Tabletop Gaming?

[Kenso]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]Hey, I was wondering how many of you out there play any tabletop games? You know, D&D, Vampire: The Masquerade, True20, things like that. If you do play, what systems do you use, and what do you like about them? Are you by the books, or does homebrew make its way in?[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]I play D&D, and that's about it. I haven't gotten the opportunity to test any other systems (except BESM) yet, though I had a friend who kept trying to get me to play GURPS. I only play 3.5, though I use quite a few 3rd party publishers (I especially like [URL=www.dreamscarredpress.com]Dreamscarred Press[/URL] and homebrew material. I don't often use pre-established campaign settings (Forgotten Realms, Eberron), instead taking what I like and building from there. I prefer to play instead of DM though, and I'm willing to play in just about any campaign setting.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]I can't really say what it is I like about 3.5, especially since parts feel overly complicated and end up a huge drain on game time. I love the 3.5 psionics system though (hence Dreamscarred Press), and a lot of the new books that have come out (Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Magic, Tome Of Battle) are pretty impressive.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]I'm not much looking forward to 4E (though I was initially, I don't like how WotC is handling the OGL/GSL issue), although I'm witholding judgement until I can see how things go when they release more accurate details on how things are going to run.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[pooperson]

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"][SIZE="1"]I played Risk the other day. On the top of a table. (That's where the game was. I was sitting at the table.)
[URL="http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/214/10/714157061/n714157061_637178_6559.jpg"]See?[/URL]

(But really, to answer your question - no.)[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Allamorph]

[QUOTE=taperson][COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"][SIZE="1"]I played Risk the other day. On the top of a table. (That's where the game was. I was sitting at the table.)
[URL="http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/214/10/714157061/n714157061_637178_6559.jpg"]See?[/URL][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[FONT=Arial]Arrgh-you-stole-my-sarcasm!!! :p (Same game and everything.)

Hey [COLOR="DarkRed"]Kenso[/COLOR], how's about you go spellin' out those lovely little acronyms that us uninitiated don't yet understand?

I mean, I know your target audience will get ya—hopefully—but still, I'd like to know what you're talkin' about. I mean, I might even be interested.[/FONT]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

I was hooked on risk in high school. We always used the floor instead of the table though.

(Had a friend who used to play dungeons and dragons. Think he still does...and that's probably all he does)

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]I'm a tabletopper, actually. D&D, Vampire, Fudge... I've played a lot of various things during my time in college. Been in many games and DMed (Dungeon Mastered) a few. It's really quite a lot of fun once you get a hang of the system. (For all you out there that have yet to try and want to, don't be a cleric your first time out. You'll just give yourself a headache, lol.)

Anyway, I've played almost every edition of D&D that's out and readily available except 1st and I have to say that I like 3.5 the most out of the lot.

...Really, anything that doesn't have the THACO system (it's a system that determines defense and attack in the game, for you all that aren't regulars) is a blessing to the masses.

But I and my friends are more than a little leary of 4th Edition. We're really reserving judgment on the system as a whole until we see the finer mechanics in action, but most of us have determined that we'll likely still mainly play with 3.5 until we see how certain things are set up.[/color][/size]

[Kenso]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Arrgh-you-stole-my-sarcasm!!! :p (Same game and everything.)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Hey [COLOR=darkred]Kenso[/COLOR], how's about you go spellin' out those lovely little acronyms that us uninitiated don't yet understand?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]I mean, I know your target audience will get ya?hopefully?but still, I'd like to know what you're talkin' about. I mean, I might even be interested.[/FONT][/quote]

My apologies. I hadn't really thought about that.

D&D = Dungeons & Dragons - A tabletop RPG published by Wizards of the Coast, with supplements published by multiple 3rd party publishers (Malhavoc Press, Dreamscarred Press, Mongoose Publishing, numerous others).
OGL = Open Game License - The Open Game License is a legality originally conceived by WotC that allows other companies to use any material they deem Open Content (such as basic mechanics, similar such things).
GSL = Game System License - Effectively WotC's version of the Open Game License for the upcoming 4th Edition, this appears to be more restrictive (though details are still pending), and may mean many 3rd party publishers continue to stick with the current edition (3.5).
BESM = Big Eyes, Small Mouth - A strangely named point-based RPG system, BESM is designed for those who want to build RP characters in an anime style world. Known for over-the-top abilities and some crazy powers, it's probably one of the worst balanced systems out there (but fun if you're just looking for something crazy).
GURPS = Generic Universal Roleplaying System - All I know about GURPS is that it's point-based like BESM, but designed with game balance in mind. Apparently, it can get really complicated, and it has rules for nearly everything.




