Other games?

By Comrade Cosmonaut, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Sometimes it's interesting to see peoples' backgrounds in things they do. Like gaming. So, other than FFG and Star Wars, what systems and settings do you fine folks play in?

In the last year, I've run:

2 years of weekly D&D 5E; 1.25 of which was set in FR and was Adventurer's league; the other 0.75 set in a homebrew world

about 6 sessions of firefly, using MWP's Firefly rules.

6 sessions of The One Ring.

2 sessions of Traveller.

I've played as a player 2 sessions of D&D 5E

Edited by aramis

I then got into the Harn setting, which I GMed for something like 9 years, first using RuneQuest, and then the first edition of HarnMaster.

Harn! Almost forgot. I even wrote a sci-fi conversion called "HarnSpace", and sent off the manuscript to the writers, got a very positive letter back, and then they went under. :huh:

Harn was great. I ran my Harn campaign for the better part of a decade with the same group. It was fantastically detailed and magic-light, with a very realistic medieval flavor. One of the guys in my SW campaign now was in that Harn campaign back in the 80's. He still has his character notebook (as does all my old players) along with my short stories and old pixelated copies of my Harnic Herals newsletter I made with my Apple ][. To this day he still uses Harn places to name his network servers (Evael is one, Azadmere is another).

A part of my childhood died when I heard about Robin Crossby's passing. He did an amazing job.

I started with Star Wars D6 when I was eight, first campagin was first edition then we switched to second..

Every edition of Traveller

Every official Star Trek system

Spelljammer

Battlestations

Robotech

AD&D and D&D 3rd

Both official Babylon 5 systems that we know of

Renegade Legion

2300 AD

Battlestar Galactica

Several Hero systems including Star Hero naturally

Both official Firefly based systems we know of

Mechwarrior

Space Opera

Several homebrews of settings that don't have official systems including Wing Commander, Terminator Future War, Classic Battlestar Galactica, and EVE Online plus a few age of sail campaigns

And of course every official Star Wars System known to man.

We also ran the new Honorverse D6 game intro adventure and will probably start a campaign in it within a couple of weeks of the full core being out

We have four main GMs each running a campaign in different systems.or settings and usually run sessions in two or three each week. Right now we have Star Wars FFG, Firefly, Decphir Star Trek, and Star Wars D6 campaigns going but I'm pretty sure the D6 campaign will be ending soon since there are signs of Endor approaching and Endor is one of the battles often used as a final battle in our OT era Star Wars campaigns. Though we often return to those parties for later campaigns.

This is a really ecclectic list now that it's been padded out over so many posts. A few staples, though.

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

The easily broken character gen rules from Aberrant have made me a monster about watching character gen like a hawk. The D&D years, as well as the Mutants and Masterminds time means I occasionally plan too much for FFG Star Wars.

I tried Pathfinder for two sessions. The roleplaying parts were great but then we got into combat. I didn't really like tracking so many modifiers and, being blind, the miniatures on a map part of the combat really didn't work for me. After the second session, I discussed it with the gm. He happened to also be my dad and he really wanted me to enjoy rpg's. I thought all rpg's were like Pathfinder so, when he said we should try EotE, I had low expectations but I gave it a try.

I wasn't just surprised. I was astonished by how much fun I had. Until then, Star Wars was just some crazy stuff my dad made me watch. I remembered loving ewoks and Jar Jar but not really getting the rest. After a few sessions of EotE, that all changed.

But it is still the only rpg I've ever played.

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

I have to say all previous games I've played have been only "variations on a theme". This game though, for me at least, has been a total revelation. It does everything I've wanted from games in the past, and is far simpler to GM with more exciting results.

Ultimately it's about the group you're with and the story being told. In theory any rules can be made to work, but the rule set and the GMs mastery of it can often make or break a campaign.

D&D I think it was 4th edition - I played two sessions and quit because the DM was awful.

