Mark ‘official BS archivist’ Dawson on Why all the Hate

Hey B&S,

Thanks for NOTHING on the RPG Purge issue! Just messin’. I have a slew of stuff I need to sell on eBay. Guess I’ll add my AD&D 1e and 2e books to the pile once we finish this damn campaign, or maybe I’ll post something on the Gaming & BS forum. Do you feel for me yet, Sean?

Brett, once I purchase a house and get my comics out of storage you can visit New Mexico and bask in the glory of my collection. I work for a brewery, so we can throw back a few beers and nerd out on the Marvel age of comics. Sean, if you have an interest you’re invited as well.

Canadian rock band, ‘Sloan’ says, “It’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans.” Sean, I didn’t really hear many complaints about the 5e system in this episode, but it was more about the race options available in 5e. Why not lay down some house rules/expectations for your particular game and roll with it? I completely understand if you’re feeling burned out with 5e and want to spend time with some other systems, but based on my observation, you didn’t voice any specific beef with the 5e rules.

I’ve personally played D&D White Box, Blue Box, Red Box, 1e, 2e, and 5e. Based on my experience with these systems, 5e is the best version of the game so far. That’s not to say the system isn’t without its flaws, but that’s an entire topic of discussion I’d love to expound upon in great detail. I guess “it depends” on what you’re trying to get out of a particular RPG system. Seems there are various systems that focus on particular aspects of gaming, combat, social, roleplay, etc. Everyone leans toward homebrew rules or modding existing systems to meet their personal needs, but is there a system that truly does it all? That’s what I’m aiming for with my own RPG, which is why I previously posed the question of social mechanics.

Anywhoo… Sean, do what makes you happy! If you need a break from 5e (for whatever reason), explore other systems and keep us in the loop of your findings. ‘Sloan’ also sings, “S-E-A-N, S-A-I-D, P-L-A-Y, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

cheers,

Mark “Official BS Archivist” Dawson

Sloan – Coax Me (“It’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans.”)

https://youtu.be/B563tEpzeLc

Sloan – I Hate My Generation (“S-E-A-N, S-A-I-D, P-L-A-Y”)

https://youtu.be/K3btvLu722s

Harrigan writes on RPG’s that influenced his play

Late coming with this. Will keep it brief.

RPGs that Changed My Play:

1. GURPS – taught me that RPGs didn’t need classes, levels, or mountains of hit points. And that wizards could use swords.
2. Champions – taught me that sometimes making the character is half the fun.
3. Feng Shui – taught me how awesome cinematic RPGs can be
4. Fate – allowed me to dive into more narrative games, teaching me that not only is success at cost a blast, but straight up failing can be a hoot too.
5. The Non-Retroclone OSR games taught me to love D&D again.

Harrigan out.

Todd Broken Ruler Games Crapper comments on rpg’s that influenced his play

Since listening to this episode, I’ve been trying to think of any particular games that changed how I look at and play RPGs. For the most part, I do think it was the overall movement of narrative-based mechanics brought on by The Forge, PbtA, Fate, PDQ, and others. There was none in particular so much as elements my other game designer friends were borrowing for their games we were playtesting at the time.

Then came Marvel Heroic. While I’ve only played it a couple times, that sucker changed everything for me. How to present a game, how dice are more than just numbers sometimes, and so many, many things. It was such a game changer for me that I saw Cam Banks (one of the lead designers) at a convention and totally ran over, interrupted his conversation with other people, and shook his hand to thank him for making it. It completely changed how I look at game design by thinking outside the box while pressed up against it.