Upcoming setting and system considerations

[virgil]

So the new semester is almost upon me, and in the interest of cutting back on prep time for my Saturday game, I'm switching systems. I had been using aWoD and happen to be at a good stopping point in the campaign; also, the setting & system don't lend themselves to light prep work or off-the-cuff sessions, at least for me. Note, this is not for the Paizo players, as they're a different group and the AP I'm running for them is just about over (they're moving to the next one).

Tome has rough spots in the gear system that require a fair bit of effort on my part, one of my players actively didn't enjoy the last campaign with the system (the one who played Caste), and it seems that my players don't hold great love for the higher power level. Say what you will about Tome being no more powerful than primary casters, that still requires properly played casters, which none of my available players can reliably do. They don't cry 'animu' or anything stupid like that, it's just a vague lack of satisfaction.

Deadlands & Shadowrun are too complicated in system for swift play, especially with my limited familiarity and the fact I've noticed that I can't pull encounters out my arse like I can with fantasy settings.

Star Wars SAGA, while simpler to run and familiar in system, suffers ever so slightly from my fantasy-focused writer's block; though not by much, since it's just reskinned fantasy, ultimately. The big thing stopping it is that one of my players actively dislikes SW, which stops the considering in its tracks.

M&M, while fun and familiar, requires just a little too much prep work. You can do it without much prep work, but I know I won't be able to resist the temptation to fully stat each villain I'll use (so damn fun).

Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu, & Gatecrasher are all too one-shotty for a regular game.

Sorcerer, In a Wicked Age, & Amber are all too 'narrativist' for my players. They want them some numbers and sword stabbing.

I wouldn't run a 4E campaign on a dare.

In my quest to find a game that has the right balance of hack, quick rules without being too shallow, and my ability to run fast-n-loose with plot...

• Rifts
• OD&D
• Iron Heroes
• Exalted(?)

Put up to vote to my players, after showing them a basic idea of each, I got a large majority vote for IH; likely because of prior success with the system (2.5 full campaigns), and they have that whole preference to stick with what they know.

And so, before life gets too busy, I have a couple weeks to prepare for a new Iron Heroes campaign. For certain, I'm going to be using the Iron Heroes Hack. The big issue Frank has with feat obsolescence is solved in my game by letting them switch out the redundant feat when they take the upgrade, and I don't have to worry about these players finding a way to abuse that rule. None of them have ever multiclassed, so I doubt they'll change their minds. Combined with Hong's variants, three classes don't have tokens (Harrier, Man-at-Arms, Weapon Master); and from what I'm hearing so far, any possible multiclassing that the party will try out will be with those three. When it comes to using monsters to throw at the party, there's a plethora of beasts in 3.5 that are light on the SLAs & true SoDs; I should know, I've used such in at least two campaigns that reached into the teens with this system.

I have two big considerations to prepare for, setting and magic. The book's arcanist doesn't work. I've gotten some mileage with the right circumstances by using Puckett's Corruption Add-on, making conjuration only summon reskinned astral constructs (outsider type rather than construct), flat-out ignoring most of the schools' problems because of players never showing an interest to begin with, and letting the limited imagination of one player run free with the illusions from the book. I don't know if I want to leave it up to luck this time around, so I should consider how to handle it this time around. There's using something like the binder from Tome of Magic, having another go at the schools with house-rules, using Jackal Mage's Ironcarnum (also with house-rules), or stewing a bit to find another option. Any ideas would be welcome.

And finally, setting. Except for one attempt that died due to new players leaving just when things were most crucial, I've run all of my IH games in the same world as Elric of Melniboné. I suspect I should use a change so my players can see something new, but I don't know what. This is going to be the hardest part, and I've love ideas here the most.

[Ferret]

I paged through Fantasy Flight's Gaia: Beyond the Dream supplement for Anima - it was pretty amazingly detailed and contained almost no crunch. Should be pretty easily transplantable to whatever system you choose to run in.

You might also look at the various Kalamar world supplements which were also supposed to provide a detailed and consistent setting perhaps more suited to a d20 variant.

[erik]

I will continue to push my favorite RPG system that is currently on the market.

Next time you seek a quick rules system that allows for combat and non-combat schticks, you may wish to consider Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX).

It reminds me of aWoD with less well-considered rule sets (a couple unnecessary stats, trap feats, and poor magic/psy system), but it flows so danged smoothly. I barely need to prep anything before running a session. I figure upon slowly hybridizing it with aWoD to give it a better magic system once my campaign shifts gears from "mundanes" to "supernaturals".


[edit:] depending upon how much fantasy/magic is involved HEX won't be a good system for a high magic setting. I haven't looked at the Desolation version of their system, it is more high magicky, but it wasn't what I was looking for at the time and I was discouraged by HEX's handling of supernatural stuff in general.

