Oh look, a gaming post
Oct. 11th, 2004 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
I'm about to pontificate on gaming some more. So if you don't care, you should move along.
So today, I'm going to try and figure out what it is about D&D.
Here's the thing right: D&D even in it's current incarnation is not the holy grail of Role Playing games. Anything that it does can be done just as well, if not better, by pretty much any other gaming system on the planet. The whole level/class thing is just incredibly contrived and although the new edition gives you a level of flexibility that never existed before, it's still incredibly confining. The heart of the game revolves around killing things and taking their stuff. Then you cash the blood and plunder for improvements to your character and go back and do it again. Sure, you can have deep meaningful character interactions and social conflicts, but usually a quck sword stroke will solve your problems over a whisper campaign. Which is good because those foes are in the employ of a more powerful organization/foe who come after you as you rise in power. It's just really...meh.
Plus, the open source license means there's a flood of material on the market. Some of it is excellent, but most... It makes me wonder how long it will be before the entire system collapses in on itself. Worse, it's funneling tons of original material into the d20 mold. Some game worlds didn't have the best systems to begin with (Fading Suns), others had excellent systems (Legend of the Five Rings and DP9's Core System). Perhaps they were hoping to cash in on d20's popularity and bring people over, but I think we're losing perfectly good systems to the lowest common denominator of d20.
And yet. The longest running game I've ever played in (and still play in) is a D&D game and I own a fair amount of the material (probably not more than say...my Traveller obsession, but it's getting there). I'm actively looking forward to playing in another game. So what gives? What's with the love/hate?
See, for me, what it really is, is that D&D was born of wargamming and that's where it's really at for me. I really want to play a minatures game where I don't need to paint up vast armies of minatures and where I can really identify with "my side". In D&D, that's absolute -- there's only one figure, mine, and it's all I've got. The level/class thing becomes a challenge because I'm always dreaming of that next level when I'll get the cool ability or feat that'd let me mop up dozens of the mooks who are a real pain the ass today.
I've gotten a feel for how you need to take a "long view" in building up your character and understand that the choices you make now affect the kinds of fights you're going to have later.
So...I dunno. I think I'd almost be happier with a very short adventure arcs that let me run bunches of different character types. Maybe fight sequences entirely divorced from background adventures altogether.
It's also helped me figure out why I like Rogues so much. See, you're always looking to build your character up until he becomes "great" at what he does. Usually, that's a pretty high level. Fighters get good at what they do very quickly, Rogues shortly thereafter and clerics and mages usually take a bit longer (and even then, they always lust for the next higher-level spell slot). But fighters are only good at smaking things. Rogues, have the mad skill points and that's what makes them very good, very fast. It's not long before you hear a rogue making ridiculously hard skill checks with points to spare. There's a comfortable, smug feeling knowing that whenever you're called on to use a skill, you'll probably succeed at it. Moreso, when you know you can keep making those checks all day long and never run out of "uses".
See, it's right there. It's not that I want to spend all this time building up the character to do cool stuff, I want a cool character to be in a tough fight and do cool things. And when I get tired of him, I'll just think of some cool new thing to do and go with that.
So that's where it's at for me right now. I love D&D the wargame but I'm a bit underwhelmed with D&D the RPG.
later
Tom
I'm about to pontificate on gaming some more. So if you don't care, you should move along.
So today, I'm going to try and figure out what it is about D&D.
Here's the thing right: D&D even in it's current incarnation is not the holy grail of Role Playing games. Anything that it does can be done just as well, if not better, by pretty much any other gaming system on the planet. The whole level/class thing is just incredibly contrived and although the new edition gives you a level of flexibility that never existed before, it's still incredibly confining. The heart of the game revolves around killing things and taking their stuff. Then you cash the blood and plunder for improvements to your character and go back and do it again. Sure, you can have deep meaningful character interactions and social conflicts, but usually a quck sword stroke will solve your problems over a whisper campaign. Which is good because those foes are in the employ of a more powerful organization/foe who come after you as you rise in power. It's just really...meh.
Plus, the open source license means there's a flood of material on the market. Some of it is excellent, but most... It makes me wonder how long it will be before the entire system collapses in on itself. Worse, it's funneling tons of original material into the d20 mold. Some game worlds didn't have the best systems to begin with (Fading Suns), others had excellent systems (Legend of the Five Rings and DP9's Core System). Perhaps they were hoping to cash in on d20's popularity and bring people over, but I think we're losing perfectly good systems to the lowest common denominator of d20.
And yet. The longest running game I've ever played in (and still play in) is a D&D game and I own a fair amount of the material (probably not more than say...my Traveller obsession, but it's getting there). I'm actively looking forward to playing in another game. So what gives? What's with the love/hate?
See, for me, what it really is, is that D&D was born of wargamming and that's where it's really at for me. I really want to play a minatures game where I don't need to paint up vast armies of minatures and where I can really identify with "my side". In D&D, that's absolute -- there's only one figure, mine, and it's all I've got. The level/class thing becomes a challenge because I'm always dreaming of that next level when I'll get the cool ability or feat that'd let me mop up dozens of the mooks who are a real pain the ass today.
I've gotten a feel for how you need to take a "long view" in building up your character and understand that the choices you make now affect the kinds of fights you're going to have later.
So...I dunno. I think I'd almost be happier with a very short adventure arcs that let me run bunches of different character types. Maybe fight sequences entirely divorced from background adventures altogether.
It's also helped me figure out why I like Rogues so much. See, you're always looking to build your character up until he becomes "great" at what he does. Usually, that's a pretty high level. Fighters get good at what they do very quickly, Rogues shortly thereafter and clerics and mages usually take a bit longer (and even then, they always lust for the next higher-level spell slot). But fighters are only good at smaking things. Rogues, have the mad skill points and that's what makes them very good, very fast. It's not long before you hear a rogue making ridiculously hard skill checks with points to spare. There's a comfortable, smug feeling knowing that whenever you're called on to use a skill, you'll probably succeed at it. Moreso, when you know you can keep making those checks all day long and never run out of "uses".
See, it's right there. It's not that I want to spend all this time building up the character to do cool stuff, I want a cool character to be in a tough fight and do cool things. And when I get tired of him, I'll just think of some cool new thing to do and go with that.
So that's where it's at for me right now. I love D&D the wargame but I'm a bit underwhelmed with D&D the RPG.
later
Tom
