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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Sanctaphrax on December 13, 2013, 07:21:41 AM
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I'm curious. What other games do y'all play, and do you think your interest in those games affects the way you play DFRPG?
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D&D
Legend
oWoD
Shadowrun
various other Fate games
Iron Kingdoms RPG
Monsterhearts
Star Wars (d6 and SAGA)
various 40k games by FFG
various Cortex games (Supernatural, Leverage, Marvel Heroic)
That's what I can think of off the top of my head. All the other games other than Monsterhearts and Cortex tend to be rules heavy. I like Fate because it encourages narrative play, and you do not need to sacrifice the rule of cool for the sake of effective character building. That said, the darker, edgier tone of the DFRPG games I have DM'd might be due to outside influence.
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I'm curious. What other games do y'all play, and do you think your interest in those games affects the way you play DFRPG?
For me, different games each have a different "feel," and I like it that way... so I try to play the game I'm in the mood for, and minimize bleed-over. The borderline-paranoid, recon-the-hell-out-of-everything, plan-and-backup-and-backbackup, and unload a TON of firepower when the excrement impacts the airblades, etc (in Shadowrun) isn't the same as the classic-faerietales-and-history-too (in Ars Magica) ... and so forth. We also do Deadlands Classic, for some WildWildWest goodness. Sometimes after an intense campaign-arc, there's a bit of last-game-vibe lingering in a new game (I've noted that Shadowrun's paranoia is particularly prone to linger...), but that usually fades after a few sessions.
But that's *my* experience of our group... another player may disagree, and other groups may be different still...
- Steve, the g33k
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I mostly play D&D/Pathfinder tabletop-wise with my group. And other than that my friends and I play a lot of Magic: the Gathering and board games.
No one else in my gaming group had read the Dresden Files or played the RPG so it took a bit of convincing on my part. All five of the players in my IRL group love the system though, the rules-light nature makes for a much more cinematic game than D&D and I've changed up my GMing style to further emphasize that (We always begin with a recap "Last episode..." followed by an intro over a Music Theme where everyone picks two scenes their character was awesome in and describes it. We do occasional cut scenes and such).
Coming from D&D's Vancian magic system, a lot of my group love Jim Butcher's universe. They like the rules for magic - the fact that anyone with a bit of training can pull off a circle and that running water grounds it. While we run everything in a homebrew universe (part Dresden Files, part Dark Matter) it still has been Urban Fantasy at heart. And because of that, the game I've been running has easily *feels* more epic than most of my D&D ones!
The PC's are finishing up the 1st arc of the campaign now (they're on the 16th session out of about 22 planned for the 1st Arc) and are going up again two minor gods. The kicker? They started out Refresh 6, and won't hit Refresh 8 for another few sessions :-). I asked if my players once we finish the arc if we wanted to put the game down for a bit, play some more D&D and then come back later - and everyone just wants to continue with the DFRPG.
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D&D in its various forms including Pathfinder...not much 4th
Shadow-run
various 40k games by FFG
Mythus (which was a Gary Gygax skill-based game with lots of tables and very deadly combat)
Exalted
Mutants and Masterminds
Star Wars
CyberPunk
I'm currently trying out Hackmaster
I think the groups I played with affected my playing style more than the game themselves. My first gaming groups tended towards very strict, to the rules, players. Never any home-brew rules unless it was to nerf something they saw as OP. (so we tended not to use very many extra books in D&D - we'd stay mostly to the core books). We also had a "no fudging the dice" policy and many combats were very deadly.
So this has bled over in my DFRPG. I'm pretty strict on allowing Home-brew stunts and powers and my first instinct on most of them is "how does this break the game."
On the other hand, I've played with groups that allow everything - although I enjoy this less.
I agree with g33k, though, some games tend towards a certain play style and sometimes one bleeds into the next.
I'm sure I have my own play-style but I couldn't tell you what it is - although, I really enjoyed Shadowrun and 40k even though I've never played as much of those games as D&D. In any case, I'm pretty sure those early experiences/games influences my DFRPG games. Recently, though, I'm finding DFRPG influencing how I play/run other games more than the other way around.
I'm not sure if I answered the question.
BTW: Fun question!
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We play Pathfinder for over-the-top action larger-than-life adventure, GURPS for grittier stuff--I use GURPS Modern for my post-apocalyptic "Walking-Dead" stuff.
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Shadowrun 1E
D6 Star Wars
D&D (all editions)
Pathfinder
Stars Without Numbers
MechWarrior 1st
A Time of War
Cavemaster
I've got plans to do some FateCore in the future.