Star Wars Saga/D20 - had a ton of fun with that game even though my character had crap stats!

ASOIF Game of Thrones edition - amazing game, really looking forward to playing it again!

Firefly - Feels like less well developed version of this system.

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

I am a huge fan of the dice system in FFG. My co-GM likes trying lots of systems, old, and new alike, and for the me the dice system in most ends up being the turn off. I didn't mind AGE as I think there is a lot of ways to expand it's mechanic. We are going to launch into a Savage Worlds campaign and in looking at those mechanics it just looks like a lot of arithmetic in every dice pool for the sake of math in my eyes, but we shall see.

  • Started with AD&D in the late 70s.

I tried Pathfinder for two sessions. The roleplaying parts were great but then we got into combat. I didn't really like tracking so many modifiers and, being blind, the miniatures on a map part of the combat really didn't work for me. After the second session, I discussed it with the gm. He happened to also be my dad and he really wanted me to enjoy rpg's. I thought all rpg's were like Pathfinder so, when he said we should try EotE, I had low expectations but I gave it a try.

I wasn't just surprised. I was astonished by how much fun I had. Until then, Star Wars was just some crazy stuff my dad made me watch. I remembered loving ewoks and Jar Jar but not really getting the rest. After a few sessions of EotE, that all changed.

But it is still the only rpg I've ever played.

The 'Feat tax to do something cinematic in combat FRPG' that's why I love SW..

Our Mos Eisley Canteen combat: run to the bar for cover (+1 setback), jump over a bar and grab a bottle of spirits (+1 setback), pop up from behind the bar, firing blindly in the general direction of the enemy while necking back said spirits (+1 setback). so adds 3 setback to my combat roll - did it anyway, for Shiggles!!!

In PFRPG.. can I do that (all the above)? GM: NO! Me.... erm. I'll just fire my flintlock pistol then move 5 feet to there (points to map)

Plus, little prep time for each session for our GM - same with my Zombie Apocalypse,,, little prep. I used to run shortish PFRPG sessions for my boys in school holidays,,, they'd still need 2 hours prep give or take *facepalm* I loved doing it but they'd keep coming in to the study asking: Is it ready yet?

This is a really ecclectic list now that it's been padded out over so many posts. A few staples, though.

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

The easily broken character gen rules from Aberrant have made me a monster about watching character gen like a hawk. The D&D years, as well as the Mutants and Masterminds time means I occasionally plan too much for FFG Star Wars.

When our PFRPG GM said he was going to run Rise of The Runelords I went round to the Wizard players house (I chose a Battle Cleric) and we planned our PCs up to 17/18th level where the campaign takes you!!! We considered so much stuff - we even noted down our: What we do each round.... my list was 1: buff party 2: buff self/weapon 3: move/combat 4: debuff opponents etc... I look back now and think WHY? The FUN had gone out of it... you have to think 3-8 levels in front to buy certain feats. It's a monster - my Paizo stuff sits on the shelf taking space but it's defo going up in the loft when I need space for SW splatbooks

Edited by ExpandingUniverse

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

Absolutely! I love purloining from other gaming systems, even if it's just a philosophy around dice. It really feels like a lot of new games are coming up with some fantastic ideas and I not only lift them for running, I lift them for playing as well.

[edit: seems like some examples are in order!]

  • From Dungeon World, the concept of Bonds that tie players together
  • Also from Dungeon World, the concept of Fronts that enable a sandbox game to feel like a living world
  • From Feng Shui 2, the concept that the PCs are going to succeed without a roll, but we roll the dice to help narrate the result.

There are probably more things I've lifted over the years, but they're so subtle as to just be included in my corpus.

Edited by themensch

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

I decided I should start trying to refine and share some of the things we've been doing, so I recently started a blog to do just that, http://hackingtheedge.blogspot.com/?m=1

Now when I play other games, I am mostly evaluating it for things to steal...

