# pen and paper RPG discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335 "2002-03-14T20:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/21 "2002-03-15T05:54:51Z")
My favorite is Alternity. Second favorite is D&D 3rd Edition. We have a regular game of 10 (!) players and try to get together about once a month. We use a private forum, an event calendar and our own website with supplemental material just to organize it all. That way, between games we can discuss what we’re going to do next, what we need to buy, etc. and have that ready before we play, since with 9 characters, everything we do can take forever. ---
**Author:** ![robgruver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@robgruver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robgruver)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/22 "2002-03-15T05:59:28Z")
Now a days I don’t get to play much, but I still buy WW books with regularaty. Especially Vampire and Mage. Mage being my favorite (but don’t play often because it takes a certin type of person to play that game). I do enjoy AD&D 2nd, and own quite a few books (both PDF’s and real world. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/23 "2002-03-15T06:07:10Z")
I’ve played D&D 2E, Shadowrun, and Call of Cthulhu (5th Edition) rather extensively. I’ve played a bit of D&D 3E but it was with a DM whose style I really don’t like, who misinterprets rules in terrible ways and makes sure that the PCs never die. I like the rule system, though. I had Deadlands and was intrigued by the system, but never got anyone to play with it. I had a bunch of Vampire books but the only people I could find to play it with were the type who think role-playing is sitting around the table bickering in funny accents while nothing happens. I bought Rifts and returned it because I found the rule system ugly and too implausible for me (especially megadamage). I also own some Earthdawn books but never found anyone to play it with me, and the more I read it the more I doubt that it would be very fun to play. ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/24 "2002-03-15T09:35:39Z")
Call of Cthulhu, AFF and Legend of the 5 Rings. I also like the White Wolf games, but I’m not a fan of D20. To be honest, my favourite really depends a lot on the GM. Recently, our group’s been playing Exalted, D&D (D20), and LOT5R. The Rifts game ended when the GM got tired of bringing a library along… ---
**Author:** ![ShadowWarrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/25 "2002-03-15T10:00:13Z")
I still use D&D 2nd Edition. Partially because I have the core rules CDs which contain all the books, paritally because I don’t have the funds to purchase the 3rd Edition Books, but mainly because, when I browsed the 3e books in-store, My main thought was that EVERYTHING had a dice-roll check… whatever happened to DM’s making decisions on individual cases…? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/26 "2002-03-15T10:52:31Z")
I’ve been a gamer now for _coughcoughmumble_ years… I’ve got a soft spot for AD&D (I prefer the second edition. Does that make me weird?), but it’s not my favourite system. I’ve had lots of good times with Call of Cthulhu, and recently I’ve been impressed by Witchcraft, Blue Planet, and Fading Suns, but if I had to cast my vote for “best RPG of all time”, it would go to Ars Magica, no question about it. I love the concept, and the mechanics are slick and simple and don’t get in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/27 "2002-03-15T13:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > \*\*My favorite setting is for Torg, although the system is clunky. \*\* It’s been a while since I’ve played, but Torg was the last system I played on any regular basis. Yes, the system is weird and clunky, but the whole game is kinda weird. Any rule confusions we had we covered over with good old-fashioned creativity. If you’ve got the Character Collection, I’m in it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/28 "2002-03-15T13:59:06Z")
Ever since me and my friends met in college about 20 years ago, we’ve been gaming ever since. In our arrested development we’ve played all 3 versions of D&D, Rolemaster, Shadowrun, Traveller, Runequest & Hero Wars, Call of Cthulhu, Superworld and dabbled in countless others. Nowadays we game while the kids are asleep. Currently I’m running WoT until I run out of ideas, then we’ll either go back to another friend’s 3rd ed. D&D campaign or still another friend’s Hero Wars campaign. I imagine we’ll all be gaming in the same nursing home while they change our bedpans. I have fond memories of all the above game systems. They all have their virtues and they all have their flaws, but more importantly, they are all cohesive interactive fictional environments, each of them planned out in excrutiating detail and imagination. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/29 "2002-03-15T15:30:15Z")
To all those who have not yet tried D&D 3rd, I am about to give you a great and good present. [The System Reference Document](http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd.html) This is the guts of the new game. WOTC made this version, more or less, open source. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/30 "2002-03-15T16:45:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trion \* > \*\*If you’ve got the Character Collection, I’m in it. 😉 \*\* Neat. Who? Not Dr. Zap, I hope. 😉 –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/31 "2002-03-15T18:27:15Z")
