View Full Version : PnP RPG's????
First time Google has failed me. Somebody answer me a basic question.
What the freaking hell is a Pen and Paper RPG?
They sound so awesome, yet I have no idea what they are.
:confused:
Help!
Never played DnD, just the game spinoffs (NWN etc.)
Never played DnD, just the game spinoffs (NWN etc.)
lmao dude your soo much of a danae fanboi its unbalievable :p
O_o
What Crazy?
HAS THE ENTIRE WORLD GONE CRAZY?
lmao dude your soo much of a danae fanboi its unbalievable :p
spank?.
O_o
What Crazy?
HAS THE ENTIRE WORLD GONE CRAZY?
u cant stalk danae unless u know where she lives, like i do, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh right, my location.:rolleyes:
Stop hijacking the thread! If I wanted to make a thread about Danae Stalking then this wouldn't be titled PnP RPG's, now answer the godam question!!!!!!!
Oh right, my location.:rolleyes:
Stop hijacking the thread! If I wanted to make a thread about Danae Stalking then this wouldn't be titled PnP RPG's, now answer the godam question!!!!!!!
i dont even know what pnp rpgs are, nor do i wanto :p
i dont even know what pnp rpgs are, nor do i wanto :p
its like a one way ticket to cool cat land
Doc Holliday
27-07-04, 00:54
its like a one way ticket to cool cat land
forget cool cat land he should go to the looney bin. oh and crazy im close to becoming 1337 poster too jus like u. send me some rep.
LOL you unhelpful twats. A PnP RPG is played with character sheets on paper, your character lives on this piece of paper with scribbled pencil marks and calculations. All activites rely on a roll of the dice, actual dice, but crazy dice, like 4, 8, 20 sided dice. There is a GameMaster that has the maps of the world you are travelling in, and he is basically the omniscient moderator of all activities. There is lots more, but fuck, just go buy an AD&D 3rd Ed. book and explore.
LOL you unhelpful twats. A PnP RPG is played with character sheets on paper, your character lives on this piece of paper with scribbled pencil marks and calculations. All activites rely on a roll of the dice, actual dice, but crazy dice, like 4, 8, 20 sided dice. There is a GameMaster that has the maps of the world you are travelling in, and he is basically the omniscient moderator of all activities. There is lots more, but fuck, just go buy an AD&D 3rd Ed. book and explore.
:( ur not meant to tell him :p vague hints ar best your not a good GM ^.^
LOL you unhelpful twats. A PnP RPG is played with character sheets on paper, your character lives on this piece of paper with scribbled pencil marks and calculations. All activites rely on a roll of the dice, actual dice, but crazy dice, like 4, 8, 20 sided dice. There is a GameMaster that has the maps of the world you are travelling in, and he is basically the omniscient moderator of all activities. There is lots more, but fuck, just go buy an AD&D 3rd Ed. book and explore.
you mean a nerd game?
you mean a nerd game?
i found a pic of the playerbase
http://ghettosteve.com/pictures/nerds.jpg
i thought a PnP RPG was developed with Windows 98 with Plug and Pray, but you kept getting BSOD when you leveled up.
i thought a PnP RPG was developed with Windows 98 with Plug and Pray, but you kept getting BSOD when you leveled up.
well lexx u was wrong and as strong bad would say your post should be DELETED !
well lexx u was wrong and as strong bad would say your post should be DELETED !
i agree, delete his post.
Well Glok's description was accurate, just wanted to add that we call the person in charge DM,dungeon master not GM. The great thing about dnd Pen and paper is that there's only one rule and thats whatever the GM says is law. The books are meant as a guideline not as a manual.
attachment is a character sheet it's the one i always use fairly good one and should give a overview of the numbers and calculations Glok mentioned.
U all make a character, one person (GM, DM, etc what everu play) discribes the suroundings/makes a plot and the other play there character as if they were it.
Look up shadowrun its basically what NC is... a VERY kewl cyber pounk table top RPG...
eric-the-ded
27-07-04, 03:52
PnP RGs are sorta like a cross between card trading games and drama club meetings. only way more creepy.
I say go get a G.U.R.P.S book...its basic and easy..and if ya want you can make it harder (More rules and more realistic)
Also if your not into the whole "Medevil" theme the book has rules for almost every age (Medevil to future)
Even tho i just kinda started with a friend or 2 we are having a blast, im the GM with NO greater plan for an adventure...my preludes are normally 3 lines..the rest i just make up on the way,,giving a hell of a lot wierd endings.
I say give it a try...if ya dont like it...sell it to some nerd :D
Original monk
27-07-04, 08:49
pnp roleplaying is crazy man, i know a guy and he's like a dungeonmaster, he plays for hours and hours and hours its crazy lol, they all sit around a table and there characters are made up: like magicians and elves all with the most crazy powers, like lightning and the ability to pull trees out of the ground with there minds (its all made up ffcourse, its a fantasyworld) then when they attack eachother with these crazy powers they roll the 30 sided dice and who got the highest wins the fight ... probably gaining some new powers or sumthing :)
i dont know alot about it but its an rpg and its cool yeah, ya yust gotta have alot of imagination :) the thing that most of the computergamers have lack off :)
Pen & Papers.. I.E: D&D, CP2020, Twilight something, Middle-Earth.