Honestly, I'm probably more of a collector/dabbler of RPGs, as most of my friends have always vastly preferred tabletop wargames (e.g., Axis & Allies, Fortress America, Shogun/Samurai Swords, Star Fleet Battles, Star Trek III: Starship Combat Simulator, Battletech, and X-Wing) than roleplaying.

That said, I've played the following:

- FASA Star Trek - so fun!

- MERP (Middle-Earth Roleplaying)

- TMNT/After the Bomb - we really had more fun with character creations

- Robotech

- original D6 WEG Star Wars

- AD&D (2nd edition) - dragged into sessions with terrible GM/DMs

- LUG Star Trek: DS9

But my collection also includes a bunch of D&D 3.5, several GURPS books, various Star Wars editions, Red Dwarf (would LOVE to play this some day!), PsiWorld, and Bushido.

The only FFG Star Wars books I've been purchasing are the EotE ones, as I grew up adoring the Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy. Once life decides to hand me some more free time, I plan on working up a campaign for some friends. These past few years have just been super-busy...

PS - My ideal character for Red Dwarf would be a mid-50s William Shatner wax droid. Ha.

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

I have to say all previous games I've played have been only "variations on a theme". This game though, for me at least, has been a total revelation. It does everything I've wanted from games in the past, and is far simpler to GM with more exciting results.

Ultimately it's about the group you're with and the story being told. In theory any rules can be made to work, but the rule set and the GMs mastery of it can often make or break a campaign.

For me, FFG's SW is pretty middle of the road... I only listed the last year... prior to that...

some 200+ systems over the last 36 years.

The far side into storygames gets very much more non-traditional.

For example, Houses of the Blooded and Blood & Honor (same core engine, same author - John Wick)... the dice don't tell you success/failure... they tell you who picks and how much each person gets to say about your action... The mechanics drive story control, rather than success/failure.

Fiasco - the system focus on resolving whole scenes with a single die (which was previously rolled, no less).

Cosmic Patrol - kind of traditional mechanics... but GMing role rotates a scene at a time, and the scenes are pre-scripted situations...

Not that middle of the road is bad. It's right in my comfort zone.

So I've been watching Adventure Time on Hulu recently, and this combined with the few mentions of Numenera have me wanting to use that system to run a game in this utterly mad universe.

So I've been watching Adventure Time on Hulu recently, and this combined with the few mentions of Numenera have me wanting to use that system to run a game in this utterly mad universe.

Why do you think Numenera would be a good fit for that? I would think a lot of other more wacky games or just free-form fluffy games would be a better fit. But if it appeals to you, go with it!

Edited by RodianClone

So I've been watching Adventure Time on Hulu recently, and this combined with the few mentions of Numenera have me wanting to use that system to run a game in this utterly mad universe.

Why do you think Numenera would be a good fit for that? I would think a lot of other more wacky games or just free-form fluffy games would be a better fit. But if it appeals to you, go with it!

Toon!!!

Edited by mouthymerc

Currently I'm playing in a few different online FFG games, but I'm trying to set up an in-person Ryuutama game.

This is a really ecclectic list now that it's been padded out over so many posts. A few staples, though.

Would anyone here say the games from their past or even their current ones are coloring their perceptions, actions, and enjoyment of the hobby now? Either as a player or a GM?

The easily broken character gen rules from Aberrant have made me a monster about watching character gen like a hawk. The D&D years, as well as the Mutants and Masterminds time means I occasionally plan too much for FFG Star Wars.

I played a lot of D&D over the years, in editions ranging from 2nd to 4th. There were long stretches during that time where I didn't have a game (or at least not a regular one), and so I did a lot of character building/planning. That gave me an appreciation for system mastery, that is, understanding how all the different mechanical elements in a system interact, but it also gave me a lot of practice in using the rules at hand to flesh out whatever concept occurred to me.

