response 1 of 58:

Feb 4 13:26 UTC 2002

Hi, as you have probably guessed by now, my name is Bjorn Arnesen.  At 
the time of this response I am 24 years old and a Swordplebe 1st Class 
in The Ring of Steel.  I have been playing role playing games since I 
was (I think) 8.  My favorite games include the Dark Sun setting for 
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2E, Diomin, Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, 
the Planescape setting for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2E, Rolemaster 
1st Edition, Sailor Moon, and Star Wars (WEG or WotC).  The reason for 
my likes are basically that I have played or GMed these games and liked 
them, or in the case of Sailor Moon I am a fan of the TV show.  The 
only games I can say that I have a definate distaste for are White 
Wolf's "Storyteller" series.  The reasons are: those damned dots, the 
sense that your character can do nothing about that impending doom 
inherent to the World of Darkness series.

I have been acting off and on during the past 10 years.  FARCo at 
Commie High was great.  I wish I had never stopped taking it.  Now I 
feel weird if I act without a weapon in my hand(s).

Oddly, I have collected cards for CCGs but I have only played one - 
once.  That was Spellfire and I got my ass kicked.

response 3 of 58:

Feb 14 17:44 UTC 2002

Welcome Anne!

response 5 of 58:

Feb 14 22:01 UTC 2002

I can understand the grip about WoD being, umm, Dark in regards to 
Vampire and Werewolf, but not towards Mage. I adore Mage, this is why 
I'm in 3 (4?) games (and one 3Ed AD&D). 

Overall I really like the versatility of Mage- what you can and cannot 
do. And I like the dots...

(Hey Bjorn. :) )

response 7 of 58:

Feb 18 22:29 UTC 2002

Heh, game at his place. ;)

With my AD&D group we ran into a problem wherein we can only game at 
this one person's house because he's allergic to cats and dogs and all 
the rest of us have one or both (actually, come to think of it, only 
one of the locations has just a dog with no cat...) which can actually 
be kind of annoying since he lives in Lansing.

response 9 of 58:

Feb 19 16:53 UTC 2002

Hmm... did they catch mono from each other?

response 11 of 58:

Feb 19 20:53 UTC 2002

Separated by a few years? Yeah.. that would make it an interesting 
contagion. ;)

response 13 of 58:

Feb 20 21:28 UTC 2002

Now was that really mono, or was she just really really tired? ;)

response 15 of 58:

Feb 21 08:11 UTC 2002

resp:5  Agreed wholeheartedly, but our ACST for Mage in the Cam is 
being a flake.. in addition to his usual anti-socialness.  I am 
Jonathan Pratt, and right now I am playing a lot of Vampire because 
unfortunately, that's all that our group does, and as far as tabletop, 
that's what they prefer to do, too.

I like the dots, too, and geez, it's the same as saying 5 dice, 6 
dice, etc.  The one problem a friend of mine has with it is that you 
can feel pretty wimpy down on the lower ends, compared to multidice, 
because it is much more difficult to get things done successfully.

I would play more Mage.. it looks swell, really, but the only good 
Storyteller I know works her stupid ass off going to school and work, 
trying to live in Seattle in a $1000/mo. apt where her two actual 
roomies are unemployed (oh, she's had other extended houseguests).

Okay, rant=off.  I am getting into 3rd ed. Star Wars-- 2nd was much 
improved over 1st, although I like the new class system.  I'm not a 
big d20 fan, but I can adapt, and Julie wants to GM anyway.  The 
problem is finding players in our area.. personally, I want a little 
control over who we pick.. not just any Johnny-Come-Flakey. I have yet 
to delve into 3rd ed. AD&D, which is the same game system (source 
code, essentially, as a programmer friend of mine put it).

I've enjoyed playing Bubblegum Crisis and Ranma 1/2 / Tenchi a la 
GURPS with one of Julie's friends at his house and at a couple of cons.

