Why don't I like Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 as much as I should? The game is far too complex. Rules for rules's sake really, which relegates story and structure to the back burner.
I like roleplaying games because I get to play a role--not roll a bunch a dice. Role/roll--get it?
I still think that Chaosium's Fantasy Roleplaying (CFR) is the best system I've ever used. Granted characters can die much more easily than in D&D, but them's the breaks as they say. I became familiar with CFR playing Call of Cthulhu. The "game" aspect of the activity was simply a method for gathering a group together to create interactive stories in which the game designer creates the scenario and the players interact with each other and the given circumstances. This is the kind of gaming I like. Fast. And roll checks are simply there to throw obstructions in the players' paths. Because if it's too easy, it's no fun.
But it's also no fun if it's too hard! I played D&D last night, but it is simply too complex. In order to combat the drow rogue I was fighting, I had to stand inside an anti-magic area which negated all my magic bonuses. I didn't care to do the necessary math so I simply made up a number. I guessed. When you're roleplaying, it's difficult to engage the part of the mind responsible for calculations and math. So I simply don't. Not my job, as they say. My job is to roll dice and have fun. Someone else has to do the math.
1 comment:
I completly agree. It is not that fun if it has too many rules and is too hard. If the game's too hard, the only thing you'll do is struggle. A LOT.
Role-playing games are fun. But it is also good if it's a game like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. You get a lot of choices and can do a lot of different things, freely instead of having to follow the stroyline.
You seem to have very good opinions on games. If you want to you can join my blog's club.
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