playing the game.Which makes for a character inbalance in power, and generally just leads to all sorts of trouble.Anyways, I keep finding that everytime I play the d20 system, things digress more into stats and "give me a spot check" over anything else.  My "let's wing it" style has given way to making stat block after stat block, etc...So, in the hope of fixing things, I switched systems this week.  As of this week, our group started playing in West End Games' d6 system.  Within minutes we had created characters, and I was able to explain the rules basics to the group quickly and painlessly.  Everyone got the gist of it, after we ran a "mock combat" that got everyone understanding the game's (incredibly easy) dice mechanics.  Since I was eager to get more into role-playing, I made a conscious effort to get people creating interesting characters who were logically connected to one another, and the group was more than willing to do this.  Within about five minutes we had "Flak" - a redneck mechanic who likes his guns and explosions; "joe the hitman", a quiet and brooding man with a quirky name who pretty much oozes evil; "Taint", an escaped mental patient who is deadly with his knives, although he's something of a drug addict; and "Julianna", a 15-year old hacker chick who grew up on the streets (and is, curiously enough, the group's unofficial leader).  Within the first session, players were talking in character, taking crazy actions that they would never attempt in D&D (mostly because I think they know there would be a rule or skill check to cover it that deters them from taking the chance), and doing bad things simply because "it's what my character would do".In short, they were role-playing a HELLUVA LOT MORE.Now, my question here:  do you people find that some systems allow for role-playing better than others?  Do you find that D&D gets in the way of role-playing, that you have to pay conscious attention to the rules of the game, and that this gets in the way of your role-playing experience?  And, if you do find some systems work really well for role-playing, what systems?  I'm a little curious.  This has been a huge eye-opening experience, and I'm still incredibly excited about role-playing again after wednesday night's game, which is something I haven't felt in years.</blockquote>

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