Is D&D fun? I'm thinking about getting into it.

[Lorizael]

The problem with that is that most people everywhere are stupid. A good GM will run a good game regardless of the system, and that's fine. But a bad GM and a bad system will almost always result in a bad game. A bad GM and a good system, however, can be tolerable.

Also, games like Munchkin and Illuminati have no GM. They're just ridiculously unbalanced and random games. They're fun - don't get me wrong - but they're only fun for about an hour at a time.

I wouldn't want to invest a significant amount of my time into an unbalanced system if I couldn't count on the GM running a good game.

[rah]

If you can find it, use the original "CHAINMAIL" rules.

THe later additions (1975) released under the TSR brand are probably the best.

You'll never find a more simple explanation.
Use your imagination from there.

[LDiCesare]

RPG are fun. I think DnD is one of the lamest rpg systems, but it's still fun, and not that hard to grasp, even though many other rulesets are simpler.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by Lorizael
I also abhor, rather than love, the character creation system in GURPS. No system that allows for radical customization can be anything close to fair.

The system is extremely flexible, which Bing has cited as the main reason why he likes it more than d20. (I took a look and personally I saw that a GM has to do more work vetting the "allowable" choices and blocking overpowered ones, e.g. the rules allow characters that can have powers ranging from medieval to futuristic scifi, and so the GM has to set which ones the PCs can use.)

The d20 system in 3.5 would take Bing hours if not days to generate the high level NPCs and wrestle the class and skill system to what he wanted...

[Alinestra Covelia]

x2 post

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
The d20 system in 3.5 would take Bing hours if not days to generate the high level NPCs and wrestle the class and skill system to what he wanted...

This is very true. To push 4th edition a tad more, this is an aspect of the game the designers said they worked very hard to fix. It remains to be seen, of course, whether or not they did. But I am optimistic.

...

I wish I had more RPG experience outside of White Wolf, D&D, and GURPS.

[BeBMan]

This seems to be one of the geekiest threads in Poly history

[Felch]

Originally posted by Lorizael
This is very true. To push 4th edition a tad more, this is an aspect of the game the designers said they worked very hard to fix. It remains to be seen, of course, whether or not they did. But I am optimistic.

I've been looking at the rules for 4e and it's looking pretty cool. Not certain if they made it much easier to generate NPCs though. It is a good time to get into the game.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Originally posted by BeBro
This seems to be one of the geekiest threads in Poly history

Nobody's mentioned Warhammer yet, so I don't think it qualifies.

Lorizael, while the flexibility of systems like GURPS does create a lower floor, it also allows a much, much higher ceiling. If you have a bad GM you should be getting a new one anyway, not trying to mitigate the damage they can do.

[Lorizael]

Unfortunately, I am the GM.

(But I'd like to think I'm not too shabby at it.)

Originally posted by Felch
Not certain if they made it much easier to generate NPCs though.

I already have the core books. They definitely did.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

I think the only thing that would make me look at the new rules would be an update to the old Core Rules 2.0 CD...those programs made life as a DM so much easier that I doubt I'd be willing to deal with D&D overhead again without the extra assistance. I'm guessing it will never happen though.

[Lorizael]

Well, there will be a pretty awesome online rules database. And all you have to do is pay an awesome monthly fee to get it. Isn't that awesome?

[rah]

or go to amazon.com and pay 10 bucks or less for a copy of chainmail.

[Lorizael]

But what if I think Elf is a race?

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Lorizael

I already have the core books. They definitely did.

Isn't the 4th edition set to be released on the 6th?