Beardy tabletop RPG reviews.

[Dog Pants]

Post reviews of pen-and-paper RPGs you've played here. There's a gazillion of them out there, and our veteran bearders have probably played a fair few. For those who haven't, you might see something you want to play or run. Allow me to begin.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
This is the daddy of the pen and paper game. It's a fairly simple system based on D20s, with the rules mainly centred around combat and spells, but it seems to fill the requirements of the settings. AD&D has many campaign settings published, although none neccessarily have to be used. All are fantasy based, from the typical to the bizarre. The basic game is, as befits a game of its age and following, very solid and pretty easy to play. It suits dungeon hacks and swords and sorcery, and is probably at least partly responsible for any fantasy stereotype you care to mention. There are basic classes such as fighter, rogue, cleric, mage, and they can be expanded upon with source books. Similarly there's a huge variety of monsters in several books, and there will always be something new and interesting out there to hack up. While some games suffer from players being overpowered, here there are a wealth of gribblies of all levels to munch on you, no matter how godlike you might think you are. The campaign settings probably warrant individual attention, so numerous and varied are they. The ones I've played are all second edition, and may not have survived to the current version.

Dark Sun
Dark Sun is an odd setting, based on a world scorched by the sun, where metal is a rare thing and magic is scorned. The lack of metal weapons and armour make the setting brutal, feeling sort of like a cross between Conan and Mad Max. Magic is (in some cases correctly) blamed for the desolate state of the planet, and so mages are secretive and often twisted and deranged.

Dragonlance
Dragonlance is fairly typical high fantasy stuff, and is based on an expansive collection of novels written for D&D publishers at the time TSR. Only slight deviations from the stereotype exist, such as the kender (a childlike race of unwitting kleptomaniacs) filling the niche that halflings would normally occupy.

Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms is about as close to standard fantasy as I recall playing. Several computer RPGs such as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights are set in Forgotten Realms.

Planescape
Planescape (of Planescape Torment fame) is a weird setting where players exist in a hub between planes. Demonic player characters exist, and the setting has a somewhat steampunk theme. Planescape can be accessed from all other settings, and even used to cross between them.

Ravenloft
Ravenloft is a very dangerous fantasy horror setting. Zombies, vampires and werewolves are the order of the day, making every adventure like a Hammer Horror. Ravenloft is reputedly impossible to leave, and from personal experience characters entering there from other settings usually end up dying there. Indeed the mists of Ravenloft encroach on all the other settings from time to time, drawing characters into its gothic horror.

Spelljammer
Spelljammer takes its name from the ships used in the setting to travel in space, which use the magical energies of a spellcaster. It's a very strange combination of fantasy and sci-fi which opens campaigns up to anything the DM cares to throw in, since the players can just land on a planet with it on, or even into another setting.

[FatherJack]

ADnD is the only series I'm familiar with - I have the second edition rulebooks. I've never played the pen and paper version, but got them so I better understood game mechanics in computer games. I've played games set in Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Hollow World, Greyhawk, Ebberon, Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms on the C64, MegaDrive and PC, my favourite of which was probably Death Knights of Krynn. Yes, Death Knights. I stopped playing between 1994 and 2002, though - so missed a lot of what some consider classic games.

[Joose]

Ive got a handfull of games I'll do reviews of, as ive been reading a shitload of different systems recently, for various reasons.

One thing I will add to the DND stuff: if you are going down that route, either go for 2nd ed (if you know it already, as its pretty solid) or 3.5 (if you dont, as its a little easier to get into). Dont go for 4th, its shitty shitty shit shit.

[Morrill]

Ahh i would only add Stormbringer to the list. There was also a space game i used to play but i can not remember the name.

[Dog Pants]

I'll try to put a bit more structure into this one, make the reviews easier to follow.

SLA Industries
SLA Industries is a dark game of urban horror and corporate dystopia. Players fill the role of Operatives, working for the giant company from which the game takes its name, working to do the dirty work of the executives while trying to find fame and fortune.

Setting
The game is set in an alternative universe populated mostly by humans, but also by a few alien races which survived the company's purges and who now work alongside them as playable characters. The setting is similar to cyberpunk, but replaces cybernetics (a passing fad in game) with biogenetic implants. The game mostly takes place in the vast capital city of Mort, although traevl to other cities and planets is possible. The city defines the game's dark and oppressive atmosphere, with its gothic architecture, constant rain, and sprawling slums. Within the city players will battle threats from both the human population, in the form of serial killers and subversives, and from the less human, like mutant creatures and occasionally the supernatural. As the horror aspect of the game might indicate, adventures in SLA often build up tension in the form of investigations, making the feel slow paced interspersed with rapid and brutal combat.