Used to play loads of D&D and CP2020 when the AWESOME pcs were 486dx :)
And i like DM, CSB too :) iamf not long ago i ran through CSB :)
OOPS :) too fast reading.. well anyways i like dungeon master and chaos strikes back.. not being a DM in PnP
Yea being a DM (a good DM) can be really tiring as you have to really let the creative juices flow if you want to do epic adventures. pnp RPGs dont' have to be o' age of magic with wizards and warriors .. it can be anything you want it to be. You can borrow rules from whatever pnp RPG books you want and even create an adventure in present day with even yourself as the main character. Mind you need to stay in your characters role. The DM should be the one to pay attention to this. If you go out of what the character might do then the DM can say Negative! and you can't do that. Or if you want to try something that might seem impossible you have to roll the dice and get a strong penalty on the roll. Sorta like you roll and get lowest roll . .you miss a jump over a ravine and fall. You roll just a bit higher and almost fall but grab onto the edge with your hands and pull yourself up. You roll the highest and while you were running did a complete flip in mid air and landed perfectly. Things like that. If you get seperated from your party members and there's something important that might happen to the other member but you arent' suppose to know you might have to leave the room :p. It's all to help with the adventure. If you want to try it out you can get the guidebook for Advanced dungeons & dragons and then grab yourself an adventure pack. The adventure pack is just a preset adventure so you don't have to really plan one out as a DM. It's good to get the ropes down so you can concentrate on the rules of play instead of having to create something out of your head.
EDIT: maybe I should get some friends together and modify some rules and do a PnP Neocron RPG :D
EDIT: maybe I should get some friends together and modify some rules and do a PnP Neocron RPG :D
Yup..do that and send me the rules :D
If you live in the US, I found a real bargain to get you started, with an ideal game for Neocron players :D
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2547&item=5911469009&rd=1
some of the good PnP games out there are DnD 3.5 (make sure its 3.5 and not 3), Vampire requiem (out very very very soon, not to be mistaken for vampire the masquerade) GURPS (done by steve jackson, the bloke who invented the fighting fantasy books and games workshop) there are a few more like mechwarrior, L5R. there are even buffy the vampire slayer RPG, babylon 5 RPG, discworld RPG etc.
I my self play and run DnD and the olf Vampire, i am waiting for the new vampire to come out :D
i found a pic of the playerbase
http://ghettosteve.com/pictures/nerds.jpg
and there I was thinking that these were typical CS players (who then moved to NC because the PvP there was 'more l33t')
PnP RPG players IME tend to be middle aged men with long hair and beer guts (at least at my local RPG shop they always are)
<note>
5150 is 30 years old, has long hair but has worked real hard to lose the paunch (which was never due to beer anyway)
</note>
Maloch Octavia
27-07-04, 12:22
PnP RGs are sorta like a cross between card trading games and drama club meetings. only way more creepy.
Ahahahahah....
I remember when I used to play Mechwarrior. The GM, John, great guy, excellent GM, was playing a female NPC that had joined our group. Except, me being me, I was trying to sleep with her.
This really upset John, as he had to act as this girl, being chatted up by me. Of course, you throw in the drama and the acting, it got very, very unsettling, to the extent where John had her killed off at the first possible chance.
Bah.
PnP RPG is having a group of friends sitting together and create a story. If
you think PnP rpg is about numbers on a paper and some dices you are pretty
fucking far off.
PnP RPG is having a group of friends sitting together and create a story. If
you think PnP rpg is about numbers on a paper and some dices you are pretty
fucking far off.Of course. I was just going over the mechanics. :p
PnP RPG is having a group of friends sitting together and create a story. If
you think PnP rpg is about numbers on a paper and some dices you are pretty
fucking far off.Thats a TAD high and mighty, dont you think Rade???
I played D&D and AD&D and then WH and tons of other games. And no matter how grand the story became, here is a fact: without the numbers on paper and the dice, there WAS no RPG, period.
You take out the numbers and the dice and its just story time at the local public library.
Not really, Strych9. After all, a good GM can make a great game from even the worst kind of PnP system, but a bad GM wont be able to squeeze much fun out of even the best of systems, so the emphasis is less on the rules, more on fun. Sure the rules give the game some structure, but really its the social aspect of it that really matters.. playing a game with your friends and having a good time. Its like NC, but without any FRE's ;)
Not really, Strych9. After all, a good GM can make a great game from even the worst kind of PnP system, but a bad GM wont be able to squeeze much fun out of even the best of systems. Sure the rules give the game some structure, but really its the social aspect of it that really matters.. playing a game with your friends and having a good time. Its like NC, but without any FRE's ;)The point is that even the best GM and most capable players wont show up without their chars and their dice.
I am not trying to discount the activity, as I have played pnp rpgs for longer than a lot of people in this forum have been alive.
I am just saying that the idea that its "pretty fucking far off" to assume that RPGs have a lot to do with numbers is a silly statement. The difference between a good game and a bad game is 100% non-number based... good players, a good DM, etc. But take away the numbers and you have nothing.
Ehhh. Kind of. But free form roleplaying is still roleplaying. Its.. strange but still somewhat entertaining :)
Where are you from, btw?
Ehhh. Kind of. But free form roleplaying is still roleplaying. Its.. strange but still somewhat entertaining :)
Where are you from, btw?Well no one said free form roleplaying. I thought the topic was "pen and paper" RPGs... ;)
Its like "poker night." Every other Saturday a bunch of friends come over to play poker. We BS, have fun and such... and we are NOT just there to only play poker.
