Favorite System: Pathfinder

Last Favorite System: Star Wars

First System Ever: Pathfinder

Yeah, I am quite new to the tabletop RPG scene. I absolutely love the freedom that comes with Pathfinder, and to be honest, haven't used many other systems. Ran a few future campaigns with some buddies, and Star Wars was one and I just couldn't attach to the world.

~SE++

Current Favorite: Pathfinder

Last Favorite: 3.5

First System Ever: Red Box D&D


There are actually a bunch of systems I like, but Pathfinder gets the listing because it's the one I'm playing.

Things I've played (and I'm probably forgetting some): Mage: the Ascension, D&D in every version up through 4e, d20 Modern, d20 Past, d20 Future, WEG Star Wars (the old d6 version of the game), Mutants and Masterminds (first edition), Call of Cthulu, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... yeah, definitely forgetting some from the 80s and early 90s...

I have a friend who is a huge GURPS fan, but I've surprisingly never played it.

Current Favorite: D&D 3.5

Last Favorite: AD&D 2e

First Played: Either Shadowrun 1e or AD&D 1e; I don't remember which, but they were both at essentially the same time.

Systems played: Heroes Unlimited, Street Fighter, Robotech, Werewolf, Vampire, WoD (party was a werewolf, vampire, changeling, mage, and... I forget the last one), Shadowrun 1-3e, AD&D 1&2e, OD&D, Leisure Suit Larry, Rifts, MechWarrior (my least favorite), Warhammer

And my list doesn't even include the systems I own or have read, but never used. There's a few there too - including Shadowrun 3e, World of Warcraft RPG, and Monte Cook's World of Darkness. The latter is a really interesting take on World of Darkness with d20 rules.

Favorite in Concept: AD&D 2e

Favorite in Practice: D&D 3.X (Can't get a 2e group off the ground, really, because its presentation is obtuse even if I think it's a better system)

First Played: D&D 3.0

Most Played: D&D 3.X (sometimes we refer to it as "3.14159" or "Edition Pi", since it's cobbled together from various 3.X and 3.X byproducts)

Ever Played: D&D (1e [exploratory*], 2e, 3e, 3.5e, 4e [exploratory*], Next [exploratory*]), Tri-Stat dX

Interested in Playing: D&D (2e, 3.X, Next), Pathfinder, Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun.

Willing to Play: D&D (1e, 2e, 3.X, Next), Pathfinder, Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, Tri-Stat dX, Changeling, Ars Magica... Basically anything that's not 4e, Exalted, Wraith, Geist, or a travesty like FATAL**. At least once.


* Exploratory: I have played one or more sessions, but not a "full" campaign. Essentially, I have tested the system. and had a game

** All for different reasons. 4e I have played (Essentials too) and found it's not for me. I bear it little to no rancor at this point but I would prefer to play something else. It's proof the "Would not play" list can expand. Wraith and Geist don't resonate like other WoD lines do in concept, and while I can't really say I've played a WW game I have made inroads on understanding their system and find it to be no incentive. Exalted... I have taken severe exception to a good deal of the culture surrounding it and will take my gaming elsewhere. Travesties are, by definition, Travesties and while I'm usually a try-anything-once sort of person if I have good intel that something is a straight-up abomination, I'll give it a pass.

Did you mean to say "Least" favorite system, SE?

Favorite System: Mutant Chronicles

Favorite System Other People Actually Know About: D&D 3.X//Pathfinder (since they are effectively the same)

Least Favorite System: 4e

First System: Also Red Box D&D, something around the '83 edition. AD&D 1e shortly thereafter, AD&D 2e a little while after that. Then I explored for some time before 3e.

Systems Played: WoD Vampire and Mage, L5R, RuneQuest, Palladium, BESM, Shadowrun, Munchkin PnP, MechWarrior, Star Wars d20, d20 Modern. Those at least have more than a "one-off" session, and I'm probably forgetting a few. So many more systems of one-offs and readthroughs not included.

Longest Regularly Played Campaign: D&D 3.0, 50+ 8-12 hour sessions over 2+ years.

Of Note: I am an eternal modder and worldbuilder. I strongly prefer not to run pre-gen sessions.

Favorite System: 3.5

Least favorite system: Anything by Palladium

First system: 2e

Favorite System: D&D 3.5/Pathfinder
First System: Gurps
Least Favorite System: D&D 4.0
System I've Always Wanted to Play: Call of Cthulu

I have heard that's fun!

