# Pen & Paper/Tabletop RPG's



## PenDragon (Jul 25, 2006)

Anyone here into pen and paper RPG's? What games you into?


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## Winters_Sorrow (Jul 26, 2006)

I used to be, but I moved away from the area/club I was in.

Mainly played Traveller; Paranoia, Call of Cthulu and Middle Earth


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## PenDragon (Jul 26, 2006)

Winters_Sorrow said:
			
		

> Mainly played Traveller; Paranoia, Call of Cthulu and Middle Earth


 
Cool, you must be about my age then, I've played/gm'ed most of those MERP I liked a lot, but Runequest, Basic/Expert D&D, Bushido and Tunnels & Trolls where the main games of our group back in the early '80's. I've just got back into it and there's a whole slew of new fangled games about. I also missed the big hoo-haa over the Vampire games in the '90's which seem to have introduced an army of angsty goths into the hobby.


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## Winters_Sorrow (Jul 26, 2006)

Yeah - we probably had similar influences although I don't recall Bushido but that may be because I got into it around 1987 so possibly it was "before my time" 

I left just as Vampire: The Masquerade was starting to make an impact. Never played it but saw the rulebook. I can see why Goths liked it, although personally I preferred the werewolf characters


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## Osprey (Aug 1, 2006)

I played DnD a few weeks ago. That was an interesting experience.


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## dustinzgirl (Aug 1, 2006)

PenDragon said:
			
		

> Anyone here into pen and paper RPG's? What games you into?



My favorite! I think video games kill creativity, me and my boys play dumbed down versions of:

Star Wars, AD&D, Shadowrun, and occasionally a neat little game called Wyrmwood...its very old, I bought it when I was a kid and haven't found one like it since!


I make the games simpler because they are only 11,10 and 7.


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## Sulik (Aug 8, 2006)

im only 11, but my and my cuz play d&d a lot, (pen&paper, of course) as well as a little bit off AD&D. i onoly got into it a few years ago


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## SkywardShadow (Aug 8, 2006)

I've played a lot of pnp games, the little-known Weapons of the Gods (EOS Press) being my favorite. I'm currently in a bi-weekly D&D session.

I have to say... thinking that videogames kills creativity floored me. They stimulate the mind on many levels, and I have a large library of games that have been engaging my imagination just as much as the books that I love.


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## Jason_Taverner (Aug 9, 2006)

I've been playing D&D and Decent which must have the most pieces in a game ever made its good if you like lots and I mean lots of action low roleplay though.


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## Crymic (Aug 14, 2006)

D&D mostly


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## scalem X (Aug 14, 2006)

The dungeons, the dragons, yeah them .


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## sanityassassin (Aug 14, 2006)

When I played dungeons and dragons (looooong time ago now) there were very few dungeons and virtually no dragons strange 

Also used to play CoC, Marvel heros, Ghostbusters, Living Steel, and Warhammer Rpg as well as a few others I can't really rememeber offhand


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## Crymic (Aug 14, 2006)

Yeah it kinda hurts when a DM puts in a dragon. Generally means the party either lives or rerolls new characters.


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## Crisspin (Aug 15, 2006)

PenDragon said:
			
		

> Cool, you must be about my age then, I've played/gm'ed most of those MERP I liked a lot, but Runequest, Basic/Expert D&D, Bushido and Tunnels & Trolls where the main games of our group back in the early '80's. I've just got back into it and there's a whole slew of new fangled games about. I also missed the big hoo-haa over the Vampire games in the '90's which seem to have introduced an army of angsty goths into the hobby.



I just attended GenCon Indianapolis, the largest game convention in America.  You might be interested to know they just re-released a new version of _Runequest_, published by Mongoose.  Very similar to the original game and it has been released under the WOTC Open License agreement.  Thus, anyone can publish against that rule set (much like D20).


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## Eris Black (Sep 1, 2006)

I used to play AD&D, and Shadowrun, but we stopped when everyone moved off to college and got real lives.  Also have done some Live Action (Vampire, Nero) but again, so few of my friends (or myself) have time for it anymore.


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## Daeruin (Sep 29, 2006)

I've been into MERP and Rolemaster for a loooong time. I've played various other games a few times, like Star Wars, D&D, Alternity, Marvel, and probably a few others I can't remember.

I've recently discovered a new one that's totally blown me away: The Riddle of Steel. It's an inde publication with a combat system that's billed as the most realistic of any RPG--strategic, fast-paced, and deadly. I've been using the rules to run a game set in George R. R. Martin's Westeros. Very fun.


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## dustinzgirl (Sep 30, 2006)

SkywardShadow said:
			
		

> I've played a lot of pnp games, the little-known Weapons of the Gods (EOS Press) being my favorite. I'm currently in a bi-weekly D&D session.
> 
> I have to say... thinking that videogames kills creativity floored me. They stimulate the mind on many levels, and I have a large library of games that have been engaging my imagination just as much as the books that I love.



Video games do stimulate the chemical reactions in the brain, and eye-hand coordination. But you do not have to create or think to play them.