But take away the cards and the rules and the chips, and while we might still have fun, it wouldnt be poker night anymore.
Edit: And I am in Pensacola, FL.
I'd say a PnP roleplaying game without rules and dice was pretty free-form, wouldn't you ;)
The reason I asked about your location is that a couple of years ago (err, actually we're probably talking more like 5 or 6 now :() the RPG magazine "Arcane" ran a bunch of articles on roleplaying with out the rules, but I wasn't sure if this was something that had caught on anywhere else :)
EDIT: Still, your analagy holds true I suppose. If you're playing a game that requires you to have rules, dice and pizza-stained character sheets, you cant play it without them
eric-the-ded
27-07-04, 18:30
i've never quite understood PnP RPGs.
i can see why people think they're fun, but i don't get where the "game" part comes in. to me it just seems like a group of kids sitting around making stuff up. more of a hang out session than a game with a goal.
kinda reminds me of those 3 word story spam threads.
anyone remember that video made by the guys at volition? with the various charcters from different volition games playing DnD. i need to find that vid again. that was funny stuff.
"roll the dice. see if i'm drunk yet."
Tabletop games take up the majority of my time, FAR more time than PC games do.
Right now I'm:
Running a DnD 3.5 Forgotten Realms game that got so big I had to split the PCs and run it on two nights with 6 PCs on each night. The average party level is around 23 now, and the two parties have started working against each other, although they don't quite realize it yet. :lol: I'll be bringing this to a close soon with a confrontation between the two parties that I don't expect everyone to survive...
Running a d20 system Lord of the Rings game for which the club has done a lot of work. It's more like a playtest, and it will also be ending soon so that we can re-write some stuff (mostly magic) and also to make room for the Wheel of Time game I want to start.
Playing in a homebrew DnD 3.5 campaign with a ewn character that's GREAT fun. He's a Goliath (new race previewed on the Wizards website a little while ago) monk who's concentrating on grappling. He basically just throws a flying tackle at whatever he's fighting then twists it's head off. :lol:
Playing in a Hunter: the Reconing game that just started last night. Not much going on with it yet.
Playing in a Star Wars d20 game. I just joined this game so I'm pretty clueless so far.
More info in my sig... :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Ahahahahah....
I remember when I used to play Mechwarrior. The GM, John, great guy, excellent GM, was playing a female NPC that had joined our group. Except, me being me, I was trying to sleep with her.
This really upset John, as he had to act as this girl, being chatted up by me. Of course, you throw in the drama and the acting, it got very, very unsettling, to the extent where John had her killed off at the first possible chance.
Bah.
I tried that too when i was the GM..turned out the girl was a guy...and then lured the PC's into an ambush
Q`alooaith
27-07-04, 19:22
=][= is a good example opf a RPG set in the far future..
Anyone else seen this, http://www.juhe.ee/videos/the_gamers.wmv
It's just poking fun at PnP RPG's...
/*NB, I am not hosting this file, I am not resposible for the content and so on..
i've never quite understood PnP RPGs.
i can see why people think they're fun, but i don't get where the "game" part comes in. to me it just seems like a group of kids sitting around making stuff up. more of a hang out session than a game with a goal.
kinda reminds me of those 3 word story spam threads.You obviously have never played a pnp rpg, or at least played with people that didnt know what they were doing.
There is always a game with a goal.
Its like playing ANY computer RPG out there. Except instead of the course being linear and laid out, the course is decided upon and modified by the DM/GM. Its like you are at a LAN, playing a RPG in co-op mode with your friends, except you actually communicate with them and the game is led by another friend.
Seriously, your above description is so far off from reality that it almost sounds like you are trolling. :wtf:
eric-the-ded
27-07-04, 20:27
You obviously have never played a pnp rpg, or at least played with people that didnt know what they were doing.
There is always a game with a goal.
Its like playing ANY computer RPG out there. Except instead of the course being linear and laid out, the course is decided upon and modified by the DM/GM. Its like you are at a LAN, playing a RPG in co-op mode with your friends, except you actually communicate with them and the game is led by another friend.
Seriously, your above description is so far off from reality that it almost sounds like you are trolling. :wtf:
care to elaborate?
to me it still seems like a bunch of people making stuff up. except now there's one guy telling the rest how to make stuff up. where's the game?
don't argue with me. inform me.
edit-
found that video.
Summoner Geeks (http://summoner.vbbexiles.co.uk/downloads/summoner_geeks.zip)
and the sequel.
The Interview (http://www.summoner2.com/downloads/TheInterview.zip)
If you live in the US, I found a real bargain to get you started, with an ideal game for Neocron players :D
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2547&item=5911469009&rd=1
Poor guy, I had to be mad to sell my Pen&Paper RPG, and double mad to sell CP2020 or Shadowrun...
Crazy you just called me a nerd .............. take it back or I'll have to come 'up north ' and bitch slap you to hell and back. You're still in toon land aren't you ?
JD
PS - Oh and Saza , try www.wizards.com for an idea about what the biggest supplier is putting out at the moment. Most genres are going to be covered with d20 future allowing you to play in a cyberpunk environment I believe ( not sure of release date , this year I think ).
