The Gaming Den

The one thing that it did well is have a low bar for entry. I've known a lot of people that have advocated for a 'simple' version of D&D (maybe call it Basic or something) that can be used as a starting point that is generally compatible with the full edition (maybe call it Advanced or somethin...

Yeah I'm pretty confused by people talking about the brilliant marketing of an edition that released, no one fucking bout it, and then 5 years later became popular because of a TV show 2 years later, not 5. In 2016 the D&D 5e Player's Handbook was already the all-time best selling D&D book ...

I say [D&D 5e] is not giving people much of anything, because it isn't. Physically, almost no rules. People do things with it, but those things are unique hand waving. The game itself insists that it has no flaws because the GM can fix everything. Which is just garbage, that's terrible, awful t...

So, marketing and pandering are different things. Their marketing is telling people they will be pandered to, but the actual games do not deliver in the slightest. 5e, for instance, can't be giving people what they want because it's not giving them much of anything. And you say this based on what? ...

From a broader standpoint of "modern RPGs" rather than design specifically, what distinguishes modern products to me is the level of pandering to the consumer involved. I guess you could generously call that "marketing." Products made in the OD&D to VTM era did not give a si...

Yeah that sounds off. If that stress taken fill up some stress track or something, then it's reasonable, but if that happens out of nowehere it's weird indeed.

I backed the kickstarter for the Strata expansion, and that plus the core book showed up in the mail a month ago. There's some really cool stuff there, and they don't hesitate to give players really nice powers. However, I have some concerns about the amount of railroading that goes into many of th...

Yesterday's Hero wrote:Those pics remind me of Darkest Dungeon. Is a cool aesthetic.

Pretty much, yeah. This reminds me I have a pending Darkest Dungeon game halfway through the campaign. I should go back to it sometime.

Anyone seen this yet? Players are drow guerrilla fighters against the High Elf regime in a exotic fantasy-punk city. The visuals are neat: https://i0.wp.com/rowanrookanddecard.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Spire-1.2-724x1024.jpg?reSIZE=2005%2C743 https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/017/473/697/422b011...

Interesting analogy, Tussock. Makes sense.

I actually like what the OSR produces in terms of tools and setting stuff, but rules-wise it's pretty dead.

Detailed Skill lists are not as popular as they once were. The old-school resurgence, the narrative crowds and the latest D&D incarnation are sidelining them in favor of broader concepts like aspects, moves, proficiencies or simply GM adjudication (or rulings).

The boardgame Catacombs does a good job of emulating action-comedy. It's not an RPG but you could turn it into one easily enough by slapping a skill system to it. (Which you can do to many boardgames - one way to look at an RPG is a frame tale around a bunch of boardgame sessions.) I'll take a look...

I agree. Both combat and powers are too reliant on GM fiat. I wonder if Orion have played or read Monsterhearts. I suspect if he did, his opinions on Masks would be different. I'm not bashing Masks though, as it seems to do well the "coming of age" theme, which is it's main goal anyway. Bu...

So what's even the point of the powers? Why are they locked by playbook? Why can the bull only be good at punching when a hot head and overwhelming destructive force comes in so many other flavors? Why can the Legacy only be members of the justice league? Why not just have a master list of keywords...

Good point. Is the Johnny Mnemonic novel better than the movie? Ive never read it.

@Chamomile, I think TOR has enough differences from D&D as to be a better vehicle for emulating Tolkien stories. And if I remember right it doesn't share D&D obsession with combat either. About the Cyberpunk genre, see my response for Foxwarrior above. "Cyberpunk games (Shadowrun, Cyber...

I wonder which original fiction works your friend was thinking of, because I visualize super-hackers, action hero cyborgs, and people who are both. Being broken in some major way seems like a bit of a cop-out because you also have to be a bit strange to choose to be a Shadowrunner when there are hi...

Back to the topic of emulation, a friend put this about Cyberpunk games, which I've found pretty insightful.. "Cyberpunk games (Shadowrun, Cyberpunk 2020, etc) usually have player characters who are powerful, when the original fictional works are about powerless protagonists, or at least broken...

Hmmm... looking again, I may have expressed myself poorly indeed. I never played AiME for D&D5 so I don't know if it succeeds at it's goal of emulating LoTR (I'm skeptical, considering it's structural legacy). I just meant to say it set itself to reach that goal, and from the feedback of people ...

that doesn't mean it's gameplay emulate the workings of those sources. Conan battles are never given the tactical detail that D&D presents, Game of Thrones is not about pillaging dungeons, and Narnia characters don't "level up". That's what I meant by saying D&D is it's own thing....

My original post doesn't even cite D&D.

I just showed proof that emulating LotR isn't unttainable or undesirable, something Saithor implied in his post.

The reason that D&D actually has tactics, dungeons, and level ups is the exact same reasons presented in DM of the rings, that Lord of the Rings as a campaign is likely to be a grindy, railroady mess with no enemy variety, little mechanical incentives, and your own RP not really having a major ...

I agree D&D draws inspiration from a lot of places (including fantasy, sword & sorcery and wargames). But that doesn't mean it's gameplay emulate the workings of those sources. Conan battles are never given the tactical detail that D&D presents, Game of Thrones is not about pillaging dun...

Wiseman, does that mean Vampire 5e is bad?

Also, I think Masks is the first game I've seen that doesnt' bother being a superpowers construction toolkit. Perhaps that's what made me interested in it, while all other Supers RPGs left me cold.