I used to play Marvel Super Heroes, but have had trouble getting back 
into it, although I've tried with Julie's suggestion and support.  I 
think I'll agree with some I've talked to that looking back, one 
realizes it was rather bad.  Fastest character you can have can only 
run at 100 m.p.h.?  that's weak.

I am in a bit of a rut since I do like LARP and Cam is about it for me 
right now.. (no dough, joe!) I have gotten a little bored with the 
typical round robin mode of tabletop.

response 17 of 58:

Feb 21 22:01 UTC 2002

'ey Jonathan. :)

Heh, played Marvel with my older brother as a GM. Weirdest game... 

I honestly just love Mage, this is why I run two and participate in a 
third. I love the variations you can do with simple human characters 
with extra-ordinary powers. They're humans which means the players can 
get into them more easily- unlike vampire (which I have found very few 
people can accurately portray) or even Werewolf.

Yes with low dice it can be kind of daunting- then again beginning 
characters in any game aren't going to be that powerful. It's all in 
how you use your skills. In Mage my character Claire had all of 2 Arete 
and 2 in correspondence (1 matter) someone tried to shoot her, she 
opened a tiny correspondence hole, bullet went right in, exited behind 
her. It the dusky light it just looked like the shooter missed. <grins> 
Some people get really realy powerful characters- but because of their 
poor skills they still don't use them up to potential. Not to say I'm 
great or anything, just trained to be creative in power usage. Makey 
sense?

response 19 of 58:

Feb 24 21:16 UTC 2002

that's probably the bulk of it.. the success system takes some getting 
used to.  My understanding is that it was created by the makers of 
Shadowrun, and therefore, it's not original; it's just something 
everyone's not used to.

For a time, I think the industry was moving towards standardized dice 
systems that employed similiar mechanics, or at least, fewer dice were 
involved.  Marvel Super Heroes used d10 and I think most West End 
games (Star Wars, Highlander) used d6.  I know Shadowrun used d6.

I'm not sure what games were using d20 besides D&D, or rather used 
multidice in many combinations.  Wizards of the Coast's purchase of 
TSR made d20 much more prominent again; the revamped system for 3rd 
ed. AD&D is used for most all their recent games.

The weakness of d20 is that it takes time, patience, and access to 
reference to handle.  I've grasped the success system (with one die, 
either d10 or d6) well enough that I can hack out a White Wolf game, 
or something similar.  I have played D&D for quite a while, but I 
still haven't memorized which dice is appropriate for which 
circumstance.  3d6 determines stats, d8 determines most monster HP.. 
but I can't remember which to use where if I don't have a book.  Also, 
forget about me running too many games without a module.  Julie is 
wanting to do Star Wars with me right now, but she is relying heavily 
on modules published by Star Wars Gamer magazine.  I'm not much 
different.. it is okay sometimes to wing it, but I still need some 
structure, especially for games I think deserve it.

response 21 of 58:

Mar 7 19:41 UTC 2002

Okay, I finally made it back! <grins> Still haven't finished reading 
Agora.

Anywho, I don't mind the 'successes' system. It makes sense to me. What 
doesn't is damage. Damage of course dependent on what interpretation 
you make based on what rules. It seems silly that if you hit someone 
with five successes you can do as little as one damage.

As for running a game? With White Wolf I would REALLY rather not have 
modules. I prefer running the game out of my head. For the Star Wars 
game I was in- same concept, no modules used the GM made the story up.

If there's a question over whether to use a module or not I would 
basically think it all depends on the creativity of the GM. That and 
are they 'hack and slash' or are they interested in that bizarre notion 
of Character Development.

response 23 of 58:

Mar 22 15:42 UTC 2002

re #22- I don't agree. I don't think that people necessarily JUST base 
their character's class and skills on combat potential. At least not in 
the game I'm in.

Course I always make the disctinction between 'role-playing' and 'roll-
playing.' A good game is when the dice rarely get used (combat scenes 
aside).