@hivemind
I'm running a FR campaign as well mate which, wait for it............ and it is for a group of 4 females ! Now pick yourself up lads I know they're rare :D
Where are you based in the realms ? I've got my PCs as members of the Uthgardt barbarians and have managed to link 4 off the shelf adventures into a campaign finishing with an adaptation of Return to the TOEE.
The cool thing is that the other DM is running a group in FR and we get together and match the timeline as often as we can. So that they can hear rumours of each others actions and meet if they are in the same town ( never happened but we had it close at two weeks ). We plan to merge the campaigns for one almighty evil butt kicking session as a climax to both games.
Sorta like if they merged a series ending of Buffy with Angel :D
<Snip>
We did something similar to this once. Then the other DM (less experienced than the guy who was DMing our group) got a little bored and all of a sudden his PCs were half dragon demi lich level 50 bringers of death.
It need not be said that our DM promptly forgot about any chance of combining our two groups for some madness.
@ whoever mentioned PnP D20 Neocron, it has been started before. There was a post on here about someone wanting to do it. Search for it and see what you find.
Its been too long since I PnPed. I've run a few campaigns, my favourite of which was an oversea / naval D&D campaign. The PCs had some interesting adventures underwater. Three dimensions made fighting interesting, and it took a lot of the confidence out of the more skilled players. A lot of their old tricks dont work underwater.
I've never had the chance to play Shadowrun, but oh how I yearn!!
Too bad I live in Australia, in an average sized city. Most of my old RPing friends moved away, and I suppose I dont really get time to RP as much as I used to...
</bitch>
Anyway, if you ever get a chance to RP with an experienced DM, at least give it a shot. I garuntee you'll have fun if its being run properly!!
@ whoever mentioned PnP D20 Neocron, it has been started before. There was a post on here about someone wanting to do it. Search for it and see what you find.
I made a Neocron campaign setting with a ton of specialized rules and stuff, and even ran an adventure with a few people. I posted a little on these forums back then but got so little intrest I gave up.
I remember starting a thread about a d20 Neocron expansion as well when I bought d20 Modern ............ it's started but not finished .
I found myself counting the damage I did to WB Titans and trying to convert it to D&D Hit Points for the vastly reduced damage output of the weaponry in the system.
I think the main problem is that I dont see much of the game because I'm a tradeskiller. It's still an ongoing project , but then again so are many other things :D
Not enough hours in the day , well when you take sleep & work into account anyway !
care to elaborate?
to me it still seems like a bunch of people making stuff up. except now there's one guy telling the rest how to make stuff up. where's the game?
don't argue with me. inform me.
Well first you tell me what "game" means to you. Cause you keep saying that its just a bunch of people making stuff up. Well thats no different than Neocron, or any other computer "game"... mmorpg or not... on the planet.
So tell me what is a "game"... define that for me, so I know what it is you think you are talking about.
Seriously, it sounds like you are claiming that because people get to use imagination, and because they arent actually swinging an axe at each other, its lame. Surely thats not your point here...
eric-the-ded
28-07-04, 12:56
no i've nevr played a PnP RPG. i have no writing skills and i can't act.
i don't get what you mean with making stuff up in neocron. unless you mean the devs or strictly people who chat in character.
a game has rules, a specific goal and is fun. i'm assuming PnP games have these too. if so, what are they?
i think i'm starting to get it just from wha i've read here. PnP RPGs are like a creative writing competition. would that be a fair description? whoever can write the best story about their character wins. i have no idea what they win or how a winner is determined, but that sounds about right as far as a description of the games.
if not... then get on with the elaborating already.
Crazy you just called me a nerd .............. take it back or I'll have to come 'up north ' and bitch slap you to hell and back. You're still in toon land aren't you ?
JD
PS - Oh and Saza , try www.wizards.com for an idea about what the biggest supplier is putting out at the moment. Most genres are going to be covered with d20 future allowing you to play in a cyberpunk environment I believe ( not sure of release date , this year I think ).
@hivemind
I'm running a FR campaign as well mate which, wait for it............ and it is for a group of 4 females ! Now pick yourself up lads I know they're rare :D
Where are you based in the realms ? I've got my PCs as members of the Uthgardt barbarians and have managed to link 4 off the shelf adventures into a campaign finishing with an adaptation of Return to the TOEE.
The cool thing is that the other DM is running a group in FR and we get together and match the timeline as often as we can. So that they can hear rumours of each others actions and meet if they are in the same town ( never happened but we had it close at two weeks ). We plan to merge the campaigns for one almighty evil butt kicking session as a climax to both games.
Sorta like if they merged a series ending of Buffy with Angel :D
:lol:
that sounds like some meanass bitchslappin
@hivemind
I'm running a FR campaign as well mate which, wait for it............ and it is for a group of 4 females ! Now pick yourself up lads I know they're rare :D
Where are you based in the realms ? I've got my PCs as members of the Uthgardt barbarians and have managed to link 4 off the shelf adventures into a campaign finishing with an adaptation of Return to the TOEE.
The cool thing is that the other DM is running a group in FR and we get together and match the timeline as often as we can. So that they can hear rumours of each others actions and meet if they are in the same town ( never happened but we had it close at two weeks ). We plan to merge the campaigns for one almighty evil butt kicking session as a climax to both games.
