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A friend's daughter is just getting into rolling dice and pretending to be an elf and has a birthday coming up. Her dad is a D&D player and is trying to work out what to get her. What's a good system to get her as a present? Bit of background, as a family they already have D&D 3rd & 4th Ed. She and her friends prefer the more story based style rather than crunchy "roll a billion dice and check 200 tables" GURPS style ones. She doesn't strike me as a WoD type, it seems a little dark. Ditto with CoC. So what's a good system for doing awesome heroic stuff with a quick and easy resolution mechanic?
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| # ? Mar 20, 2013 14:55 |
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| # ? May 26, 2013 08:46 |
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How old is she? Does it need to be fantasy or will anything work? Right off hand I would say Mouse Guard or one of the many FATE systems fit into the story based side. I like mechanics from FATE a lot and tend to steal them for every other game I play. I haven't played Dungeon World, but I hear the story components of it are very good.
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| # ? Mar 20, 2013 15:29 |
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D'oh, yeah an age would help wouldn't it? It'll be for her 15th. Doesn't have to be fantasy, she's into Doctor Who, StarTrek and sci-fi in general. Urban fantasy would work too, think she's reading the Dresden Files at the moment.
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| # ? Mar 20, 2013 15:36 |
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I think anything using the Savage Worlds ruleset will be easy to pickup and play
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| # ? Mar 20, 2013 15:49 |
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DrClownsHappyHand posted:I think anything using the Savage Worlds ruleset will be easy to pickup and play What he said. The system is incredibly flexible and you can use it work with a variety of settings.
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| # ? Mar 20, 2013 16:06 |
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My personal favorite is 3.5. Sorry, I know that's kind of bland. Maybe d20 modern/future if they want to do something a bit more tech?
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 04:04 |
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Vhex posted:How old is she? Does it need to be fantasy or will anything work? Throwing out another recommendation for FATE. It's based around some very simple yet powerful mechanics, where there's 4 types of actions which cover everything you can think of doing, which are resolved by a single or opposed die roll, and all effects are described implicitly in that roll, no need for any additional rolls or checking tables. Plus, almost everything about a character, from equipment to personality quirks, has a gameplay effect described by a single mechanic, called Aspects, which are very intuitive and easy to use. Aspects really encourage story-based gameplay and roleplaying, as the more you roleplay, the more you get to use them and the more benefits they provide. My favourite thing about FATE though, is that the simple and fairly generic mechanics mean that form and function are quite separate, meaning you can play any character you want and still fill your preferred role in combat. A huge axe-wielding barbarian, a stealthy backstabbing ninja, a flashy gunslinger or an elemental mage can all be damage-dealers, tanks, supports or whatever you want. Hell, in one game I even played a completely non-combatant character, a scholar, who still was great fun in combat as I'd be pointing out flaws in the enemies' tactics, or distracting them by lecturing them on non-violence, both of which resulted in mechanical benefits to the party. Kulebri fucked around with this message at Mar 21, 2013 around 11:31 |
| # ? Mar 21, 2013 11:26 |
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CultusImperialis posted:D'oh, yeah an age would help wouldn't it? It'll be for her 15th. This seems obvious.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 11:33 |
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RE, Cardinal Ximinez's link: Yes, very yes. If she's getting into Dresden Files then the Dresden Files RPG (which is based on FATE) is my recommendation. Kulebri summed up the FATE system very well and DFRPG is well done in that system. It also has "in character" notes from Harry, Bob, & Billy written in both the context of the world and in their specific style so even if she never plays the game it's still a fun read for a Dresden Files fan. The only caution is that it has spoilers up to...hmm...either Small Favors or Changes, I can't remember. So confirm which one and make sure that she doesn't read the RPG rules until she has read that book. The great thing about playing an RPG based off of books that you enjoy is not having to learn about how the world works -- since you already know you'll feel a lot more comfortable in the setting which, in my experience, drastically increases roleplay capability and fun.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 12:13 |
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Kulebri posted:Throwing out another recommendation for FATE. One thing I haven't quite grasped with FATE, is Fate Core all you need or are there a million settings/add-ons books somewhere? Annnd I've just seen the FATE megathread. That's my reading for the next day or so. Yeah, I was vaguely aware of this, it seemed a bit, well, specific if you know what I mean. Like, if you want to a wizard in Chicago it's perfect otherwise, tough. Might have to try to find a pdf and check it out.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 12:31 |
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I haven't actually had a chance to play it in real life, but the Song of Ice and Fire RPG seems really intuitive. My favorite aspect is, if they're a social gaming family, part of character creation is making the "House" all the characters are members of or serve, so everyone can play characters in the same family and there's mechanical support for that! Maaaay wanna downplay the source material a bit unless she's already familiar with the novels or Game of Thrones on HBO, but the game looks solid, and there's nothing I remember as overtly awful like surprise sex mechanics or anything like that.
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 14:22 |
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Welp, unintended consequences strikes! I waved the preview PDF of Strands of Fate at her Dad and one of my gaming friends in a "What about this?" kinda way. Both of them went "Want. Now." and bought it. 
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| # ? Mar 21, 2013 16:25 |
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| # ? May 26, 2013 08:46 |
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CultusImperialis posted:Welp, unintended consequences strikes! Strands is a good system, but it's not very flexible. It's definitely strong in superhero, near-future, or sci-fi games, but it starts slacking for modern or fantasy games. Strands of Power is an okay supplement, as well, if the pre-built powers appeal to people. There's worse introductions to that style of gaming. Something else that may be worth checking out is the Tabletop Day Bundle on DriveThruRPG. There's some really cool stuff in there.
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| # ? Mar 31, 2013 06:12 |
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