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Message: <blockquote data-quote="karlindel" data-source="post: 5370871" data-attributes="member: 27103">I have done this twice, although not with D&D.I ran an anime-inspired campaign with a group of anime fans, all of whom I had GMed in campaigns before.  The game ran about 8 4-6 hour sessions, and everyone had a great time.  The players gave me their character's background and history, and I talked to them and we tweaked a few things.  The players rolled percentile dice, and knew that rolling low was good, and knew generally what their characters' capabilities were (as the abilities were based on their backgrounds), but did not know specific numbers.  Guessing at the numbers wasn't particularly useful, as situational modifiers would often apply.  We ran into issues a few times, in which the players needed to describe their actions more fully for me to understand what they were trying to do, and one player had trouble triggering his special ability (although this also correlated with the character trying to figure out the trigger, so it wasn't really a problem, just frustrating for the player as everyone else had figured out what triggered their powers).  Everyone had a great time.I ran a Halloween game using the Warhammer 2nd Edition rules.  I used pre-gen characters, giving everyone a brief summary of the characters.  After the characters were chosen, I gave the individual players a few more details on their characters (some of them had secrets).  The party was a group of mercenaries and refugees near a war zone, the mercenaries providing a guard escort to the refugees (as well as some NPC refugees).  Near the drop off point for the refugees, they run into a priest who is the last survivor of a team sent into the war zone to recover a relic, and he hires the mercenaries and anyone else he can get to help him get the relic.  During the game, one PC left the group to try to find leftover treasure in the cathedral, the priest was possessed by a demon after being shot by a fellow PC (who didn't trust the priest), and the party recovered the relic.  It was a very memorable evening, and several of the players have numbered it among their favorite roleplaying experiences.I have told stories about both campaigns, and the reactions have run from "That's awesome, I wish I could play in a campaign like that" to "I can't believe you found players interested in doing that".  Obviously, it's not a campaign that will work for everyone, and there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed.1.  The players need to trust the GM.  If the players do not trust the GM, then they will constantly worry about the game being a railroad, their choices not really mattering, and the like.2.  The GM needs to be able to handle the mechanical side of the game quickly and efficiently.  The game will seem like a drag for the players if they sit around twiddling their thumbs while the GM resolves their actions.3.  The players need enough information to make informed decisions about what to do.  Players should know if their characters are proficient in a particular weapon or armor, what spells they can cast and their general effects (specific mechanics may or may not be necessary depending on the system).4.  The GM needs to have a way to resolve mechanical differences that could all be described the same way.  For example, a high constitution vs great fortitude vs toughness vs improved toughness; combat expertise vs fighting defensively vs combat expertise and fighting defensively at the same time; power attack vs barbarian rage.  5.  The GM needs to decide how to handle feats and abilities that require constant decisions by players.  Combat Expertise and Power Attack are the best examples, as every round the player needs to decide how much, if any, to take off of their attack bonus for these feats.  6.  If the players know how the game mechanics work, this will make it harder for them to roleplay without thinking about the system.  Players will attempt to roleplay their character towards a particular class, prestige class, or the like.</blockquote>

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