Sorta like if they merged a series ending of Buffy with Angel :D
It's a mess. One group ("The Bad Guys") has just helped Szass Tam become an epic Demi-lich, and in gratitude he's made them Thayan nobles with vast holdings of land and slaves in Thay. Needless to say, the Neutral Good ranger is now just plain neutral. This group also managed to get about three weeks ahead of the other group when I split them up, so they're on hold for a week. Did I mention that they just managed to set loose tens of thousands of Fire Elementals, including a Primal Fire Elemental, inside Evereska? Yeah, all the elves died in a massive bar-b-que. Szass Tam was most pleased with them...
The other group {"The Good Guys") is currently bumbling around the underdark, trying to find their way into the middle of an army of Tanarukks led by a Paragon Tanarukk with about 40 levels of Cleric. They're supposed to try and assassinate him in hopes that the then-leaderless Tanarukk army would dissolve in a frenzy of infighting. Unfortunately, they've managed to kill their NPC underdark guide, and they don't have a "utility" caster, only a sorceror and a rather focused cleric of Kossuth, and they lack a take-charge leader type, so I'm not sure they'll even get out. They almost all died to the White Slaad, and again almost all died to the advanced Deep Dragon, and they're not much closer to their objective. Which, with their level of coordination and teamwork, I'm not sure they can succeed.
I'm gonna end the game soon with a final confrontation between the two groups. Tee hee hee...
no i've nevr played a PnP RPG. i have no writing skills and i can't act.
i don't get what you mean with making stuff up in neocron. unless you mean the devs or strictly people who chat in character.
a game has rules, a specific goal and is fun. i'm assuming PnP games have these too. if so, what are they?
i think i'm starting to get it just from wha i've read here. PnP RPGs are like a creative writing competition. would that be a fair description? whoever can write the best story about their character wins. i have no idea what they win or how a winner is determined, but that sounds about right as far as a description of the games.
if not... then get on with the elaborating already.
There's no "winner". There's also no "end" if the GM and players don't want there to be. It's just an ongoing chronicle of the adventures of the players. And the players don't typically write much, it's almost all spoken once you start. Some people call it "Pen and Paper" because all the players keep the details of their character on a character sheet. A lot of players will, however, write themselves a background for their character before the game starts to detail his life up to that point and flesh out his personality and motivations. This helps them play their character better.
Necrosadistic
28-07-04, 16:29
I'm amazed no one even came up with a definition of how these games work O_o
Ok, you have the Gamesmaster/Dungeonmaster. You have the players.
Each player creates a character with different attributes governed by rules, kinda like creating a noob char in NC, with different stats. The players make up a party of adventurers...
The gamemaster tells them whats happening, kinda like "you come into the dark dungeon, and you see 3 passages leading off into the darkness..."
The players then decide what to do - once they agree they head off down the passage or whatever...
The gm then tells them that a wolf attacks them... They then say what they do - if they fight it, the fight is resolved by rolling dice according to their stats against the stats of the wolf... Kinda like when you shoot something in NC and the game calculates your damage based on your skills and some randomness...
Basically, the locations are imagined, but all the rules are there, how fast you can run, how far, etc. The same as a computer rpg, its just the environment is imagined and told by the gamesmaster instead of being onscreen, and you calculate your attack/defense and combat yourself instead of the computer doing it for you...
Anyone else care to elaborate?
Sorry strych, dont agree. Ive played for dozens of hours at end without ever
rolling a dice or knowing what system we were playing under, what matters is
the story, its representation and interprepretation, nothing else. If you cant
solve a problem without rolling a die and hitting someone over the head the
go back to kindergarten.
Sorry strych, dont agree. Ive played for dozens of hours at end without ever
rolling a dice or knowing what system we were playing under, what matters is
the story, its representation and interprepretation, nothing else. If you cant
solve a problem without rolling a die and hitting someone over the head the
go back to kindergarten.
Ego++
Some people find great pleasure in the numbers Rade... Tweaking their character till it can survive several succesive fireballs/machinegun bursts/whatever whilst still being able to hand out ownage in extra large servings using their finely tuned two handed axe/high velocity sniper rifle/triple ended pink lightsabre.
You're a pretty well respected PvPer AFIAK (I dont care one iota for the PvP scene, so I may be wrong) and this takes FPS skill as well as a well thought out and planned character, which is essentially a numbers game.
Sure, bottom line is without an engaging story and proper roleplaying, PnP RPGing is nothing more than a game of Yahtzee with odd shaped dice, and I too have gone entire sessions without even touching my dice. But at least appreciate that just because people like the underlying numbers of the game system, doesnt make them any less of a true roleplayer.
eric-the-ded
29-07-04, 04:40
ok. i've come to a new conclusion. and here it is.
PnP RPGs are far too complicated and confusing for someone like me to ever understand.
a guy in highschool once tried to get me to make a character for a vampire game. he leant me a guide book and i still couldn't figure out how to make the character.
(btw. that same guy eventually stole a book i was writing. not the writing credits.. he took the actual book. the bastard. i was writing it freehand. since then i sorta dropped the whole writing thing.)
Ego++
...
Thats Ego++++ actually, I just didnt bother letting it go all out. Im one of
those guys who drool over tables and love creating the most optimized
character possible, I dont think Id be anywhere near succesful in neocron if I
wasnt. Now, PnP RPG for people who have played alot is alot more than a
rulesystem. There are plenty of people that mostly play freeform ie with no
rules at all, just pure roleplaying. I guess what Im trying to get across is that
if you just play dungeoncrawl hitting mobs over the head endlessly then you
have completely missed the RPG part.