More recently, I've been influenced by a lot of more rules-light systems. From The Shadow of Yesterday, I got hooked on systems that allow players to set their character's priorities and get rewarded for following them. From Mouse Guard, I developed an appreciation for fail-forward design, incentives for roleplaying character flaws and beliefs, and sharing narrative control with the players in a transparent manner. And then Monsterhearts (Powered by the Apocalypse) gave me interesting ideas as far as using "success with a consequence" as a more compelling result than failure, and quantifying the emotional leverage players can exert over each other through the Strings mechanic. From Ryuutama I hope to develop my use of situation and exploration as opposed to plot and conflict.

My List, (so far):

D&D 1st Edition and Advanced D&D

Gary Gygax's Mythus (anyone else try this?)

Twillight 2000

Merc 2000

Dark Conspiracy

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs

Traveller

Rifts

Palladium

Robotech

TMNT

Ninjas and Superspys

Heroes Unlimited

Toon!

HoL (The Human Occupied Landfill)

Iron Claw

Jade Claw

The Firefly RPG

The LOTR RPG

Heavy Gear

Gear Krieg

Core Command

Vampire, the Masquerade and Dark Ages

Werewolf, the Apocalypse, Dark Ages and Wild West

Changeling

Wraith

Mage

WEG Star Wars

Brave New World (Best Superhero Game EVER)

And of course, FFG Star Wars

There may have been more but these are what jump to mind...

Edited by Wonderduck

What I can recall (RPG's only):

D&D white box

Advanced D&D

Traveller (original)

Star Wars home brew using Traveller

Modern Mercenary home brew using Traveller

Twilight 2000

Merc 2000 (short lived)

Robotech (short lived)

Home brew fantasy RPG game system

Star Wars WEG d6

Lord of the Rings using MERP

Traveller 2300

Cyberpunk

Shadowrun

2300 AD (2nd edition of above)

Vamper Masquerade (short lived)

D&D 3rd Edition

Traveller d20 (barely tried, it sucked)

MegaTraveller

Harn (have it, never ran it)

Traveller the New Era

Star Wars d20 (both editions)

Lord of the Rings by Decipher

Firefly (have it, never ran it)

Traveller by Mongoose

Warhammer FFG

Star Wars FFG

Edits: As I've read others above it's made me recall other RPGs I've played.

Edited by Sturn

My gaming history is relatively short.

First game I played was Saga Edition Star Wars in a very short campaign.

After that, I got swept up into 40K Roleplaying with Dark Heresy, then Rogue Trader, then Dark Heresy 2. Only stopped playing with that group over the past year or so and so it forms the basis of most of my Roleplaying experience as a player.

I also played in a very short-lived, shenanigans filled 3.5 game. My only D&D experience.

After Edge of the Empire was released, I dove into GMing and have been doing that ever since. Haven't played the game as a player just yet (though we have a one-shot planned run by one of my players).

I've also played a campaign of Dungeon World and a handful of one-shots. Not a huge fan of the game as a player, but it definitely informs my GM style to a great extent (despite having never actually run it myself).

I'm thinking after this campaign wraps up (it's still early days for it), I'll be taking a break from running Star Wars to try something new. Right now, I'm looking at D&D 5E or Chronicles of Darkness but there are a million games out there and I want to play them all.

My first RP experience was a D&D 4e campaign which lasted a year or so. I tried my hand at running a Saga Edition game, but didn't have much fun with that system. Dabbled in some Savage Worlds and Fate games including a really fun Savage Mass Effect run. A buddy of mine and I almost made a Savage Worlds Star Wars adaptation but before we got to it, Edge came out which saved us a lot of work.

I just recently discovered "Everyone Is John" and I really want to give it a try when I get some table time next.

FFG SWRpg;

Challenger Rpg(Free on Kindle);

Various "Adventure" Games

Lego Heroica(I like Legos, deal with it, I'm not as old as some of you people ;));

WEG D6;

All in the Past year, 1 month and 2 days.