Storywise, I can draw elements from other games, but mechanically speaking it's got a different flavor and feel so I don't have as much to draw on as I would say, cross pollinating from one of the above games to another.
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At the moment, I play in a Pathfinder-campaign and an Exalted-campaign as well as Dresden Files.
Well, most games have their own quirks, and expected ways to be played. That said, Dresden is one of the games I think got most of it right.
I also hava a bunch of games I would like to play. One of which is Operation: Fallen Reich, which has a unique way of creating characters. Basically you use a boardgame to create your character.
As for the games I HAVE played (at least once) or GM'ed, well that is a LONG list indeed. Some of these I would not want to play again, and others I love:
* (Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons (1st, 2nd, 3.x, 4rth edition)
* Agents of Fortune (a cardbased homebrewed game, played at a convention.)
* Babylon 5 (d20: 1st + 2nd edition)
* BESM
* Black Crusade
* Bubblegum crisis
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* Call of Cthulhu
* Champions
* Changeling 2nd edition (more accurately a Changeling char in a mix of all WoD-systems availible at the time. I believe we had 1 western changeling, 1 asian vampire, 1 mage and 1 werewolf).
* Chock (Swedish translation of first edition Chill)
* Conan (2nd edition)
* CORPS
* Cthulhutech
* Cyberpunk
* D20 modern
* Dark Heresy
* Delta Force
* Dogs in the Vineyard (played once on a convention)
* Drakar och demoner (1st edition, and 3rd edition with Expert and Gigant expansions. Those expansions changed the system totally)
* Dresden files
* Dungeons & Dragons (basic version)
* Eclipse Phase
* En Garde III (Swedish Swashbuckling game)
* Eon (Swedish fantasy game)
* Epoch (Homebreved game. Played at a convention)
* Exalted 2nd edition
* Fate Core (oneshot in Dresden Files campaign)
* GURPS (3rd, 4rth edition) - Various settings (transhuman space, steampunk, horror, Animestyle space)
* Hârnmaster (played once on a convention)
* Hellcats & Hockeysticks
* James Bond
* Judge Dredd
* Kult (Swedish horror-game.)
* Marvel Super Heroes
* Megatraveller
* Mekton Z
* Mutant 2 (Swedish post-apocalyptic game)
* Mutant (cyberpunk-verion)
* Mutants and Masterminds (2nd edition, DC Universe)
* Nostalgi (Swedish game where old has-been adventurers try to tell stories for the younglings. You first have to decide the setting and then some stuff that has to happen. It is made for one-shots.)
* Parabellum (Swedish modern game. Played once on a convention, and it sucked.)
* Paranoia (both an old version and Paranoia XP)
* Pathfinder
* Prosopopée (weird French game with no GM)
* Runequest (played once on a convention)
* Sagan om ringen (Swedish translation of MERP)
* Savage Worlds
* Shadowrun (1st-4rth edition)
* Spirit of the Century
* Star Wars (d6 + D20: revised edition + Saga edition + Edge of Empires)
* Svenil (Swedish humour-based game. Played once on a convention)
* The Dying Earth
* Toon
* Tribe 8 (2nd edition)
* Trollvinter (Swedish fantasy game)
* TSI: Top Secret
* Twillight 2000
* Vampire: the Masquerade
* Västmark (Swedish fantasy game)
* Villains & Vigilantes
* Western (1st + 3rd edition - Swedish game about the Wild West)
* WFRP (1st edition, 2nd edition)
/Ulfgeir
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Right now, I'm only playing DFRPG and Fate Core. I've played D&D 3.0 and 3.5 extensively, played 4.0 long enough to know what I liked and didn't like about it. I was a big fan of Star Wars SAGA for a level based system (and would have liked the successor to 3.5 to have taken cues from it). Mutants and Masterminds was my go to system before I discovered Fate. I played a D20 Highlander game that was sort of combined with M&M for a bit. I tried GURPS and hated it, but absolutely love their books as reading material. Seriously, if you need to learn a lot about a given subject or setting convention in a short period of time, nothing beats the research put in by Steve Jackson's freelancers.
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One of the ways Fate has influenced my other RPGs: I tend to offer "compels" in other games that have metacurrency, such as Shadowrun and its Edge mechanics. Except in those games, refusing the compel is free, since it is usually situation related (no aspects, after all).
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For my part...
I started with D&D 3. Then I tried a bit of Shadowrun and a bit of GURPS. Wasn't a huge fan of any of them. Right now I play DFRPG and Fate Core, which I like much better.
