FENRIS wrote:
SteveMartin wrote:
Clangador. It is precisely that unbridled randomness that made Dungeons and Dragons a completely pointless exercise. The very notion of an 8 hit point troll or as 12 hit point dragon that could be killed at a single blow, is ridiculous in the extreme. To suggest, as the game does, that ANY MORTAL man could engage and even defeat an all powerful diety such as Odin or Thor is to give grave insult to the Western Myth from which these dieties are drawn.
We disgarded Dungeons and Dragons with the arrival of Chivalry and Sorcery, a FAR superior game system.
Yes there were far more rules, more complex rules, but they were rules that made practical sense, rules that made the game system workable and flexible.
Something that Dungeons and Dragons has never been or never will be.
The Great Old Ones. Now there is a pantheon of dieties and beasties that will strike fear into even the mightiest warrior, cleric or mage. I used them in at least one of my campaigns and even after 25 years, one of the players still has nightmares about them.
The Old Ones once ruled where man rules now and They shall rule again when man is no more.
Because the Stars are right.
One Thing I will Say In defense of AD&D ( and to a lesser extent my peers
) is that; as a sixth or seventh grader in 1979 there was little (if anything) else to choose from and nostalgia looms large for many. Also some credit is due for the "flagship" aspect that the Gygax/Arneson system represents to RPG's and most wargaming in general.
Chivalry and Sorcery I'll have to check out, I'm a revived M.E.R.P. man now, do you still play RoleMaster ?
Talk about randomness!!! The GM has his moderately high level ranger step out of the woods to assist us with some orks(M.E.R.P.), which will likely kill us all (then he would lead us to the next plot device). The GM rolled the orks dice in the open, a couple spectacular rolls, and the ranger had a spear all the way through his chest.
To state that D&D has issues SCREAMS some lack of understanding that many or all roleplaying games have issues of their own.
Runequest with it's broken magic system
ICE/MERP with it's criticals
Fantasy Trip with its criticals
I only played GURPS when it was first out because the weapon choices made so little difference, and like Fantasy Trip, had "the best" weapon/str combination.
The repetitive nature of reserch in Call of Cthulhu.
The lack of balance between classes in most versions of AD&D making some players near useless.
HERO games very structure brings out the rules lawyer/master campaign destroying character building players.
I am trying to remember more to poke at. Some sit in my garage, rules read, but never played. Some of their problems were to much to surmount before even getting a group together.
The best has to be Traveller, in which your character could die during character creation!!!
It all comes down to the players and the GM. They are the game, and it is their job to use and overcome the rules. Nearly any RPG I have experience with becomes a gem when played with the right people.
Well met sir and nicely phrased (Traveller wow GDW right ? Also didn't the old Star Fleet RPG have P.C. Generation fatalaties ?) 
Donate
Leagues
Gonzaga
Blue Max
Cartagena
Wooden Ships...
King Me!
VampiRing
