Tabletop RPG?

[RayvenD]

Does anybody here play tabletop RPGs? And if so which do you like/currently play. I'm a D&Der from way back but currently I'm playing the WoD 2 series games ie Werewolf: The Forsaken, and Vampire: The Requiem. Also has anybody played any of the mech-based rpgs out there, 'cause I haven't yet and wondered what they were like from a playing point of view.

[druke]

i've played all of the above, mage is my all-time-favorite (go figure)

as for mechs, the best i've seen is d20 future, its actually awesome and i'm starting a group for it locally now

mech playing wise, its just a chracter with more hp, guns, and whatever else you build onto the mech, basicly n d20 futurem technology can make an underexperienced charcter hardcore, which makes sence.

[RayvenD]

I've not played much of the newer mage myself as yet, hopefully after the next chapter of our requiem chronicles we should be playing. Thanks for the info about mech based games. I guess my main worry is that with characters being in giant robots the essence of story telling you get with other games would suffer somewhat. that being said i did buy dragonmech yesterday to see what's up.

[zanzibar]

I've played AD&D, games based on it, and fudge bunches of times.

[RayvenD]

Just finished reading the core book for dragonmech and i can see potential but am still very doubtful as to whether the mechanics of a game (or at least this one) based around mecha will allow decent levels of RP and storytelling, but i guess i'll have to find this out for myself.

[Phinehas]

Actually, I'm glad this topic was brought up. How good are tabletop RPGs really? I'm only just getting near to a situation where I'll actually be able to play some if I want, and I'm interested in knowing if it's worth getting into, and if so, what should I start with?

[druke]

for a starter, stragiht up D&D is good, if you desire more beyond that work your way into whitewolf's games, they're very very roleplay intesive

[RayvenD]

Agree completely with the post above me, and I do recommend the current D&D as with the right dungeon master you can have a quite detailed game, but yeah white wolf games are excellent (world of darkness is white wolf for those who didn't know already.)  To go further into it, are you enjoying the roleplay element of PS? If so then try tabltetop, it goes even further, now that isn't to say that taletop RPGs are easy to play well, they aren't in truth. You will need a group of dedicated players to play relatively regular, you will need a lot of imagination as there are no game pieces and no graphical interface so the world is purely in your head and that of the other players.  The main thing to remember with tabletop is that the more you put into it, the more you get out of it, so use your imagination, take the time to develop your chracters properly (sorry but there is no powerlevelling in tabletop so playing a master swordsmanm probably won't happen until you have played for a relatively long time) and I promise you that you will have a great roleplay experience.

[zog]

Tabletop RGPs are only as good as your imagination ...and the imaginations of those with whom you choose to game. That being said, with effort and a little brainpower, you can have one heck of a good time with them (I have played various RPGs for years and years now). D&D is a great start ...another fairly easy game system is Palladium. It has fairly easy mechanics with a wide range of application, only downside being intensely long character creation time (lots and LOTS of skills). Pretty much every game setting imaginable from D&D-ish to post apocolyptic, to comic book superhero.

[Okkio]

I agree D&D is a good starting point, but my favorite tabletop rpg has to be L5R(Legend of the Five Rings) the system is quite simple, but if you want to play/run a really good campaign it can become quite roleplay heavy as there a strict codes of conduct that characters must obey based on rank etc. www.alderac.com for anyone who's interested. It has an oriental setting which gives it a different feel to alot of other RPG's imo.

[RayvenD]

Thanks for that link Okkio, i'm gonna check that out, as you say, not many oriental settings in RPGs so I think i'll give it a go.

[RayvenD]

Looks promising, I just ordered the players guide. There appears to be alot of additional source books aswell whih is usually a good sign in RPGs.

[druke]

you only need the three core rulebooks to enjoy them, if you don't feel like commiting to it jsut yet, I would suggest finding torrents, however they are most un usefull in more advanced dnd games, so yea buying them is much better than torrents, just get a torrent to decide if you want the book

[Okkio]

Ye, the way L5R works is each new edition is a continuation of the story as created by the players at a massive roleplay event called gencon or whatever, so all the old source books aswell as the ones they release are still valid, although not at all necessary. Tbh I think they should publish the stuff online for free when the rules contained within become out of date or at least release a book containing all the history etc... it's EVILLL. The latest edition includes some of the clan based stuff, (schools, families) contained in the old way/secret books.