[D&D4e] Feeling defeated by the ruleset
whiteknife:
I've had experiences running D&D that was not to my liking. Personally, I'm a big fan of simulation/exploration, whereas my players are hardcore gamists. Now I enjoy me some asskicking, and I have and do run quite a fair bit of it, but there's only so much you can take you know?
What I've tried to do in the past is make a setting (or in your case if you prefer a story) sort of ahead of time- know the major players, what might happen if no one interferes, etc. Then let the PCs loose. I've found it can be fun for a good bit to watch who they kill, who they team up with, and what they blow up.
That being said, 4e might not be for you. You might consider trying out other games for a bit.
Just a thought.
JoyWriter:
I wonder whether you'd want to do a mix of exalted and "weapons of the gods". Partially because I like that games approach to stunts more; basically difficulty classes for stunts and for tasks don't stack, so you won't be randomly stunting around your kitchen for cooking bonuses, or something equivalently mundane, but the moment you get into a situation that can challenge you, the stunts come out! It also has a build-up feature in a fight that naturally makes them more epic as time goes on. Very smooth!
It also has a nice way of choosing what background to keep track of, as people can buy sections of "lore" they want to turn up in the game. This means that your players would be able to grab their favourite elements of the backstory and go "A game about this please!" Looking at it though the transition load is impressive, and it still doesn't really cover keeping track of the effects of your powerful people on the surrounding politics, so you might be more interested in this: http://tricktonic.com/ORExalted/ I know I was!
AzaLiN:
Quote
That being said, 4e might not be for you. You might consider trying out other games for a bit.
Don't really have that option right now
AzaLiN:
Alright, I tried to transition the game a little this last game, make it meld a little more into the gamist/narrativist mishmash I'm going for... oh god, the rogue decided to assassinate/rob the royal envoy and go hiding in the woods, joining the enemy forces while the other characters got arrested. I can only foresee 2 outcomes, and one is lame:
1)the rogue and the party become enemies by circumstance, and play goes back and forth until one group is destroyed. That's not bad- a GoOD story actually, especially since neither group really WANTS to fight eachother, its all factional. However, 1-3 PC deaths: I hesitate, because I regret the Ranger's death several weeks ago *
* though he couldn't have possibly done more to deserve it, he didn't really get 3 strikes either. His death was merciless, but in retrospect, he probably wouldn't have made the same mistake again if it had been a close call instead. Still: he murdered another PC, ate him, then tried to impersonate him after the party just finished fighting doppelgangers...
2) the rogue (different player than the ranger, actually) is forgiven because he successfully backstabs the Orcs in the forest, as he apparently plans to. In a novel or a movie, this would be what I consider a lame ending for a conflict.
3) the rogue is forgiven for some other reason? eh?
In the end, it will depend a lot on the PCs choices, but again, I do have a ton of influence as well. The biggest challenge will be letting the rest of the party get out of jail in a satisfying way.
Callan S.:
Not that there isn't a golden rule and all that, but given it's a group activity that typically means compromise of some sort, or staying within certain rules (and the rules themselves manage the compromise). You sound like if it's a lame end to the conflict in your opinion, it doesn't matter if other people like or are okay with it? Same with whether a jail escape is satisfying. I think I've read you right, your undercutting your own goal of doing stuff as a group?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page