I kind of play Exalted, but I'm waiting for the new edition at the moment. My main Exalted interest is currently the Burn Legend sub-game, which I really like. I'm working on a (non-canon) book for it, in fact.
Speaking of which, I've done some homebrewing for standard Exalted too. Wrote and edited a bunch of random stuff. I'll spare you all the full list, but there is one thing (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cy1i44kznrdu0k8/Masters+of+the+Industrial+Elements.pdf) I show off whenever I get the chance.
Games I've read and would be interested in playing include Alpha Omega, Nobilis, Eclipse Phase and Unknown Armies. I might have to make some mechanical changes to AO and EP before playing, them, though...their systems are clunky and kind of awful.
Legend
Which one?
I think the groups I played with affected my playing style more than the game themselves. My first gaming groups tended towards very strict, to the rules, players. Never any home-brew rules unless it was to nerf something they saw as OP. (so we tended not to use very many extra books in D&D - we'd stay mostly to the core books). We also had a "no fudging the dice" policy and many combats were very deadly.
So this has bled over in my DFRPG. I'm pretty strict on allowing Home-brew stunts and powers and my first instinct on most of them is "how does this break the game."
Funny, I've had the opposite experience. Starting with D&D 3 and Shadowrun taught me to trust my own homebrewing abilities above what's written in the books. I'm not perfect, but I'd have a hard time breaking those games harder than the core books do.
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Which one?
The d20 Heartbreaker (http://www.ruleofcool.com/). It's a game based on a rebalanced D&D 3.5, and for the most part, it's well done. Melee tends to have ludicrous range increases and bonuses, so fighting in enclosed spaces such as standard rooms means that the melee character won't have to move at all if he stands in the middle of the room.
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As for the question how the various game has affected my playstyle, well with any Fate-system, having the character suffer bad things in order to get a good story is very important. Hmm, come to think of it, I should have had a lot more fatepoints though in the Dresden-campaign given the stuff that has been happening...
A thing I learned from another system (Gumshoe-system), is that you need to have multiple ways for the characters to get any leads. It is no fun if the game grinds to a halt just because they fail their rolls so they don't find the clues. instead let them find the clues, and let good rolls get them more information.The fun stuff is how will the characters interpret the clues.
Or when I GM'd Hellcats & Hockeysticks, I learned, set a scene, and then let the players enact all the chaos and drama from there. How they reach their goal is not important.
I have also seen way too many games where the designers utterly failed. You have the fiction that says one thing, and then a rules-system that is totally incompatible with that kind of play. Yes I am specifically looking at all the stuff from White Wolf.
Things I get from stuff like Call of Cthulhu are: Don't let the rulesystem come in the way of the play. Their system is light enough that you can easily just skip it and basically freeform things. The opposite end of that would be high level D&D or Exalted where you need a gazillion splatbooks, each with their own separate rules, that of course contradict itself. Exalted is the rpg-version of Calvinball on speed.
/Ulfgeir
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Games I've read and would be interested in playing include Alpha Omega, Nobilis, Eclipse Phase and Unknown Armies. I might have to make some mechanical changes to AO and EP before playing, them, though...their systems are clunky and kind of awful.
The premise of Eclipse Phase is cool, but the system is utterly clunky. You really need a spreadsheat when designing your character, as your skillratings etc will depend on what kind of body you have. The problem, is you are supposed to change bodies quite frequently..
/Ulfgeir
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Thinking about picking C.J.Carella's Witchcraft and stealing some stuff to inject into my game...
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Funny, I've had the opposite experience. Starting with D&D 3 and Shadowrun taught me to trust my own homebrewing abilities above what's written in the books. I'm not perfect, but I'd have a hard time breaking those games harder than the core books do.
We nerfed lots of spells from the core books. Any book that wasn't a core book wasn't usually allowed. I found that , individually, the add-on books it wasn't too bad but when you start mixing and matching feats/powers and spells from different books you could find some really broken combination.
We home-brewed quite a bit but it was always to tone down powers and abilities.
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We nerfed lots of spells from the core books. Any book that wasn't a core book wasn't usually allowed. I found that , individually, the add-on books it wasn't too bad but when you start mixing and matching feats/powers and spells from different books you could find some really broken combination.
We home-brewed quite a bit but it was always to tone down powers and abilities.
We did It mostly the other way: most of the content we disallowed was from core, since that book is more unbalanced than the Nigerian constitution. We replaced martial classes with Tome of Battle classes and casting with Psionics (ignoring the fluff, it's basically mana based magic). Made the game more fun for everyone.
