Role-playing experiences

[SilvaShado]

Here the thread to talk about your role-playing experiences. Here are some questions to get you thinking. Feel free to say more or ask more questions.

When did you start playing?

What systems have you played?

Which do you like the most? The least? Why?

How much did you or do you play?

What was your most memorable experience?

Most memorable character?

[Elliot Kane]

Ah, fun

When did you start playing?

When I was around 11 or 12. Longer ago than I care to think about, now...

What systems have you played?

Name something. No, really! Gamma World, Runequest, D&D, AD&D, Twilight 2000, Palladium, Traveller, Call Of Cthulhu, Tunnels & Trolls, Earthdawn, Star Wars, Werewolf, Marvel Superheroes, plus around half a dozen I've forgotten the names of. I have rulebooks for systems I never got around to playing, too.

Which do you like the most? The least? Why?

AD&D is my all time favourite, because it's so flexible I can (And have) chucked almost everything into it including space ships. I can't say I really have a least favourite.

How much did you or do you play?

I haven't really played for a long time, but my group & I used to get together on Sunday morning and play till late Sunday night - so at least 8-10 hours a week, and more on bank holidays.

What was your most memorable experience?

A dungeon I created where each room had a song title on the door, and the contents of the room related to the song title somehow. My players loved that one

I'm not sure in retrospect that the dungeon itself was all that good, but my players were great, and we all had a great time playing

Most memorable character?

I had a lot of favourites, most of whom are technically NPCs. My most memorabe is either Krelan, who is a warrior, or Van Darth, who is... unique

Saying more than that would risk giving away spoilers to my readers though, as I tend to use them as occasional supporting cast in my stories. A good character is a good character forever

[SilvaShado]

Ever play the Men in Black RPG. I actually bought two of the rulebooks, though I could never convince anyone to play with me.

I also have a few of the Toon RPG books. I did actually play a session, though my group argued so much about it that we never played it again. I thought it was a blast though.

Anyway, to answer my own questions -

I started playing in high school with Palladium Fantasy. A few DMs tried to bring in Rifts, but almost everyone favored the fantasy setting.

I really enjoyed the world and the characters and the races. I completely hated that skill rolls were percentage and so low. You could hardly ever do anything! It was so frustrating.

My group at that point always argued so I only enjoyed role-playing a little. The most cohesive we ever got was playing a group of evil dwarves. Even that ran afoul after a while.

In college I was introduced to D&D 3rd edition. I liked that a lot more, but by then, my group from high school was dwindling rapidly. It was at that point that I had to DM if we were going to play at all.

I have been able to play since then, but it usually ended up with Will being DM and me being the player. Though we were able to get a few of my new friends to play once in a while.

Now I DM with Will and his friend Chris as players. But maybe soon, Will will take over as DM and I'll be a player with Chris. We'll probably keep the same characters, me taking on my NPC monk as a character and Will's fighter becoming an NPC.

I really enjoy D&D more. The resources for it are great, if expensive. I do hope to get the 3.5 books at some point, hopefully long before 4.0 rules are created.

As for memorable moments, I think I've had more being a DM only because my players are so creative. I can never guess what Will and Chris are going to do next or how they react to anything.

One recent moment was when Chris and Will were trying to follow someone. Neither of them have any tracking skills, so they only had their intellegence modifier. Will rolled a 3. Before I could say anything, Will said that his character looked down and exclaimed that he found two sets of tracks. Chris's character rolled a 4 and said that those were their tracks. It was a hilarious moment. One where I would have just said that they didn't find anything, but they made it much more fun.

One character that is my favorite, though I have never played her is Silva Shado. She's a dwarven assassin that I made for the Palladium Fantasy campaign where we were all going to play evil dwarves. I never got to play her because someone created an assassin before I finished my character and the DM didn't want two assassins. I had put so much thought into her and developed her so much that I never let go of her. I ended up making a dwarven mind mage, which kicked butt. But I always wonder how Silva would have turned out.

I think this new monk I created is going to become memorable. She's one of the most unique characters I have ever made.

[Gray Lensman]

When did you start playing?

I might have been twelve or thirteen. I know I was in junior high around then.

What systems have you played?

Where do I even start? AD&D (mainly 2nd Edition), Paranoia, GURPS, Amber, Battletech, Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel (TSR version), and probably a bunch of others I'm forgetting.

I've also played a lot of custom-designed systems.

Which do you like the most? The least? Why?

I can't say I have a favorite as such. Every system has its strengths and weaknesses.

How much did you or do you play?

I used to play constantly for so many years I've lost count now. I haven't played pen-and-paper in quite a while, unfortunately. I did play in several web RPG's last year, and had a good time until they ended.

What was your most memorable experience?

There was one time I played a low-level bard in a party of high-level powergamers. It was a challenge for me, but I got by through cleverness and sheer roleplaying. Lots of fun, too.

Most memorable character?

Probably Blitz from our Sentinels game. She started as a walk-on supporting character, then just gradually took over. To the point where she completely outshone my other characters. A year later, she's the star of her own series, and is probably my best character that I've written to date.

If we're talking pen-and-paper? I'm really fond of The Prince, who is one of my D&D villains. I can't really give details about him yet, because I eventually want to work him into Blitz at some point. He was the first villain I created, and one I'm still fond of even now.