Why do you choose to play d20 games?

[Chupacabra]

D20: not my favorite, but I'm not a D20 hater either.

I would play / run Warhammer FRPG or Chaosium Call of Cthulhu in a heartbeat but no one seems interested, so I pretty much stick with good 'ol D20 D&D. Can't beat it for the amount of source material to borrow and steal campaign ideas from. It is definitely the 800-pound gorilla of the industry, and of local gaming. It seems to be a force of nature practically.

 

[Wombat]

I dropped D&D when it became "1st ed." AD&D. The mechanics were screwy, the worlds were ridiculous, the gameplay annoying, and all like that. I stopped almost all involvement in D&D for nearly 20 years.

I came back, as many others did, with D20. My favourite system? Very, very far from it. But I had also just moved and, as a forty-year-old, I was having a very hard time trying to find a group of people I wanted to game with; most group were, for my tastes, terribly immature. Worse, no one seemed to know (or WANT to know) the systems that I enjoyed, such as Ars Magica and Over the Edge.

But D&D3e was easy to find players for -- unlike most rpgs, you can find it at Barnes & Noble, local traditional game-n-puzzle stores, and the like. There are also thousands of websites (such as this one) devouted to it and many "Game Call" boards.

The mechanics had changed so they were actually pretty smooth, albeit still with a lot of the basic silliness that I didn't enjoy in the game, so I advertised that I would set up a "Discworld-like setting -- don't expect serious".

Instead of searching desperately for players, I had a waiting list of five extra people beyond the six I initially seated at my table!

D&D D20 = McDonalds.

It is not the tastiest, but it is everywhere and most gamers are willing to settle for it if they can't find anything else.

Now I am converting my players over to other systems. One of my players wants to run a short Sengoku campaign (Fuzion system) and all of them have expressed interest in Ars Magica. In other words, reel the gamers in and eventually they are willing to try almost anything, assuming you have gained their trust.

 

[bjjrick]

I prefer Lejendary Adventure, but D20 is so widespread, it's hard to find someone who plays anything different.
Most people are of the mind, well we all already know how to play it, so let's just play that (d20).

 

[Psion]

Some of you are answering "Other" when the reason you wrote in is one of the choices. Thanee... Look at your last sentance, wouldn't "I honestly like d20" make sense? Psion, I included an option that d20 is the most supported system and you could have answered that way.

If you are going to answer "Other" please back it up with your statement instead of stating that you really meant to vote for one of the existing choices.

Nay nay sly fox. That's some tunnel vision you got there. That's one choice out of the FIVE reasons I offered. That one choice is supposed to cover them all? I think not. Other is the only good choice from your poll.

Also, see what 2WS Steve said. It is the tastiest!

 

[sjmiller]

Looking at some of the posts on my other poll I came to discover that many people here play d20 system games even though they prefer other games. Why do you play d20 games?

I play d20 system games (d&d3e to be specific) because it was the only game the entire group of players could agree upon. All nine players wanted to play a game together.

Some wanted to play AD&D2e, but I put my foot down, since I am going to run the game. I did not like it when I played, and I refused to go hunt down the books needed to run it.

A few wanted to play GURPS (myself included), but could not convince the others to play it. GURPS is my system of choice, which was why I was enthusiastic about it.

Two out of the 10 would have been happy playing DragonQuest, but I would have to do an aweful lot of copying to allow players to have their own gamebooks. Still, I would be happy to run that too.

Since some of the players are already playing D&D3e, and the rest could get a PH easily and already understood the general concepts of the game, it was decided that I would run a 3e game.

So that is why a die-hard GURPS fan and playtester is now running a 3e game. So, I would have to answer Other to the poll.

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Other

I like d20, and I enjoy D&D. It's not my favorite, but it's pretty far up there, and it's much better supported than anything else. A subscription to Dungeon will let me run a campaign for a good long time.

I also like DC Heroes, but it wasn't until recently that I found a cache of 3rd edition DC Heroes books cheap, so I bought enough to be able to run a game whenever I want to.

 

[WayneLigon]

d20. So far, it's about the best of all possible worlds. Easy to find players for it. Easy to teach to new players. Consistant rules set. It cleared up most of the problems I had with D&D since D&D came out. If I want to ratchet up the realism factor, I can go to d20 Modern. If I want to rachet it way down, I can go to Mutants and Masterminds.

I still play and enjoy other RPG's, but to a lesser extent than I did five years ago.

 

[Jeph]

I chose Other, because I don't even run d20 any more. I don't even run or buy commercial games, come to think of it. With literally hundreds upon hundreds of free systems out there I just don't see the point. Plus I'm lazy and d20 takes a long time to prep for, comparatively speaking, and makes it hard to wing a game.

I do play in a D&D game, though, because that (along with Feng Shui) is what my friends know how to run. Which is cool, because they're really good at it and I enjoy myself. I really like all the options and choices as a player, even if they're a bit too much as a GM.

--Jeff

 

[Wormwood]

I honestly do.

I while away my afternoons generating NPC stat-blocks.

I browse the SRD every night before I fall asleep.

I quiz myself with Conditional Modifier flash cards.

I know more about Attacks of Opportunity than I do about my wife's family.

I visually subdivide every room I'm in into five-foot sections.

ps. I'm only half-kidding.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I chose "other"...to tick off Calico Jack

No, the real reason is because I cannot say I like d20 better than any other system, because it is the only current system I know. I've played D&D for 25 years, and back before I got married and found that real life takes up a lot of time, I played all kinds of systems. But since the advent of d20, I have not had time to check out any other ones. Perhaps if my group tried other game systems d20 would not be our favorite, but since it has not happened we play d20.

When we retire I'll let you know if I play it because it is the best, because its well supported, or because its the only game they let us have in the assisted living center.