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We did It mostly the other way: most of the content we disallowed was from core, since that book is more unbalanced than the Nigerian constitution. We replaced martial classes with Tome of Battle classes and casting with Psionics (ignoring the fluff, it's basically mana based magic). Made the game more fun for everyone.
Basically the same with my 3.5 experience. I used a lot of homebrew stuff (a lot of stuff off the Giant In The Playground boards, notable the whole grammarie thing, which is awesome go look at it). The gradual ridiculousness of 3.5 as you added more books, along with hilariously bad base classes, was why I really enjoyed Pathfinder.
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Stared out with Champions and AD&D 2e. Some GURPS.
Moved into D&D 3.5, investing heavily. Got into LARPing around that time. Some bad experiences with Call of Cthulhu.
Played a lot of Mutants and Masterminds.
Started a Dresden Files RPG, which inspired me to get into Fate and other indie games. Invested in the Fate Core KickStarter.
Our LARP troupe eventually published a book called LARPS about how we run and build characters for our games.
Finished a 3+ year game of RuneQuest.
Have been playing other games here and there (Apocalypse World, Fiasco, Monsterhearts, tremulus, Trail of Cthulhu, and more).
Currently running Bulldogs, playing Champions, and about to try Mythender. I currently have a list of about 70 indie games I want to try.
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The premise of Eclipse Phase is cool, but the system is utterly clunky. You really need a spreadsheat when designing your character, as your skillratings etc will depend on what kind of body you have. The problem, is you are supposed to change bodies quite frequently..
Yeah. No idea what the authors were thinking...every other part of their operation is so professional, how can they be that bad at mechanics?
The d20 Heartbreaker (http://www.ruleofcool.com/). It's a game based on a rebalanced D&D 3.5, and for the most part, it's well done. Melee tends to have ludicrous range increases and bonuses, so fighting in enclosed spaces such as standard rooms means that the melee character won't have to move at all if he stands in the middle of the room.
Cool. I've read (and homebrewed a tiny little bit) that one, and I was pretty impressed. Not much chance I'll ever play it though.
We nerfed lots of spells from the core books. Any book that wasn't a core book wasn't usually allowed. I found that , individually, the add-on books it wasn't too bad but when you start mixing and matching feats/powers and spells from different books you could find some really broken combination.
We home-brewed quite a bit but it was always to tone down powers and abilities.
Huh. If you're willing to subtract, why not be willing to add?
Basically the same with my 3.5 experience. I used a lot of homebrew stuff (a lot of stuff off the Giant In The Playground boards, notable the whole grammarie thing, which is awesome go look at it). The gradual ridiculousness of 3.5 as you added more books, along with hilariously bad base classes, was why I really enjoyed Pathfinder.
Is Pathfinder really better?
My second-hand impression is that it's even more incompetently-constructed than D&D 3 was. But I've never really looked into it.
Our LARP troupe eventually published a book called LARPS about how we run and build characters for our games.
Got a link?
...about to try Mythender.
Let me know how it goes!
I read Mythender a while back and was impressed, but I'm seriously never going to play it. It's super niche, and I'd have to teach my friends a semi-complicated system, so...no.
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Got a link?
Sure - thank you!
Our troupe is Dreams of Deirdre (http://www.dreamsofdeirdre.org/). You can find more information about our book here (http://www.dreamsofdeirdre.org/larps/index.html). We sell in print and ebook formats!
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To me, Pathfinder fixed a lot of 3.5's more glaring issues while introducing a bevy of it's own unique issues. The base class fixes are all fairly good, but the prestige classes are rubbish. Their bestiary is OOROAGH SOOOO GOOD ASK ME ABOUT THE NEW DRAGONS, but the SRD is ridden with errors. I find it better for one shots and stuff, because the amount of campaign material in 3.5 is just absurd. I could do a reasonably good campaign with nothing but the PFSRD, but I can do a really damn good campaign with all of 3.5's gamebooks.
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Thinking about picking C.J.Carella's Witchcraft and stealing some stuff to inject into my game...