System
The rules system in SLA takes a micromanagement approach to everything. Based on 2D10 rolls, it has a huge list of skills to be used in the investigations of the players. Combat is particularly detailed, with actions being broken down into fractions of seconds. This gives it a feel of Matrix style bullet time, but can also make extended battles a longwinded affair. Much criticism has been leveled at the game mechanics by SLA fans, but the holes left are easily filed by house rules which can enhance a game by moulding it to the group's style.
Characters are created and played in a freeform way, only loosely defined by a skill package which add a little to certain skills during character creation. Advancement is handled by skill increases bought with experience points. A selection of races are available, from the relatively mundane human variants, to the more varied alien races, to the mostrous biogenetic constructs. Each has a distinct flavour which is easily recognised and well defined.

Resources
The game's books, of which there are a handful, provide masses of lore and background. This is the biggest strong point of the game, and the detailed and gritty setting makes for compelling gameplay. Part of the attraction is that the official source material only ever hints at what lies deeper, the horrors and evils that players should be finding. This again leaves games open to interpretation by the GM, and keeps players guessing as to what it is they're up against.
For the players there are extensive catalogues of equipment to pore through, including more gun-porn than almost any other game I can think of. As money trickles in slowly, this gives the players lots to aim for in high powered guns and large suits of power armour. On top of that, players can choose to play the media game, televising their adventures in order to try to gain fame and sponsorship.
The opponents provided by the source are somewhat limited to a few well known monsters and rival corporations, which can make it difficult to add variety, and also leaves gaps in opponent progression. Mid level players can fall into holes where common foes are just cannon fodder, but rarer and more powerful ones will destroy them. Creativity with circumstances is required to keep the game challenging after a certain point, which can become difficult and might disillusion the players if badly handled.

Conclusion
A hugely detailed and very attractive game, due to its Blade Runner-esque dark setting and claustrophobic atmosphere, marred slightly by neglect of the details that make a game out of the universe.

[Joose]

The rules system in SLA takes a micromanagement approach to everything

Actually, I quite like the balence SLA has, rules complexity-wise. Rules heavy systems like D&D and SR are great once you learn them, but theres a hell of a lot to learn which can be quite intimidating. Rules light systems tend to be a bit too open to interpretation, which I dont like. SLA seems to sit nicely between the two.

In fact, my only issue with the SLA rules is the way that, in the fluff, hand to hand is made out to be the favoured way of fighting, but the way the rules work mean shooting is far more effective.

[Dog Pants]

It does micromanage - everything you do has a roll, nothing is down to the GM really, and combat is the most micromanaged I've ever played. However, because everything uses the same roll it helps simplify things a lot. I don't think AD&D is overly complicated, although I agree that SR is. Rifts, I found, was far more complicated than I remembered.

I agree though that there are big discrepencies between how the setting is described and how it is played. Hand to hand is actually portrayed how it is because of the Contract Circuit, but in some of the stories things happen that would be unlikely going by the rules. Similarly, stuff like pigs and carriens ans serial killers are made out to be really dangerous, but are in reality barely any threat at all. It makes me wonder if they designed the system without armour then put it in as an afterthough.

[Grimmie]

One thing I will add to the DND stuff: if you are going down that route, either go for 2nd ed (if you know it already, as its pretty solid) or 3.5 (if you dont, as its a little easier to get into). Dont go for 4th, its shitty shitty shit shit.

Why is 4th shitty shit shit. It's the latest one, isn't it?

[Joose]

Why is 4th shitty shit shit. It's the latest one, isn't it?

It is, yes, but newest != best.

To be fair to it, I didnt get past character creation, but that was because it had already made me do a little sick into my mouth. Essentially, they have tried to simplify things to attract the MMO playing audience. What they seem to have ended up with though, is an MMO that you play away from the computer.

For me, part of the fun of a p&p RPG is that you can make your character unique, and not just Generic Fighter Man or Generic Mage Woman. From what I can tell, D&D4 does its best to not allow that. I could be wrong, as im basing this off a fairly brief flick through of the rules, but I have heard the same complaint from a number of independant sources now, at least some of which I trust not to be stupidly fanboy about it.

Basically, my issue with it is that 3.5 is simple if you want it to be, or it can be almost as complex as you like too. 4 seems to be simple, whether you want it to be or not.

Tell you what, I'll grab the rules books again, have a more thorough read through of it, and it can be subject to my first Proper Review.