[QUOTE=Oliolio;48064739]So gentlemen- I ask you;
Do you usually prefer freeform RPGs or crunchy RPGs?
What systems do you like; d20, d10, d6, percentile ect?
I'm slowly working on writing a home brew system, but I want a general idea of popularity for particular systems and such before I dive into it.[/QUOTE]
Bell curves for life.
As for freeform vs crunchy, I like freeform RPGs in concept, but in practice they all suck pretty hard.
[QUOTE=elowin;48064914]Bell curves for life.
As for freeform vs crunchy, I like freeform RPGs in concept, but in practice they all suck pretty hard.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, freeform stuff tends to be kind of boring as far as conflicts go, since they lack ways to measure ability, limits, etc.
Other than social conflicts, but you don't really need to be playing a freeform RPG to have that anyway.
I'm gonna run a persona/SMT inspired game in the future, today I made a deck with the major arcanas on roll20, plan to use them for initiative and some small buffs/roll bonuses, dunno if I should bother adding the minor arcanas too
[t]http://puu.sh/iEU0e/02582347ce.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=Rents;48064983]Yeah, freeform stuff tends to be kind of boring as far as conflicts go, since they lack ways to measure ability, limits, etc.
Other than social conflicts, but you don't really need to be playing a freeform RPG to have that anyway.[/QUOTE]
I think you can make freeform combat as interesting as you want if you are creative.
[QUOTE=leonthefox;48065740]I think you can make freeform combat as interesting as you want if you are creative.[/QUOTE]
No amount of creativity will make the mechanics more interesting.
Unless you use that creativity to make a system with interesting mechanics, but now you have a much crunchier game.
[QUOTE=elowin;48065809]No amount of creativity will make the mechanics more interesting.
Unless you use that creativity to make a system with interesting mechanics, but now you have a much crunchier game.[/QUOTE]
Star Wars FFG would like a word. Literally replaces the crunch with creativity. And it's really good.
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;48065923]Star Wars FFG would like a word. Literally replaces the crunch with creativity. And it's really good.[/QUOTE]
uhh
that's a pretty crunchy game
it's also mechanically broken as fuck
[QUOTE=elowin;48065974]uhh
that's a pretty crunchy game
it's also mechanically broken as fuck[/QUOTE]
How so?
[QUOTE=cdr248;48066418]How so?[/QUOTE]
It's possible to continually roll well in combat but never actually shoot the guy you're aiming at.
rolling 3 advantages doesn't mean shit if you don't actually succeed
[QUOTE=Rents;48066515]It's possible to continually roll well in combat but never actually shoot the guy you're aiming at.[/QUOTE]
Stormtrooper accuracy: explained
[QUOTE=lintz;48066545]rolling 3 advantages doesn't mean shit if you don't actually succeed[/QUOTE]
I have said this multiple [b]multiple[/b] times, you guys continually refer to it as though there are so many more advantages than succeses when in actuality, statistically youre likely to just get 1 success.
You constantly refer to it as broken, when it is not, your game on roll20 had the weighting for the dice broken.
I've run a game where the dice weighting was fine and as a result, the game worked great.
Crunchy systems have these advantages:
they make it hard for a bad GM or bad player to really fuck things up for everyone (not impossible, but harder, as long as the rules are followed)
they make pick-up games easier
they're fun to min-max
Crunchy systems have these disadvantages:
Harder to first pick up
Min-maxing might not be fun for the other players
Constantly looking up rules sucks
Freeform systems have these advantages:
a really good GM or player can make them a lot more fun. Some of my best Pathfinder games happened when I said "fuck the rules, let's just do it how we want"
they can be easier to pick up (one of my PF players never actually learned any of the rules, he just said what he wanted to do and I translated it into game terms)
Freeform systems have these disadvantages:
Bad players drag everything down
A bad GM will absolutely ruin it
The other thing to remember is that it's not an either/or choice. You can lean towards one or the other to various degrees. And each system can vary - you can have very crunchy combat but a freeform magic system, for example.
i wouldnt really consider making up rules for a specific situation as making the game into a freeform game
[QUOTE=lintz;48066545]rolling 3 advantages doesn't mean shit if you don't actually succeed[/QUOTE]
Why not just homebrew a rule so 3 advantages turns into a success if you have 0 successes already.
[QUOTE=Rents;48066515]It's possible to continually roll well in combat but never actually shoot the guy you're aiming at.[/QUOTE]
I'd say that's perfectly fitting considering the setting and stuff
but also probably really fucking annoying when you're actually playing :v:
[editline]28th June 2015[/editline]
Also: imo freeform systems are really cool conceptually, but I really prefer something with more crunch in practice
it seems a bit cooler when you've got concrete mechanics and shit to back all the narrative stuff up, y'know?
I have been doing a lot of AW style "alright, you're in a situation, what have you been doing to get up to this point?" or "ok you call up your contacts, what do you learn?" stuff lately, though, and the players seem to like it.
plus it lets me offload work on them
lazy gming ftw
[QUOTE=elowin;48067579]i wouldnt really consider making up rules for a specific situation as making the game into a freeform game[/QUOTE]
It's a matter of degree. Throwing out the grapple rules made it more freeform, but keeping the basic combat rules left it more crunchy than freeform-by-design games.