+1 ! Recently began a DFRPG game, and almost asked the GM if I could play a straight-up Bast (from Witchcraft) as my DF character... 8^)
But really, it strikes me that one can mine virtually any modern-urban-fantasy RPG -- or novels, or movies -- for material for any other. LKH's "Merry Gentry" (and most anything from her 'verse) would be right at home in the Dresdenverse; same for Anita Blake. And, of course, Harry could visit Merry or Anita and mostly get along fine (except for snarking with the short jokes ;-) Some of the over-the-top games (OTE, anyone?) or uber-powered ones (Nobilis?) might need to be approached with a ... delicate touch. ;D
But I think Blackstaff67's choice -- CJCarella's Witchcraft -- is probably the RPG closest do DFRPG in overall setting/scale, and that most elements will 'port relatively freely back and forth between the two games...
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I have started playing in 2001 with D&D 3.0, but there were lots of other games in the past decade. I think, it was the Classic World of Darkness that greatly influnced my likings and shifted them from D&D-like heroic fantasy to more grim and contrast urban fantasy settings.
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Currently playing:
Worm
Desolation
Played:
Dresden Files
Spirit of the Century (Homebrew setting)
Unknown Armies
DnD 3.5
New World of Darkness
There are probably a few others that I've played a session or two of, but those are the only systems I've played campaigns in.
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I stole an edited Ulfgeir's list. Thanks to him for doing the work 8)
* (Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons (1st, 2nd (Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Plansescape, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Red Steel, Council of Wyrms), 3.x, 4rth edition)
* BESM
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* Call of Cthulhu
* Changeling 2nd edition (more accurately a Changeling char in a mix of all WoD-systems availible at the time. I believe we had 1 western changeling, 1 asian vampire, 1 mage and 1 werewolf).
* Cyberpunk
* D20 modern
* Dresden files
* Dungeons & Dragons (basic version)
* Exalted 2nd edition
* Fate Core (oneshot in Dresden Files campaign)
* GURPS (3rd, 4rth edition) - Various settings
* Marvel Super Heroes
* Mutants and Masterminds (2nd edition, DC Universe)
* Pathfinder
* Runequest (played once on a convention)
* Savage Worlds
* Shadowrun (1st-4rth edition)
* Star Wars (d6 + D20: revised edition + Saga edition + Edge of Empires)
* The Dying Earth
* Vampire: the Masquerade
* All other Old World of Darkness Systems.
*Mind's Eye Theatre. The Old World of Darkness LARP
*MechWarrior
*SOIF RPG (Song of Ice and Fire)
*Everquest D20
*Dragon Age
*Hercules and Xena Role Playing Game
*Battlestar Galactica - was a dismal failure
*World of Warcraft TT D20 I'm pretty sure, only played once
*Palladium
*Star Trek - was a dismal failure
*Scion
*New World of Darkness (pretty much all of it)
*MEGS superhero system (Originally called DC Heroes)
*Champions
*Hackmaster - which is just a cross between Original D&D and AD&D with a humorous bent and a few new rules
*Too many homebrews to count
As far as playing now. 2nd Ed. AD&D. A MEGS system. Soon to be D20 Star Wars. Then likely more SOIF and Dresden Files RPG.
Of course playing other games effects how you play other games. People who prefer story or narratives to dungeon crawls will play games that are traditionally dungeon crawls more like a drama. People who prefer dungeon crawls and hack n slash will play narrative games with more combat.
I'm certain our DFRPG is a little more combat and action heavy than others, but my group still likes a good long roleplaying and narrative session. In my mind we cultivate3d a pretty happy medium. Not every group wants or likes that.
When you have been gaming in this fashion for a long time - I'd say in excess of five years and have a well defined and diverse palette, you will game differently. It compounds when you have been doing it for decades.
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OK, here comes the list:
D&D
AD&D
D&D 2nd Ed
D&D 3rd Ed
D&D 3.5
Pathfinder
Star Wars WEG
Star Wars WOTC
Star Wars SAGA
Star Trek The Role Playing Game (FASA)
Shadowrun - all versions
Mechwarrior
Runequest
Mutants and Masterminds
D20 Modern
Deadlands
Savage Worlds
Gamma World - all versions cept latest
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I detect a decided lack of DnD 4e/Next.
Not that I ever played them....
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I detect a decided lack of DnD 4e/Next.
Not that I ever played them....
I graduated High School just before 4e came out. This meant that my old D&D group dissolved. I enjoyed that 4e was less work than 3x to run, but at the point where I was learning and playing a new system, I thought "Why not a new genre?" Thus, the drastic change in system pushed me to pursue other RPGs. It had nothing to do with quality or any other type of commentary. Just that I had left my comfort zone anyway, so I had no problem stepping a bit further out.
Fate Core is by far my favorite system though, not in the least because it's so easy to "wing it" and get a new player up to speed on playing a character in about 15 minutes..