Sorry strych, dont agree. Ive played for dozens of hours at end without ever
rolling a dice or knowing what system we were playing under, what matters is
the story, its representation and interprepretation, nothing else. If you cant
solve a problem without rolling a die and hitting someone over the head the
go back to kindergarten.LOL. Well then quite simply, its not a pen and paper RPG Rade.
I dont care how cool you think you are, and I dont care much for you insulting me.
This isnt something I am making up. Pen and Paper RPGs have a distinct way they are played.
When you play Dungeons and Dragons, there are rules, and you are expected to maintain a character sheet. Now if you, as a DM, run the game in such a way that you never have to fight or do a single die roll, then fine. The fact that you say that you can solve problems without rolling die pretty much illustrates that you are talking about an entirely different game than the rest of us. A thief can avoid combat by hiding in shadows, but you still have to roll a die to see if your attempt to do so succeeds.
But dont act like that people that do have actual combat in the game are in some way inferior.
Out of all the crap I have seen you and other players in this forum brag about, bragging about not using pen and paper and dice in a pen and paper RPG has to be just about the most pathetic.
Thats like trying to insult someone because when they play chess, they use a chessboard and pieces, instead of just imagining the conflict between the two queens in their head.
Tbh I dont see where you are comming from, if you see my posts as insulting
then good for you, Im not going to apologise for something I didnt even
realise I was doing. Yes these games have rules, these rules are guidlines for
the storyteller/game master/dungeon master, whatever you want to call it.
What some people are describing in this thread doesnt have the roleplaying
element, its pen and paper adventure - roleplaying is something else. The
point Im getting at is that when you play a roleplaying game the roleplaying
is what is central. Ideally rules, dice, paper and roleplaying comes together
without obstructing eachother, the best times Ive had playing is when there
has been a combination of all factors.
Simply - Having numbers on a paper and rolling some dice to see if you are
winning isnt roleplaying, thats where you start of when you open your first
D&D box at age 10. If you play alot of traditional roleplaying games and never
evolve beyond that then I pity you.
Simply - Having numbers on a paper and rolling some dice to see if you are
winning isnt roleplaying, thats where you start of when you open your first
D&D box at age 10. If you play alot of traditional roleplaying games and never
evolve beyond that then I pity you.
So according to you this...
Or if you want to try something that might seem impossible you have to roll the dice and get a strong penalty on the roll. Sorta like you roll and get lowest roll . .you miss a jump over a ravine and fall. You roll just a bit higher and almost fall but grab onto the edge with your hands and pull yourself up. You roll the highest and while you were running did a complete flip in mid air and landed perfectly. Things like that.
has nothing to do with a roleplaying game?
In other words the factor luck has no meaning in your campaigns?
Then how does the DM of that campaign determine succes or failure?
Tbh I dont see where you are comming from, if you see my posts as insulting
then good for you, Im not going to apologise for something I didnt even
realise I was doing.Usually when you tell people to go back to kindergarten, thats considered insulting when they are over 8 years old.
Just drop the high and mighty bit. You like roleplaying, and so do other people. If you do it differently, well then as long as you have fun, thats all that matters.
Yes these games have rules, these rules are guidlines for the storyteller/game master/dungeon master, whatever you want to call it. What some people are describing in this thread doesnt have the roleplaying element, its pen and paper adventure - roleplaying is something else.You know, using a pen to record down your earnings on a piece of paper is not mutually exlusive with "good roleplaying."
It sounds like you assume that anyone that doesnt engage in freestyle roleplaying must therefor behave like automotons that simply role dice and scribble.
The point Im getting at is that when you play a roleplaying game the roleplaying is what is central.Agreed. Just like in chess, the strategy is central.
Ideally rules, dice, paper and roleplaying comes together without obstructing eachother, the best times Ive had playing is when there has been a combination of all factors.Agreed as well.
Simply - Having numbers on a paper and rolling some dice to see if you are winning isnt roleplaying,Who said that was the case? No one has offered the idea that the point behind roleplaying is rolling dice and having numbers.
People were explaining how a pen and pager role playing game works.
And OF COURSE DICE AND PAPER ISNT ROLEPLAYING. I dont see where anyone called that roleplaying. People were describing a "pen and paper role playing game", not "role playing."
So according to you this...
has nothing to do with a roleplaying game?
In other words the factor luck has no meaning in your campaigns?
Then how does the DM of that campaign determine succes or failure?
basically what rade does is storey telling but each one voices there character
e.g.
DM, big ravine,
Rade, well i jump it
DM, ok
basically what rade does is storey telling but each one voices there character
e.g.
DM, big ravine,
Rade, well i jump it
DM, ok
Yes i know that , but what i'm reffering to is how do they then determine succes or failure of that jump?
The jumping goes like this with our DM(simplified):
same start like you said but instead of 'DM, ok' its 'DM, ok ,do a jump check DC 25 to see if you succeed' then that result is taken in account for how the jump goes.
Yes i know that , but what i'm reffering to is how do they then determine succes or failure of that jump?
The jumping goes like this with our DM(simplified):
same start like you said but instead of 'DM, ok' its 'DM, ok ,do a jump check DC 25 to see if you succeed' then that result is taken in account for how the jump goes.
well what rade is saying is he is such a good role player he knows exatly what his char can and can't do they don't need dice to see.
