Random Gaming Thoughts

[Opa Opa]

Gamestop's hold music is just a bunch of advertisements that you'd hear droning on from the store's television set.

Nintendo's hold music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO8Y7hdD6Qk

I'd rather call Nintendo back again.

[noiseredux]

Crimson shroud has the figurines, dice rolling, and a text based narrative like a tabletop RPG, but unfortunately it is a set story.

right - I guess what I'm looking for is a modern way to experience these older games.

[Erik_Twice]

BUT, I should have clarified this other part of my question: Is there such a thing like that where a single player could play through an RPG campaign?

I don't think there is. Computer RPGs are to roleplaying what Tokimeki Memorial is to dating.

You can buy a digital version of the rules with a robot as gamemaster but all you'll get is a mechanical husk devoid of the actual game which is creating your own story and acting.

The closest thing is something like Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines which is the usual quest stuff you can find in Skyrim just better written. But that's all you have, you still have conversational trees with an angry, a calm and a witty option and not the actual choice, to, well feel sad and despair because you have been turned into a blood-drinking monster in a dark oppressive world. And you can't pull someone's pants down because you are funny or try to hold a meaningful relationship with another character.

If you want to roleplay, try to gather some friends and try out Fiasco which is a really fun RPG that requires no setup, no gamemaster and is over and three or less hours. Everyone can play it and it's a great way to test the waters.

Your other choice is to join a dedicated forum and play online.

[Erik_Twice]

I would offer to create a thread and play something but I don't think I have enough experience to run a game properly, much less online.

[fastbilly1]

Your other choice is to join a dedicated forum and play online.

Word to the wise, do not join a hardcore RPG forum first. Join a newbie one. Hardcore forum RPGers take it very seriously and hate when people lead characters.

[noiseredux]

I feel like maybe I'm not explaining what I'm looking for right. OR, it's possible that I just don't know what I'm talking about, haha.

Classic D&D campaigns - they are written in booklets right? And the DM would read them, and know the rules and such right? He had the maps. The players would roll the dice to determine stuff and the DM would tell them what that roll did, etc?

So couldn't a computer program do the same, using those original campaign booklets? The program tells you "you're in this room now" or whatever and you choose what you do next? You roll the virtual dice to battle, but it's all based on an actual campaign that existed on paper?

So yeah, it would be a computer DM, but one that's pulling rules from the same rulebook that a human DM would have?

[marurun]

Try the game Crimson Shroud on 3DS eShop. It might be what you're looking for. It's only like 3 hours long though unfortunately.

this looks like a brand new game?

What I'm looking for is some kind of game "template" that has mods where you could play actual classic pen-n-paper campaigns, as a single player, and using "dice rolls" just like in a P&P game rather than something like Eye Of The Beholder's first-person battles.

I'm pretty sure I'm asking for way too much, though. Haha.

It's not a video game, but there are a number of solo adventures from Flying Buffalo Games for Tunnels and Trolls. They are designed for folks who can't find a group, or time to game with a group.

The other way to do it is join in some games on Google Hangouts. I've been jonesing for some tabletop action, too, so maybe we should find a game and crash it. There's a whole FLAILSNAILS scene out there.

[nullPointer]

So couldn't a computer program do the same, using those original campaign booklets? The program tells you "you're in this room now" or whatever and you choose what you do next? You roll the virtual dice to battle, but it's all based on an actual campaign that existed on paper?

So yeah, it would be a computer DM, but one that's pulling rules from the same rulebook that a human DM would have?

I think it would depend on what you were looking for in an RPG experience, and potentially would necessitate a willingness to deal with lower level of interactivity. If you're more interested in the mechanics of combat, spell effects, leveling, and whatnot, a computerized simulation has you covered. If you're more interested in the role-playing aspect, I suspect a computer simulation might fall a bit flat (at least without the addition of additional human players to spice things up).

Most of the D&D modules that I'm familiar with (and granted I haven't played in a number of years) don't really lay out every detail of the story, but rather describe settings, characters, motivations, and major plot points. So it's up to the DM to fill in a lot of blanks. How one gets from from point A to point B, whether that means actual physical conveyance or moving the plot along, is up to the players. Due to that fact a good DM has to be able to think on their toes, in order to to respond dynamically to player decisions. IMO it requires human creativity to do that effectively. Further down that road, there's a bit of a grand tradition in tabletop RPGs of "messing with the DM", and I'm not sure that could carry over to a computerized environment. One of my favorite web comics (no longer produced) is DM of the Rings which I think captures this spirit excellently.

So to my mind there's a bit of a potential disconnect. I think a computerized simulation of a tabletop RPG as a one player version would necessarily need to take a bit of an on-rails approach in terms of story, which would sort of defeat the purpose of what tabletop RPGs are meant to be and what continues to make them a unique gaming experience even today.

[noiseredux]

Actually Fast turned me on to Neverwinter Nights, which sounds very much like what I'm looking for. It's got a "campaign maker" engine and a modding community that is still very active to this day, the single player campaign is based on an actual P&P Forgotten Realms campaign, and things like stats and battling are all done w/ rolling dice. I'm sold.

[fastbilly1]

The only downside to NWN is that the first game is 3.0 based. Which is a soso system to start on. NWN2 is more of a modern D20 system which is more newbie friendly. Noise, we could try playing NWN sometime this weekend, but its been a few years since I last played it.