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## Barristan (Oct 20, 2006)

I have been playing tabletop RPG's for close to 15 years now, I have Played/GM'd AD&D,D&D 3.5, Aberrant, Vampire, Legend of the Five Rings, SLA Industries, Shadowrun, Over the Edge, Trinity, Mage, Shattered Dreams, Marvel Superheroes, Golden Heroes, Rifts, CoC, Pendragon, Kult, Feng Shui, DC Superheroes, All FLesh Must Be Eaten, Inomine, Streetfighter 2 to name but a few! 
I am also an avid PC and Console gamer (yes, uber nerd!). I think computer games have their place, but have to agree with Dustinzgirl, that the computer game is killing off an outlet for true imagination. Before I start getting flamed, let me back this up.
Computer games have some of the best storylines and immersion techiniques, but it is a very solo affair. Even with the MMORPG's where you are sharing an experience with  loads of other players, you are usually alone at home on the PC or Console. 
Now with a tabletop RPG, you not only get the complete freedom of inventing your character at the outset, you get to affect the world in any way you want. Your only limit is your imagination. 
Computers improve hand eye co-ordination, which is great, but temper it with a tabletop game to improve your problem solving, co-operative and strategy skills. I can honestly say that tabletop had such a positive effect on myself and many people I know, encouraging them to use skills they had IRL. 

However, this is a debate that will remain unanswered I think. A good mix of both would be an ideal world, but as computers dont need any organising, prepping ahead of time or friends available on a certain night at a certain time, that computers will be the popular choice for most.


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## C. Craig R. McNeil (Oct 20, 2006)

I used to play a hell of a lot of Warhammer and AD&D. That was a loooooong time ago now though!


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## SkywardShadow (Oct 21, 2006)

dustinzgirl said:
			
		

> Video games do stimulate the chemical reactions in the brain, and eye-hand coordination. But you do not have to create or think to play them.



Then you haven't played the right videogames. I agree that it doesn't take that much thought to play Halo, but most of my favorites involve storylines that engage me as much books, or provide creative tools that let me do far more than simple pen & paper allow. 

The way you state your opinion lends little to your credibility, as well.


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## McMurphy (Oct 21, 2006)

*Is Paper and Pen Games Dead to a Gimmick and Card RPG Generation?*

Tabletop and video games alike have provided creative inspiration for me in the past....far more than television does on a daily basis.  That is not to say that all games have, however.  Once and a while you come across a game that, when in the right groove, you could simply close your eyes while mashing the buttons and the experience would be same.  Likewise, I have seen some horrible DMs suck all the creativity out of the paper-and-pen RPGs by relying far too heavily on dice rolling.

This may seem like a dumb question, but does anyone know if companies are actively putting out new paper-and-pen traditional rpgs, or are they still just republications of the most successful ones from the '80s?


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## Barristan (Oct 23, 2006)

Hi McMurphy, and no its not a dumb question. The PnP games have been underground for about the last 5 years.

Yes, there are loads of companies still producing new games, new concepts and the "must have" money making expansion books. DnD was re-vamped into a totally new system around 2000, then had an updated revised system 2 years later. This is the main reason behind new interest in the industry IMO. 

IMNSHO though, the best games were mode in the 90's. White wolf started their "World of Darkness" in 91, which pretty much rewrote what the players were looking for in a game. Since then the expectation from players has been higher. The desire has generally been pointing more towards a free-form system, where you are not constrained by any cardinal rules. 
Still, if you look at the big guns in the RPG industry, most of what they produce is "more of the same". If it sells, then why change. Check out a few RPG websites, and the RPG section in eBay, the shops there sell a lot of the new stuff as well as the old. My personal favourite? Well, look into Legend of the 5 rings, Kult and Over the Edge. Admittidly they are all several years old now, but between them contain the inspiration for decades of fun.

Sorry to waffle, lol, just looked back at what I typed, lol!


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## SkywardShadow (Oct 23, 2006)

*Re: Is Paper and Pen Games Dead to a Gimmick and Card RPG Generation?*



McMurphy said:


> This may seem like a dumb question, but does anyone know if companies are actively putting out new paper-and-pen traditional rpgs, or are they still just republications of the most successful ones from the '80s?



EOS Press has put out a couple of fun and unique games recently, including my favorite "Weapons of the Gods".

I recommend hitting a convention like GenCon sometime, where most of the big and small companies set up booths and unveil new products each year, it's a lot of fun!


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## McMurphy (Oct 23, 2006)

*Make Marvel...My RPG?*

Thanks for the responses Barristan and Skyward Shadow.  In a way, it does me good knowing that even in a media world that has surrounded a new generation of gamers and fantasy fans with quick-paced card games, video games, and even online multiplaying epics there is still enough demand voiced for the old paper and pen format that the industry is willing to continue evolving it. 

I remember my friend and I working one summer as grunt workers on a golf course-to-be site in North Dakota.  We were too young to start spending any money we earned on girls or cars, so we, instead, found a ride into town and hit the nearest bookstore.  Among some literature (okay, mostly graphic novels and comic books, but---hey---the "Infinite Gauntlet" was taking place at the time) my friend purchased the Marvel Super Heroes paper-and-pen kit. 

We were both so naive to this genre of gaming, that neither of us could wrap our brains around the rules.  Our Monopoly raised minds understood the role of the dice.  We thought the grid formatted fold-out map of New York City was meant to be literally the game board on which we played the whole game.  I remember both of us camped out in that tent in a middle of a large hay field absolutely dumbfounded by the DM and Player handbooks.  It wasn't until a year later (after the kit had been long since cast aside) that it dawned on us what exactly a pen-and-paper rpg game was. 

I never said I was a fast learner....


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## purenightshade (Oct 29, 2006)

I play AD&D, Big eyes small mouth, Paranoia, and Amber. My husband plays Call of Cthulu.


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