And OF COURSE DICE AND PAPER ISNT ROLEPLAYING. I dont see where anyone called that roleplaying. People were describing a "pen and paper role playing game", not "role playing."
Yeah there were people on the first two pages that made it sound like it was
about dices with weird shapes and a dungeon master with maps, thats the
reason I jumped into this discussion, there is alot more to it than that.
As for the confusion as to how to play without rolling dices all day, how many
dice rolls do you need to make during a session placed in a big camarilla
meeting where the use of disciplines are banned, or when playing out a trial
against one of the characters. Which do you think is more interesting when
playing a detective, having the gm say "roll your investigation - oh ok you
figure out that you should go to this place - roll your search - you find the
murder weapon" or having the players themselves work with leads and figure
out what happened. In which way does the rolls add to the gaming
experience here?
Of course there will be dice rolls when you play out combat, or when
you play adventure heavy scenarios where the challenge lies in beating traps
and enemies and whatnot, but unlike some people here seemed to believe
there is alot more to it than that - and even in those sessions conflicts can
be solved by other means than violence or rolling dices.
"You are in a bar, a mysterious stranger asks if you want to earn some money." followed by 5 hours of hack n slash is not roleplaying.
LOL. Well then quite simply, its not a pen and paper RPG Rade.
I dont care how cool you think you are, and I dont care much for you insulting me.
This isnt something I am making up. Pen and Paper RPGs have a distinct way they are played.
When you play Dungeons and Dragons, there are rules, and you are expected to maintain a character sheet. Now if you, as a DM, run the game in such a way that you never have to fight or do a single die roll, then fine. The fact that you say that you can solve problems without rolling die pretty much illustrates that you are talking about an entirely different game than the rest of us. A thief can avoid combat by hiding in shadows, but you still have to roll a die to see if your attempt to do so succeeds.
But dont act like that people that do have actual combat in the game are in some way inferior.
Out of all the crap I have seen you and other players in this forum brag about, bragging about not using pen and paper and dice in a pen and paper RPG has to be just about the most pathetic.
Thats like trying to insult someone because when they play chess, they use a chessboard and pieces, instead of just imagining the conflict between the two queens in their head.
Actually, there are many many many many more systems than just D&D, and many of THOSE systems include ideas on how to run a diceless campaign. They are still PnP RPGs because you still have a character sheet. You still have background. You don't need to kill kill kill level up. Vampire (don't get me wrong, I hate the setting) and all of it's spin-offs have rules for diceless games. All Flesh Must be Eaten (one of the games i used to get ideas for my neocron conversion) does the same. Ironclaw SUGGESTS is be played as political intrigue, with little to no dice rolling (talk about lethal games).
Just because Dice aren't used does not mean it's not a PnP game. And Diceless sessions/games/campaigns (that I've run before) can be alot more fun when alot of your players are typical munchkins. It shows who's a good roleplayer and who is a stat whore. Pen and Paper are still used. Stats are still tracked. Just no dice.
I love playing my rogue in hack and slash dungeon crawl adventures just as much as I loved playing my trader in Rolemaster 15 years ago , who did very little in the way of combat.
I love the hobby period.
I'm sure Saza now realises that ultimately there is a lot more involved in tabletop RPG games than just the pen and paper and some odd shaped dice.
But where most gamers get introduced to the game is usually intense in dice rolls and pens and paper. Its the easiest part of the game for most gamers.
It's easy to manage your character , shift his inventory , take notes on events , roll for skill checks etc. What most people find hard when they come into the game is the acting ( roleplaying ) that is also part of the game.
Ultimately though guys and gals we are viewed as spotty , bespectacled geeks who have no grasp of reality , and will never get any pussy / cock even if we pay for it. :D
Funnily enough the same thing is said about computer nerds ........ hmm and we play a computer based RPG ........ DOH !
Lets not fight amongst ourselves, apparently we have no hope of making it in life :angel:
ok. i've come to a new conclusion. and here it is.
PnP RPGs are far too complicated and confusing for someone like me to ever understand.
a guy in highschool once tried to get me to make a character for a vampire game. he leant me a guide book and i still couldn't figure out how to make the character.
(btw. that same guy eventually stole a book i was writing. not the writing credits.. he took the actual book. the bastard. i was writing it freehand. since then i sorta dropped the whole writing thing.)
that sucks on the stolen book part :(
Well as said. When you play these types of games it's great if you have a very creative DM. They are the one who ultimatly decides the end/goal of the session. They basically guide you in the direction you need to go or at least keep tabs on things according to the adventure. So if you go talk to an NPC the DM typically is the one who is the NPC people. You can talk to the NPC in your character's personality and the DM will answer back to what you say according to the NPC's character style. Unlike a PC RPG where what is said is set in stone you can try and question the person more or do whatever. If you do a good job you might befriend the NPC and even though the DM didn't have that in mind might actually put the NPC into a later scene or a future Adventure. Or let's say you're in a trap and you come with a creative way to get out of the trap that the DM didn't think of. He allows it to happen and maybe rolls a die to see if you are successful. The DM rolls monster attacks and controls their movements. If you say you want to scan a dark room when you enter he can roll a die to judge if you see the hidden creature he put in the corner. If you decide you want to run at a wall while a tiger chases you and jump at it and kick off it back flipping over the tiger or even onto it's back . .that's up to the DM and if he chooses a die roll. You're not too restricted unless it's something that your character would have no chance of completing. Like if you character is orginally dumb but strong dont' expect him to think through complex traps like your actual personality might. A strong warrior would be impatient maybe and charge right into the midst of the enemy instead of thinking the best method to defeat them.