[ArtD]

There is no better setting for Iron Heros than Hyperboria - the age Howard's Conan stories are set in.

Pirates, cossacks, huge snakes, forgotten cities, man-eating apes, naked chicks everywhere, fanatical screaming desert hordes, weird magic, vampires, scheming priests and cocky mercenaries, plus all the really nice, fast-paced prose that comes along with it. What more could you ask for?

[Xur]

Maybe the Scarred Lands setting from Swords&Sorcery? Would fit the greek mythology, at least partial, and the grim athmosphere should work well with the IH rules (I have to say I only know the core campaign setting but none of the additional supplements).

[Blicero]

Do you really even need a fully defined setting for a game like IH? The one time I ran it, we just established a few traits (eg, was the world dominated by icy wastelands and frost-covered mountains and threatened by starving packs of gnolls, or was it a steamy, foetid jungle filled with yuan-ti and snake cultists? Was the world covered in ruins from an ancient empire, the fall of which plunged everything into post-apocalyptica, or was everything relatively new?) and made up the rest as we went along. I mean, IH is supposed to be pulp, so make it pulpy. It also really engendered player investment in the world, giving them such power over the setting's creation.

[Username17]

Iron Heroes is balls if you don't want to do a lot of prep work - the game doesn't have any monsters that are vaguely balanced to anything.

-Username17

[virgil]

It's 'just' a variant PHB. I don't know what I did exactly, but I just used the standard Monster Manual and treated them like any other party in D&D; they were never overwhelmed by level-appropriate threats.

The big thing is to not use monsters with actual Save-or-Die effects or very many spell-like abilities, and that ~4 encounters per day is more a limit than a guideline unless you give them an extra day to rest (and still only for one or two more fights). This is with two long-term campaigns that both got into the double-digits, on top of three short-term games that ended by the third session (one-off adventure, player departure, etc). I can't vouch for beyond level 14, though.

[shau]

Of those choices the only one I have played is Rifts. And all I can say is don't choose Rifts. Seriously, I like Rifts but all the mechanics are shockingly bad. I think I played for more than a year and I still don't really understand everything. It's one of those books where you pretty much have to your own combat system.

[virgil]

Don't worry, Rifts wasn't chosen anyway. I understood the system just fine back when I played it off-and-on for five years when I was a Boy Scout. The rules are still atrocious, but it's one of those systems where I can bear it in the name of setting/plot (rule of cool everywhere). Games with poor rules can still be enjoyable; just look at the time Frank played a mutant wolverine using the Palladium system.

[virgil]

Also, what systems/games do you guys consider to be ones that require little prep-work, are viable to full-length campaigns, & still combat oriented?

[erik]

Also, what systems/games do you guys consider to be ones that require little prep-work, are viable to full-length campaigns, & still combat oriented?

What genre?

[virgil]

fantasy

[Niles]

• Exalted(?)

Speaking as someone who enjoys Exalted, if you're interested in minimizing GM prep, then Exalted is not the game you want.

[virgil]

What games actually do have low DM prep?

[malak]

What games actually do have low DM prep?

<troll> 4E </troll>

[Murtak]

What games actually do have low DM prep?

Well, all systems share having to prepare and detail a story. The only way to skimp on this is to choose a system where players get less plot-derailing abilities. High-level-DnD is of course notorious for letting the players do crazy stunts. But even without any world-breaking powers, just a little inventiveness can easily ruin your carefully laid plot, so I wouldn't sweat this part too much. Just don't pick one of the truely crazy systems.

Where you can lower your prep time is bookkeeping and accounting. DnD takes long to prep because you have to fiddle with skills, feat, classes and spell lists for tons of NPCs, each of which affect each other. And just to add insult to injury those NPCs are quite fragile. Shadowrun on the other hand has lots of bookkeeping because of gear lists and shopping for cyberware/spells/adept powers. Depending on your campaign this may be an issue or a moot point.

An example of a system with low prep time is Feng Shui. Few stats, a low number of skills and shticks are largely independent instead of long prerequite chains and combos. As a bonus, mooks only require about 8 numbers, leaving you free to devote more time to your main NPCs.

[erik]

Hollow Earth Expedition has very, very low prep but their fantasy/magic/psy rules are... requiring rewrites.

Mooks are really easy to run. I've never had any slow combats. Character creation is pretty easy (just explain to players that if they want to be good at something they should max out their skill ranking in it... I have one player who didn't max anything out and he's... weak).


They have a fantasy version Desolation, using the same "ubiquity" rule system, dunno whether that magic system works or not. I presume it would be equally easy to prep and run though. Naturally their game forums are pretty much run and peopled by fanboys so it is hard to find criticisms there.