Hope that helps.

[Sabrina]

[FONT="Tahoma"]I haven't played the types of games you've listed Kenso, but going strictly by the definition of table top games then I've played... Clue! It's great fun.

In Clue, players move from room to room in a mansion to solve the mystery of: who done it, with what, and where? Players are dealt character, weapon, and location cards after the top card from each card type is secretly placed in the confidential file in the middle of the board. Players must move to a room and then make an accusation against a character saying they did it in that room with a specific weapon. The player to the left must show one of any cards accused to the accuser if in that player's hand. Through deductive reasoning each player must figure out which character, weapon, and location are in the secret file. To do this, each player must uncover what cards are in other players hands by making more and more accusations. Once a player knows what cards the other players are holding they will know what cards are in the secret file.

And that's the general idea of how the game works. Also... I haven't played this in forever! I need to fix that! :o[/FONT]

[Korey]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I don't play table top RPG's, but I know my way around the Connect Four circuit ;)

I never got into that kinda stuff, but I do like watching the games being played, for the sheer amount of imagination that it takes to play these games. Most people who play RPGs have no recollection of what it was to sit around a table with your buddies and go on epic quests to find some ancient relic while battling evil hordes of monsters all while sippin on Crystal Pepsi. Those were the days...:animesigh

But games I like to play on the table top are, Life, Connect Four, Sorry, Texas Hold 'Em and Blackjack (cards games are played on a tabletop, so there :P). Ever since that movie 21, I've always wanted to learn to count cards and make a killing off of small casinos in our area. :catgirl:[/FONT]

[Kenso]

[quote name='Kei'][COLOR=darkblue][SIZE=1]I'm a tabletopper, actually. D&D, Vampire, Fudge... I've played a lot of various things during my time in college. Been in many games and DMed (Dungeon Mastered) a few. It's really quite a lot of fun once you get a hang of the system. (For all you out there that have yet to try and want to, don't be a cleric your first time out. You'll just give yourself a headache, lol.)[/SIZE][/COLOR][/quote]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]What's Fudge? I've never heard of that one before.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]4th Edition actually looks kind of promising mechanically, but a lot of what's going on with it and licensing for it makes it feel more like a cash grab than anything. The Digitial Initiative for it is cool, but I think it's going to be too expensive. Plus, they're dumbing things down in 4th Edition, and while I can understand why, I'm not sure I like it.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]Do you prefer playing or DMing? I think they both have their good points, but I definitely prefer to be on the player's side of the table. What's your style of DMing? Do you use published adventures, write your own, or do you just ad hoc it as you go along? I'm an ad hoc sort of DM myself, meaning I end up taking as many or more notes than the players so I can keep up with myself. I don't have to worry about plot derailment that way, which is nice. I just have to worry about possibly being forced into giving life to a part of the world I hadn't planned on addressing until a little later.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[MissWem]

[FONT="Arial"][COLOR="Sienna"]OOoooohhh... what about table top war games. I've started getting into Warhammer 40k recently.

It's one of several fantasty/sci-fi 'era'-ish based wargames created by Games Workshop. Basically you pick a race you like, buy their stupidly expensive models and paint them up to look nice (or as nice as you can manage) and then pit your tiny model army against someone else's tiny model army.

Feels like the grown up version of melting plastic soldiers under a lens, without melting them because they're very expensive :S

Anyway, I haven't really familliarised myself with the technical part of playing game because I've been getting really into just painting them. Fortunately for me my partner has been collecting them for the past 10 years so I have a pretty large army to strip down and renovate with a shiny new paint job.

P.S I've watched people play Spycraft (similar to D&D...?), it looks like fun but I'm far too impatient to wait for everyone to figure out what they want to do. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

This may come off as me being sarcastinc but it's not meant to. I'm just confused on the whole Dungeons and dragons thing. You pay money for a couple books that tell you how to use your imagination?