While you can play small adventures that can happen in a few hours the best ones are Adventures that can span over long periods. You play these in sessions when ever you can get together. Some sessions might even only require certain players to come as they might be seperated from the group and on a seperate piece.
The DM awards the XP points and loot. You can also get xp by doing something great. Maybe you saved someone in the end that was orginally suppose to die but you thought of a way to save them and the DM awards you some XP for being creative. So like in any RPG you level up and your character grows.
You can contiune your character into other adventures .. they can even age over time. Between adventures also you can play. This is typically downtime where your character can relax .. meet new people/contacts. Maybe if you're a thief this is your chance to loot the town you're in and evade the guards ;) Here though you can evole the personlity of your character if you wish it. Maybe they find a love or create a rival. Maybe if you create a rival the DM can use that in the next adventure and put them on the opposing side ;).
Well some people don't like it .. but if you're not good at roleplaying different personalities you can if you want create a character much like yourself and just play as you would. I personally find no fault in that. And personally if it's the person's first time playing or they just started I don't find this a bad thing at all as it gives them a chance to get used to the playing style.
During battle scenes we always had a big roll of poster paper pulled out across a table. the battle room would be drawn out (I typicaly played with damn good artists 8| ) and your positions and the mobs positions can be marked out so you get a better idea. Maps would be drawn out the same way. This roll was sorta our town map/world map/ battle log. ahh great memories ;)
anyhow as for the non die playing style. I dont' particular enjoy that style. And though I could technically roleplay another personality I can't technically make my characer more intelligent than I am. I know my limitations at the moment and though I do try and improve on that it takes time. With a die roll though we can roll and see if you were able to outsmart or notice something according to your character's stats and personality. Just my personal preference.
anyhow a neocron pnp RPG would be awesome as you can make things more realistic (falling dmg anyone) or setup traps and such. YOu could actually take cover and fire. You wouldn't have to run up and do a lil dance up close. you could rework classes yourself :p You could duel wield pistols :D NPCs would act like real people. it would just be awesome to get a session like that.
*rolls a D8 . . .. 1
*fatals
"nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I never said you had to have dice. Not sure why anyone has a need to mention that as some key point.
This discussion started out as an attempt to explain "pen and pager RPGs" to someone. While describing typical mechanics of the games, it seems Rade responded as if we were defining the notion of roleplaying, rather than describing mechanics of a type of rpg.
I do not yet see any flaw in describing "pen and paper RPG" mechanics as typically using a pen/pencil, paper, and quite ofte, dice.
If you want to talk about the notion of what it means to roleplay in general, by all means do so. Just dont offer it as any sort of refutation of my claims that normally, pen and paper RPGs have recognized procedures and equipment that are used.
Pointing out exceptions to the rule only serves to validate the rule. Yes I am sure you can name diceless RPGs, but in most cases that is not what someone foreign to the activity will be asking about. To introduce them, you first get them familiar with the lowest common denominator.
And I dont agree that you have to use some esoteric rule set that avoids dice in order to have "proper" role playing. While at first it was implied that I was being narrow minded for only considering pen/paper/dice when talking about a RPG (when that wasnt the case), perhaps its the other side that is being narrow minded in assuming that if you play a pen/paper/dice game that you are limited in some way.
The tools of the game dont limit what you do. Just the people playing it.
I've just read all that.
Ya know what?
I'm more confused than when I started :(
I was expecting answers, which I got (cheers for them guys :D), but I didn't expect a full scale arguement to escalate over them :wtf: .
I may have to try some of these out, if I can find the time. Starting filming next week :(, up everyday at 8 o' bleeding clock, working for 6 hours on a film set non stop, then it's home in time for milk and cookies.
At least I get a chair with my name on it :D .
Saza, just thought of something for those spare moments ....
Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone
These are the books that send you on an adventure and you chose where it leads by making choices and turning to the page indicated. No dice required as they are randomly printed on the pages. Just a pencil and the book needed I believe.
So the basic concept is there but you don't need anyone else , a good taster I reckon.
Beyond that two sites for my favourite systems are
www.wizards.com
www.herogames.com
Richard Blade
30-07-04, 01:21
<valley girl>So, like, a pnp roleplaying game is like a big MMPRPG with emphasis on role, ... like.</valley girl>
They've pretty much said it, but you get a couple different types of players and DM/GM's. They tend to define what your PnP is really like.
Some people prefer to play "role the dice" which is the far left. Some people prefer no dice at all which is the far right. The most fun I ever had with it was somewhere near the middle leaning left. We weren't fully into playing roles, but the DM made us think and respond with "functional" answers to whatever we ran into. And, when the brain didn't do the trick, the mighty Cavalier Oren and his trusty Gnomish Illusionist sidekick "Bob" saved the day.
Or, got severely abused.
The games themselves were structured by the rules for what characters can do, but most of it is strictly left to the imaginations of the players. The DM paints the pictures and gives the clues, the players work out solutions or go into combat from that.
I can't think how to explain it any better.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.