Role-playing systems

From: Chris Pearce <cpearce_at_speed.intecom.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 95 13:34:07 CST


> Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>

> Chris Pearce wrote to mention some other gaming systems that I'd
> forgotten to mention. So, Roy, here's a few more capsule reviews.

> EVERWAY: Chris mentioned this, but I ain't never heard of it.

  EVERWAY: This new roleplaying system comes from Wizards of the

           Coast. It supplies a sketched out multi-cosm epic
           fantasy setting and a visual framework for character
           generation and diceless task resolution. It is
           possibly best be described as Tarot-based diceless 
           roleplaying; the GM uses a Tarot-like deck to adjudicate 
           story developments or even individual actions. Players use
           another deck of just images to seed ideas for characters.

           I've read it, I've not played it, but I find it intriguing.
           It has a rather organic feel, which will leave many GMs
           cold and will excite others greatly. If you are interested
           in going diceless, it's worth a look.

  ELRIC!:  This roleplaying system is produced by Chaosium. It uses
           a simple form of the Basic Roleplaying mechanics that
           Call of Cthulhu and Runequest use. It is closer to a traditional
           fantasy world than Runequest's Glorantha and has readily
           available source material in Michael Moorcock's Elric stories.
           Sandy should be ashamed of himself for having forgotten it. :)

Personally, unless you wish to take a real plunge into diceless gaming, I recommend Elric! or Runequest (or Call of Cthulhu!) or Warhammer FRP.

The Basic Roleplay mechanics that Runequest and Elric! are intuitive, clean, and realistic enough for game purposes.

Runequest is best played in Glorantha (IMHO) and that can be daunting, since many Glorantha supplements are out of print. Also, Avalon Hill does not support Runequest very well, and the world is unusual enough that assorted history, comparative mythology, and Gloranthologists can babble endlessly about it in electonic forums.

Elric! has cleaner mechanics, is more accessible, has plenty of source material (Chaosium *does* support its games very well and Moorcock books are all over the place), and is closer to traditional fantasy than Glorantha is.

Warhammer FRP provides simple (but sometimes broken) mechanics tightly integrated into an excellent, dark (but often humorous) setting, the Old World. WFRP is now published by Hogshead Publishing, which rescued^H^H^H^H^Hlicensed the game from Games Workshop, which had stopped selling the game because the game didn't sell enough miniatures.

IMHO, avoid Rolemaster, GURPS, and Hero. But then, I like minimalist systems and the complex systems these games use are anathema to me. - --
Chris Pearce, cpearce_at_speed.intecom.com I was in this prematurely air-conditioned supermarket and there were all these aisles and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded that I had been avoiding the beach.


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