Now I'm not"poking fun" or anything like that, but it just seems to me that you could use your already indepth knowledte of monsters, dungeons, heros, ___sided dice, and huge fantasy worlds to play the same thing with your friends and make it better (since everythings better when you have a say in how its run. Since we're all ego maniacs of somesort and love to have our say in things)

That also goes for buying the expensive figureines. Now I can understand that more because once again you are able to add your influence...though I think it'd be morefun to get one of those weapons and warriors games I used to have with the cannon and giant crossbows (I know they're called balitsas but not everyone may know that so backoff). Get a ton of risk pieces and just go to town

ON a side note I agree with cards being table top games...but what about indian poker (I know it has another name but I'm not sure what it is. I do know it's the one where you stick a card to your forhead) Would that be sort've advanced table top gamig.....and on that note if it is, does that mean people who play advanced dungeons and dragonsstick things to their foreheads?

[Nerdsy]

[quote name='Drizzt Do'urden']This may come off as me being sarcastinc but it's not meant to. I'm just confused on the whole Dungeons and dragons thing. You pay money for a couple books that tell you how to use your imagination?[/QUOTE]

[color=deeppink]You buy the books for the ruleset, just like any other board game. Would you say "Why pay money on Monopoly, when we could just take our knowledge of economics, real estate, and money and just make something up instead!"

The books don't tell you how to use your imagination, they just give you a tool to be able to apply it. I mean, just by you saying it would be better if "you have a say in how it's run," makes me think you don't really know how tabeltops work, despite the fact that you take your handle from a DnD character; you have an [I]enormous[/I] say in how they're run, especially if you are a GM. You pretty much control everything.

Yes, you could just make up a system with your friends, but good luck keeping it from devolving into into, "I shot you!" "No, you didn't!"[/color]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink] makes me think you don't really know how tabeltops work, despite the fact that you take your handle from a DnD character;
[/QUOTE]

Actually that's not true. I got it from R.A. Salvatore. Though I'm not sure where he came from first.

[Allamorph]

[quote name='Drizzt Do'urden']Actually that's not true. I got it from R.A. Salvatore. Though I'm not sure where he came from first.[/quote]
[FONT="Arial"][INDENT][SIZE="3"][I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms"][COLOR="Blue"]Forgotten Realms[/COLOR][/URL][/I][/SIZE]
[I]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[align=justify]The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game, created by Canadian author and game designer Ed Greenwood. Commonly referred to as simply The Realms, it became the most popular setting with D&D gamers in the 1990s, boosted by the success of novels by authors such as [B]R. A. Salvatore[/B] and numerous computer role-playing games such as Pool of Radiance, Baldur's Gate, and Neverwinter Nights. The primary focus of the setting is the continent of Faerûn, part of the world of Abeir-Toril, an Earth-like planet with many real world influences.[/align][/I][/INDENT][/FONT]

[Center][IMG]http://www.hardwarelogic.com/articles/blogs/Website_Reviews_and_You/MoreYouKnow.jpg[/IMG][/Center]

[Kenso]

[quote name='Drizzt Do'urden']Actually that's not true. I got it from R.A. Salvatore. Though I'm not sure where he came from first.[/quote]

Driz'zt is an original creation of R.A. Salvatore, created for a book series (now mulitple book series, but I digress) set in the Forgotten Realms. He has since been made an official NPC of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and has been given real stats on numerous occassions (many of which will be debated for ages to come).

Now consider that the Realms are NOT an original creation of R.A. Salvatore, and you'll have your answer as to why people buy these books. Yes, our imaginations are vast, but sometimes you need a catalyst. On top of that, actually designing the rules is a HUGE investment of time (I know, because I do it myself as a bit of a hobby), and laying out an entire world is something many people simply can't make space for in their schedules. So the books are both a catalyst and a convenience, ones that allow people to just jump right into things instead of spending months of out-of-game time just trying to set things up.

[Decay]

I love tabletop games. I've played DnD 3.5, really apprehensive about 4 when I heard gnomes were gonna be gone as a PHB race (Why? .... WHY!?!?!), WoD, Vampire, Werewolf once, Deadlands, Shadowrun 2, 3 and hated 4 completely, AFMBE, and D20 Modern. Half of which I've also GMed, to varying levels of success.

I Love role-playing, tabletop games most of all.