RPGs analog style - planning the RacketRPG group

[Key-Glyph]

I would love to try this. If I do, I warn you that you might have to be somewhat patient with me, as I've only played in a small handful of D&D campaigns and am not nearly as familiar with the material as the rest of you. I certainly don't know enough to debate a favorite edition, although I love listening to the inevitable arguments.

As long as we're allowed to be goofy, I'm interested. If the universe permits robots or cyborgs, I'm even more interested. I'm not a super huge fan of the traditional fantasy setting, but it's a fine place to start for some common ground.

Also, this program thing sounds intriguing! If it does the rolling and calculating for you, that's awesome, because for some reason my ability to perform simple math gets impaired under pressure.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I would love to try this. If I do, I warn you that you might have to be somewhat patient with me, as I've only played in a small handful of D&D campaigns and am not nearly as familiar with the material as the rest of you. I certainly don't know enough to debate a favorite edition, although I love listening to the inevitable arguments.

As long as we're allowed to be goofy, I'm interested. If the universe permits robots or cyborgs, I'm even more interested. I'm not a super huge fan of the traditional fantasy setting, but it's a fine place to start for some common ground.

Also, this program thing sounds intriguing! If it does the rolling and calculating for you, that's awesome, because for some reason my ability to perform simple math gets impaired under pressure.

don't worry Key! I myself am somewhat inexperienced, having just a bit of play with 3.5 of D&D and a bit more familiarity with 4th edition. I can pick up the stuff pretty quickly though and am eager to help! Also, don't ever worry about being goofy. You are playing with me and you know how I am! If we are in a fantasy setting, with whatever system we use, I have the best character EVER in mind that I thought up this morning in the shower! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Westane]

I would love to try this. If I do, I warn you that you might have to be somewhat patient with me, as I've only played in a small handful of D&D campaigns and am not nearly as familiar with the material as the rest of you. I certainly don't know enough to debate a favorite edition, although I love listening to the inevitable arguments.

As long as we're allowed to be goofy, I'm interested. If the universe permits robots or cyborgs, I'm even more interested. I'm not a super huge fan of the traditional fantasy setting, but it's a fine place to start for some common ground.

Also, this program thing sounds intriguing! If it does the rolling and calculating for you, that's awesome, because for some reason my ability to perform simple math gets impaired under pressure.

This, at least for people I talk to, is a major issue. I'll talk to people about maybe getting together for some D&D and the first response is always that they don't know how to play, don't think they can learn the rules, don't have the books, etc. Well, yeah, you do know how to play. You can do basic math and roll dice and read... you know how to play.

All an inexperienced player needs to know is what they want to do, and it's on the DM to make that happen. It's not a matter of pulling to together stats and looking for examples or precedence, it's just looking at the DM and saying "Yeah, I wanna pick up that chair and throw it at the goblin." It's on them to make that happen. Experienced players can do the work on their own before taking an action, but it's really not necessary if you're not comfortable. You're just there to roleplay

As for Roll20 and dice calculations... Yeah, sure, you can make it throw dice for you... OR you could have a totally badass DM who isn't afraid of basic scripting and can actually write dice macros into your character sheet! I went through all my players abilities and set up dice macros which will roll the appropriate dice for the action and state the outcome in the chat window. All the players had to do was click the ability to use it. Too simple... for them. The program has a pretty wide range.

[Ack]

Shoot, I've played a dozen different games...D&D 2nd Edition, 3rd Edition, 3.5th Edition, Pathfinder, Star Wars d6, Star Wars d20, BESM d20, GURPS Traveler, Vampire: The Masquerade, Dark Ages Vampire, Vampire: The Requiem, Mage: The Ascension, Scion, etc. None of them are that hard to pick up. You guys can get the hang of them easily enough.

[Key-Glyph]

Picking things up quickly is easy enough -- it's just that I've had some bad experiences more along the lines of "these DMs are angry with you because you're still learning and/or not being serious enough."

My first Vampire: the Maskerade experience was with a large local group that had "required reading" before you were technically able to play. Something like at least three or five official texts from a list. I can understand what they were going for (Ultima?), but it was stressful and I was always afraid of being judged out-of-game for not being savvy enough -- and also of being politically assasinated in-game too, of course. Not fun, says I.

I know you folks aren't like that, but the hesitance is hard to unlearn!

Also, werewolves > vampires. Same for the roleplaying games.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I have all the World of Darkness core books and I loved Mage the Ascension myself. Sadly, never got anyone to play with me on those.

[Erik_Twice]

I would love to play with you guys. I have played a bit of D&D, a bit of GURPS, a bit of Chutlhu and a bit of VtM. So yeah, whatever it is, I'm in! Right now I have more than enough time for it so why not?

I would offer to run a VtM game for you guys, but I'm practically a newbie so I would rather have someone else host the game. I promise not to do silly stuff.

Exception: Dibs on the bard!

[marurun]

I would prefer something a little more rules light without gridded maps and minis. If I want a video game RPG, I'll play one. If I'm playing with people, I want something that is going to open doors. And here's the key... I have found that many people who play rules-heavy games start feeling trapped by those rules. If the rules don't have a scenario for it, you can't do it. In reality, most systems explicitly state that you can attempt anything reasonable, you just have to hash out with the GM how that will go forward, but all too often, the GM takes a dour attitude to player desires and so they go back to using the rules as a cage instead of merely a means to adjudicate common actions. I've also found the rules tend to shape how people think when they play.

Yeah, I have to admit, I'm one of those guys who buys LOTS of role-playing books, and then just reads them because trying to play them with peeps is just too much work and never pans out. So I've been at least nominally exposed to a range of systems, either directly or, more commonly, indirectly.

But I think what's most important is identifying folks with the time and interest to GM. GMing is hard work and requires a good storyteller. Do we have any volunteers?

[Exhuminator]

I think it's awesome you guys are gonna do this. If I had a time table that was malleable enough I'd join in. I'll just have to be with you in spirit for now.

[marurun]

Also, what kind of game are people jonesing for? Fantasy? Sci-Fi? Spy? Something else altogether?