What I am looking for in a RPG
January 22, 2009 by shent_lodge
Filed under Gaming Conventions, rpg
I want to start in town, and ask NPCs where the monster or dungeon is. I want to be able to gear up for fighting or exploring; I will need weapons and armor, and maybe learn a spell or two. I want to be able to explore the lair, or dungeon, sneak by hazards and traps, or not. I want to find the monster, or inhabitants and defeat them in combat, or maybe do some fast-talking to avoid being eaten, or sneak in and sneak out. I want to fight monsters with swords, or spells; using dice to determine my success, because without dice, I would always win. I want to find treasure; you know coins and gems and magic stuff. I want the magic stuff to be really believable; you know something to make me invisible, or fly, or even vorpal; ok maybe not vorpal, but a really sharp sword would do. I want the magic stuff to be there when I need it, not once a day, or maybe twice a day when I advance in level. In the end, I want to return to town, and feel appreciated by the NPCs, maybe build a keep and setup shop.
4e does most of what I want, but fails to deliver on magic stuff; it seems to be turning into a card game. Until two weeks ago, I was pretty happy playing 4e D&D until time came to use my first magic item, a flaming sword that only flames once a day… Has D&D gotten so old that magic can no longer last long enough to be useful throughout the adventure, when it comes to magic items, D&D really needs a little blue pill. How geriatric. I think at Winter War I am going to try Pathfinder organized play. I will continue to run 4e D&D for Living Forgotten Realms, because DMing the game is actually more fun than playing it in the RPGA.
What other games are there out there for table top RPGs that meet what I want out of a RPG?
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Darf as it might sound, Mutants & Masterminds would give you the freedom to create exactly what you want – and the much desires fantasy supplement is just around the corner too.
Beyond that, there’s no shortage of other systems, not least Third Edition D&D itself. Alternatively, there’s HARP (free PDF Lite version here) is rather jolly good. Or GURPS’ Dungeon Fantasy line, which is essentially D&D style transplanted into the Fourth Edition GURPS ruleset.
Greywulf,
I just peaked at the HARP rules they look pretty good. Thanks for the ideas.
I’d either try one of the retro-clone games like Labyrinth Lord or Basic Fantasy Roleplaying, or Savage Worlds.
I understand your feeling about magic items in 4e. They don’t exactly fit my tastes either.
That being said, if your sword is a flaming sword, then it flames at-will. That is the point. It just also does extra flaming damage on a critical or once a day when you choose. That is an unfortunate example to use for why you don’t like 4e magic items. It seems like you don’t understand them. Check out the entry. It says nothing about when it flames. It just says when it does fire damage instead of untyped (at-will) and when it does extra fire damage (once a day or on a critical). The fluff you attach is whatever you make it. I prefer to think that the flaming sword is flaming whenever it does fire damage, not just when it does extra fire damage.
I don’t want this to seem like I am being critical of you. I understand your dissapointment about some things. I am actually in the process of retconning 4e more to my likes. There is a very robust system under all the crap. I want to expose it. The retcon is really easy, ad if I wasn’t a husband, father, and medical student, I could probably get it done pretty quickly. As it stands, it should take me a little while. Oh well, I like this stuff.
I am not trying to tell you what way to game either. Your game is your own. I just want to point out that 4e has made an effort to separate the fluff from the crunch more than any previous edition. Many players overlook this, and so they feel like 4e is wonky. It is, a little, but mostly in the fluff department. That is all changeable without unbalancing the great system that powers the whole thing. Don’t let the WotC crappy fluff deter you from using the good parts of 4e. Unless you want something different. To each his own and all. But the actual mechanics work pretty well. Mostly it is the fluff and pseudofluff that hampers the system in my opinion.
Precocious,
I do like running 4e games, and think they are much easier to judge than past versions of the game. My players in WI got over the neutered magic items I suspect I will too. I usually play only in the RPGA, so it took four games to get one magic item; three games to get one item that was playable in the forth game. The flaming sword just didn’t seem to add much. I spent the whole game going should I use it now? Should I use it now? and finally when I did use it I missed. Then the game ended and I felt robbed.
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Yeah, that sucks. The miss/hit ratio seems to be on the slightly unsatisfying side in 4e.
I kinda like that your character’s power seems more a product of their own abilities than their gear, but everyone is a little different. I think that the fact that the flaming sword didn’t add much is a feature, not a bug. In 3e, you had to have the right stuff or you were weak. Now all the stuff is pretty weak, they don’t attach the visuals to the crunchy bits, and mostly magic items are just there for a little flavor. The only thing that really is necesary about magic items is that each character is expected to have armor, a weapon/implement, and a neck slot item, all so that the math works out.
I guess they sorta just refocussed what was important. Feats were nerfed, items were nerfed, but the classes were strengthened as well as the races. I kinda like these things.
I think that you could do a little homebrewing to fix your problem though. Try making a multiclass only class that is something like the weapons of legacy from 3e. Make a list of powers that you can trade for if you spend the feats. Attach them to a certain item. Make them really cool. That way, a guy that has a sword +1 is not that different than a guy that has a flaming sword +1, unless he spends some feats and trades some powers. Then the sword becomes much better.
I don’t know. If you want the 3e level of game mechanical importance of items, I think that it might take quite a bit of change. If you just want the visuals, it is easy. If you don’t mind a little gamism in you game, then a pretty easy retcon might work out.
Good luck with that. I don’t mind commenting on home brew. Let me know if you need another opinion if you want to change things.
I have always used something similar to the weapons of legacy in my home games since the early 80s. I have plans for them in 4e. I referenced a sword called Bridget earlier this year. I will post more home brew stuff as time goes on.
Cool. Homebrew, the thermostat for gamer feelings, and roleplay advice are why I read RPG Blogger Network bloggers. I look forward to seeing what alternate rules you use.
Assuming that you have a Flaming Weapon out of the PHB, I’m a little confused. The Daily power on the weapon only activates on a hit, so why you would ever miss with the ability?
As for when to use it, I’d save it for an early hit when doing focus fire on a regular guy. That way the ongoing fire damage has the best opportunity to do its thing. Using it on a more important guy would be a mistake, since they’d have a better chance of saving out of the damage.
Gary,
I missed and then somone else killed the monster I was fighting. I never was able to use the daily power when I wanted too. Thanks for the advice though. I’ll try it the next time I play.