[QUOTE]FFRP vs Crunch[/QUOTE]
This is why I like games like Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, End of The World, etc, where it's light on crunch and tells the players and GM to be more creative with the story and there's not a whole lot of rule mongering involved.
Anyone looking for a player? I'm up for anything but pathfinder really.
Tonight I learned that stealing hats and yelling "Cyka Blyat" is really all I need to persuade Russians into believing I am one of them. And that turtles are fucking good at backpedaling.
[QUOTE=cdr248;48068717]Anyone looking for a player? I'm up for anything but pathfinder really.[/QUOTE]
I was actually thinking of booting up a Star Wars EOTE game.
(Don't listen to the other guys, it's really good)
[QUOTE=draugur;48068804]Tonight I learned that stealing hats and yelling "Cyka Blyat" is really all I need to persuade Russians into believing I am one of them. And that turtles are fucking good at backpedaling.[/QUOTE]
And that 6 months into the game the GM (me) continues to roll an average of 3 on a 1d10 because Roll20 is a piece of fucking shit.
Ran a game with intentions of the players working for crimelords to earn an escape from a hellish hive world.
Instead, they have kidnapped and executed most of the crimelords in the city, brutally cut down the assassins sent by their replacements, then leveled the entire city block where the replacements were holding a meeting to figure out "who the fuck is killing all our dudes?".
I'm not sure if I should thank them or go murder-mode on their butts.
I'm undecisive about using the full tarot (78 cards) or just the major arcanas (22 cards) for initiative.
I'm more inclined for the second since uploading other 56 cards to roll20 would be a pain :v:.
I also plan to have players who draw The world have their turn whenever they want, and those who draw The fool get the first turn.
Next is deciding on system: D6, GURPS, FATE or savage worlds.
[QUOTE=leonthefox;48069543]I'm undecisive about using the full tarot (78 cards) or just the major arcanas (22 cards) for initiative.
I'm more inclined for the second since uploading other 56 cards to roll20 would be a pain :v:.
I also plan to have players who draw The world have their turn whenever they want, and those who draw The fool get the first turn.
Next is deciding on system: D6, GURPS, FATE or savage worlds.[/QUOTE]
IIRC Savage Worlds already has an initiative system based on cards so... you're already there if you go with SW.
I've been playing Anima with my friends lately and this is actually pretty fun, perhaps even fun personified
it brings out my inner weeb who's been wanting to fly around and beat stuff up with no clear boundaries, and be really stylish while accomplishing nothing by doing so, whilest not having to be high level to achieve many things, and levels only escalating it more
[QUOTE=Nitrowing;48069415]Ran a game with intentions of the players working for crimelords to earn an escape from a hellish hive world.
Instead, they have kidnapped and executed most of the crimelords in the city, brutally cut down the assassins sent by their replacements, then leveled the entire city block where the replacements were holding a meeting to figure out "who the fuck is killing all our dudes?".
I'm not sure if I should thank them or go murder-mode on their butts.[/QUOTE]
You're welcome!
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;48067308]I have said this multiple [b]multiple[/b] times, you guys continually refer to it as though there are so many more advantages than succeses when in actuality, statistically youre likely to just get 1 success.
You constantly refer to it as broken, when it is not, your game on roll20 had the weighting for the dice broken.
I've run a game where the dice weighting was fine and as a result, the game worked great.[/QUOTE]
I was in the game you ran and we had the same issue of combat turns where nothing happened because people rolled advantages and not successes. That could just be roll20's weird dice roller though. Plus one of the other players who had played EotE a bunch kept correcting you on how the mechanics worked. Still probably one of the most boring games I've been in though.
[QUOTE=Nitrowing;48069415]Ran a game with intentions of the players working for crimelords to earn an escape from a hellish hive world.
Instead, they have kidnapped and executed most of the crimelords in the city, brutally cut down the assassins sent by their replacements, then leveled the entire city block where the replacements were holding a meeting to figure out "who the fuck is killing all our dudes?".
I'm not sure if I should thank them or go murder-mode on their butts.[/QUOTE]
That's actually really cool. Rather than try to escape the hellhole you set up for them they(seem to) try and fix it
Speaking of Crunch - how many actual games gotten Vehicle Chases and alike actually well done? By which I mean for it to be a bit more than just rolling high to meet the needed result.
[QUOTE=gufu;48070292]Speaking of Crunch - how many actual games gotten Vehicle Chases and alike actually well done? By which I mean for it to be a bit more than just rolling high to meet the needed result.[/QUOTE]
SR5's rules work fairly well up to a point, it's fine with normal people driving normal cars, ramming is likely to make someone crash, passengers can fire out of the car, being in a crash will fuck you up.
But when you've got riggers, modified cars, sports cars, armoured trucks, mounted guns etc. it gets unbalanced because it's not too difficult when you're specialised in vehicles to hit Mach 1 on a scooter or just obliterate everything else on the road with an RPG.
[editline]28th June 2015[/editline]
That's SR in general really, it works fine most of the time but gets silly or broken easily if you go nuts.
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