Paper and Pencil RPGS!

[krajn]

Let's start by being honest. I'm a Paper and Pencil RPG player, I enjoy it more than almost any digital game for one simple reason: Imagination outweighs programming.

What I've slowly begun to accept is that Paper and Pencil RPGing is dominated by a few core companies, and a lot of PRPG'ers are getting tired of the "same old thing"

I'm not saying that I've done a poll to check on who hates DND or who hates White Wolf, "both systems of merit" but I am saying that many people I've PRPG'd with are looking for something new, more open ended, and less based on limitations, such as DND.

 

DND is a system built off Rules, certain characters have access to certain skills, classes exist, which makes for a very linear progression system. The illusion of choice is all there, but when it comes down to it, a Caster is a Caster, A Warrior is a Warrior, and a Subterfuge class is well; Subterfuge. The small mixtures of class and skills is barely valuable in most of my play experience.

The same goes for many systems, and I'm worried that the vast manuals of number crunching and "do not" limitations scares away newcomers to the games.

 

Let's continue by being more honest. I've been playing a new game out there which I want to tout for a moment. I'm going to copy his description of the game here in case any of you are interested. The guy who's building this has just started out, and only has a few members on the site, though he runs GM campaigns on IRC every Wednesday and Sunday.

Here's his description of the game:

 

Welcome to the Havok Role Playing Game Official Website and Community! For nearly a decade, the creator(s) of Havok® have worked hard to create an idealistic RPG with unlimited expandability while keeping the game engine simple and fast! No longer are the players, nor the Gamemaster, bound to restricting parameters and for once, your entire experience with the game is only limited by your imagination and creativity. www.havokrpg.com

 

Now here's how I'd review the game...:

It's everything he said it would be and more. The character building and progression system allows veritably anything, I have a friend who built a tentacle monster and another modeled after Darth Vader, and we're all playing in the same time-line. The only major complaint I have is something out of his control, which is the number of people on the site is small, only 19 last time I checked. On a side note, his lore is a small database included in the manual, but what little exists is definitely innovative fresh and inspiring, and definitely open to expansion.

 

Anyone else have an independent RPG to share along these lines? Preferably a PRPG?

[Fatalmasterpiece]

While I too feel your pain of the constraints of the D20 system and White Wolf's D10s... I'm not sure I like independent RPGs so much. I'm a very conservative gamer. I don't allow monks, psionicists or level adjusted races in my DnD games, which is one reason why I don't play 4th ed, since they made strange races standard.

 

IMO these independent rpgs have a problem at the other end of the spectrum. They allow too much freedom and there isn't enough precedence and standards to make a player such as myself feel accomplished and progressing. My human fighter doesn't feel very successful at killing the dragon when he was helped by a half-demon wizard who used planar magic...

[krajn]

While I too feel your pain of the constraints of the D20 system and White Wolf's D10s... I'm not sure I like independent RPGs so much. I'm a very conservative gamer. I don't allow monks, psionicists or level adjusted races in my DnD games, which is one reason why I don't play 4th ed, since they made strange races standard.

 

IMO these independent rpgs have a problem at the other end of the spectrum. They allow too much freedom and there isn't enough precedence and standards to make a player such as myself feel accomplished and progressing. My human fighter doesn't feel very successful at killing the dragon when he was helped by a half-demon wizard who used planar magic...

 

That's exactly how I feel. This Independent RPG is pretty good. I suggest giving it a shot, considering it is free. It's a completely open-ended character creation system, there isn't a class base.