At one time or another, I played AD&A 1st and second edition, Champions, Hero system, Car Wars (Yes, we had a campaign going)and GURPS. Right now, our group has just started into a Hackmaster campaign. (For those who don’t know, the Knights Of The Dinner Table aquired the rights to 1st, and 2nd ed. AD&D, and they released a new sytem that’s about 80% AD&D, with some rules tweaks and additions, like Build Points and Honor. Bonuses for exceptional scores have been widened to the point that a character can get a bonus for a 12 in most abilities, and the whole thing is written up with lots of humor. The fact that there are now 15 different fireball spell available is kind of fun too…) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/32 "2002-03-15T18:31:54Z")
Quoth **ShadowWarrior** : > [@](#): > > when I browsed the 3e books in-store, My main thought was that EVERYTHING had a dice-roll check… whatever happened to DM’s making decisions on individual cases…? My take on that: Bad DMs need a dice-roll check for everything, and good DMs know enough to ignore the rules when necessary and make individual decisions anyway. It doesn’t take anything away from the game, and might add something, depending on the players. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/33 "2002-03-15T18:45:10Z")
Hrmph. **The Fantasy Trip.** Precurser to GURPS, it’s simple, playable, provides the bare minimum necessary rules on which to hang a story, and keeps the mechanics of the game out of the lime-light, so people can _Role-play_, not monkey with the rulebooks. It’s also out of print. Hrmph. MetaGames died for our sins. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/34 "2002-03-15T18:47:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > \*\* > > Neat. Who? Not Dr. Zap, I hope. 😉 > > –Cliffy \*\* Let’s try this again. The board ate my post. First, no, I am not Dr. Zap. But I should point out that my character’s name is much, much stupider. Let me explain. Whan I created my Terra character (Dr. Dennis Bently) my GM informed me that I needed a "Mystery Man’ (or Super-Hero) name. We discussed various options including having the newspapers come up with a name for him. I thought it might be amusing if the press started calling him by a name he _hated_. We went with that idea and the character was dubbed “Professor Unseen” - the worst name we could think of. This was little more than a running joke in the campaing until the Torg people asked for submissions to their Character Collection. (From what I hear, jut about all the submissions made it into the book.) I explained in the submission how Dennis got his name and that he hates it. But a Super-Hero name is a Super-Hero name and that’s how he was listed. The Torg people did some editing to our submissions and most of it is fine. However, at one point they describe my character by saying that he has a high level of paitence when dealing with people less intelligent than himself. This is a lie. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/35 "2002-03-15T20:45:28Z")
Hm, I believe I remember Professor Unseen. Well, at least the name. 😉 –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/36 "2002-03-15T21:08:21Z")
Just throwing in a huge thumbs up for the new D&D. The “higher is always better” rule for rolls and checks has simplified things a lot. After a long post-high school hiatus, I’ve recently begun playing again with a steady group of 4-7 friends. As a matter of fact–it’s Friday! Works over in an hour! By 7:30 I’ll be a 15th level wizard/rouge kicking some serious ass. WooHooo! I love weekends. On a side note–does everyone have a favorite character or class they always play? I can’t seem to tear myself away from spellcasters (I memorized all those spells dammit, I want to use them!), but some of my friends change their characters more than their underwear. So, which do you go for? Character loyalty or character diversity? bella ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/37 "2002-03-15T23:27:16Z")
For D&D I have a tendency to play wizards and fighters, but I once had a bard named Deesx. He got into some weird S&M adventures with evil sorceresses and such… One of my favorite characters was a barbarian that rode a bear and had a helmet shaped like a bear’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/38 "2002-03-16T00:07:25Z")
Class-wise, I’ve gone through a lot of phases. When I started out, I loved rangers. For a while after that, it was clerics (yes, even in 2nd ed. Anyone who tells you 2nd ed. clerics sucked never discovered the joys of the hold person/heat metal combo.) Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of rogues and fighter/rogues. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/39 "2002-03-16T01:37:42Z")
I’m one of the few remaining Champions players - been playing since 1991. I used to play D&D back in the 80’s but haven’t for at least a decade. I’m not really fond of any of the White Wolf games. Don’t like the mechanicas or the genres. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335/40 "2002-03-16T03:13:30Z")
It’s been sooo long. I miss my old P&P days ☹ My group primarily played Champions. I have nearly all the old source material. For changes of pace, we regularly played Traveller and (as if Champions wasn’t complicated enough) Rolemaster. Right towards the end of my RPG days, I was playing Shadowrun. Other than that, we basically tried anything we could buy, borrow or steal (a phrase not meant to be taken literally). Call of Cthulu (you see a…nevermind, you just died, new characters please, repeat), Paranoia (the GM couldn’t handle humor - too bad as that looked like lots of fun), Runequest (another favorite), and so on. We were nearly all comics fans, so we played every superhero game that ever came out. Makes me upset that I grew up, married, had kids, etc. Well, not really, but I do miss it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pen-and-paper-rpg-discussion/98335.md?page=3)