~SE++

I haven't played much, but things I like:

• (New) World of Darkness
  • I love the clean grid of Physical/Mental/Social and Power/Finesse/Defense to produce the nine abilities,
  • and I love how you can mix and match ability and skill, like Intelligence + Firearms to figure out what guns your opponents are using or being able to choose I want to Intimidate using my sheer Presence or through careful Manipulation.
  • My favorite game here is Changeling the Lost. I think it's an interesting power level with lots of interesting diversity of choices, and I just love the contract magic.
  • For World of Darkness, I like the flexibility which is epitomized in Mage the Ascension, I think. How spells are more defined by guidelines and maximums but are otherwise loose.
  • I only like how the morality system is slightly different for each type of supernatural, but I think it is otherwise kind of stupid.
  • WoD in general is a little overwrought. It's all trauma trauma trauma death drugs sex prostitution trauma, I tend to skip the fluff and create more adventure-driven or otherwise less dark trauma blood drugs madness dark trauma.
  • Prometheus is super ambitious but it is just not meant for tabletop play, imo.
• D&D 4E
  • I like tactics games. I may not be great at them, but I love playing on grids and figuring out positioning and range and such.
  • Opposite to how I appreciate the in-built flexibility of WoD and how fluff drives the power, I like the mechanical cleanliness of 4E. I like that I can decide that I want a character to act in a certain way, find the class that lets me do that, build my character as that class, but completely reimagine all the powers and such. I think that is why, for example, they built ability flexibility into the races. You shouldn't feel like you're handicapping yourself if you want to play a dwarf wizard or a pixie barbarian. 4E is very much about letting you do what you want.
  • I like how there are power sources and roles and the classes fill in the cross-sections of these. I like how the power sources have their feel that carries over to all their classes, mostly (monks really depart from other psionic classes), and the roles also have their core mechanics that carry to all their classes, and then each class takes this intersection to create a niche. Like clerics, warlords, bards, and shamans are all leaders, but clerics heal the deepest and shaman heal the broadest, while bards are great at positioning and warlords are best at enabling.
  • I think the main thing wrong with D&D 4E (besides the bad math tuning at the beginning of the game's release) was that it was released as Dungeons and Dragons and not A Different Fantasy Tactics Game

DND 3.5 is my favesies.

I've played WoD, shadowrun 3E & 4E, dnd 1/2E, 3E, 4E, pathfinder, star wars 3E & 4E, d20 modern, omega world, and gurps. For most of those I've played just a single campaign (or maybe two,) but enough to really get a feel, I think.

3.0 worked for me really well because I was in the process of re-writing a lot of 2nd Edition Classes for use in my world, and 3.0 basically did my work for me. 3.5 probably would have been better, but alas my books were already bought.

Favorite System: 3.5 when talking about D&D and its direct descendants, FFG's 40k RPG system when talking about RPGs in general.

Last Favorite System: Either 4E or the systems by Palladium. Everyone who's seen an intelligently debated EW has heard essentially the reasons for my dislike of 4E. Palladium just felt overly complicated to the point of reduced function, poorly executed, and poorly thought out.

First System Ever: D&D 3.5.

Favorite System: Savage Worlds
Least Favorite System: D&D 3e
First System Ever: AD&D 2e

Mostly I don't like systems that give you a giant time-wasting stat block, which I feel 3e (and 3.5, and Pathfinder etc.) does. I think an RPG needs to make things quick and simple to fight the "10 minutes of fun crammed into four hours" stigma and get people playing.

Favorite Setting: World of Darkness, Geist: The Sin-Eaters
Favorite System: Burning Wheel
Least Favorite System: d20 nearly anything
First System: 3.5/Burning Wheel

A lot of people seem to like World of Darkness, but I've never played. I saw the books in my LGS a few times, but I've never taken a good look at the system. Kinda wish someone would run a game here so I could see what it's like.

~SE++

The system in itself isn't anything to get overly excited about. It has some neat things I like, like dice pool systems and mechanical incentive for roleplaying, but overall I wouldn't call it anything more than "fairly good". The appeal to me is the setting. I never knew how much I like modern non-zombie horror until WoD introduced it to me, at which point I bought Geist, Mage and Changeling just for the fluff. This is coming from a person who rarely if ever reads book, and if he does, it's usually reading rules and mechanics.

I want to play Geist so incredibly hard, it has so much potential.