Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rpg and roleplayinggame

Help searching for old PC and Playstation 1 games? Probably about early to mid 90's

LittleNami — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:17:13 -0800

Help searching for old PC and Playstation 1 games? Probably about early to mid 90's Trying to hunt down 3 separate games and not having a whole lot of luck with google >_< Any help is massively appreciated!

1st Game:
PC, very old possibly on floppy discs. I kind of remember having anywhere from 3-8 floppy discs in order in install, maybe even play it. The game started in a cave and you were a guy that had to escape it. I can't remember for sure, but I think you didn't have any details about the character, you had to find out information as you went.

Once outside the cave, there was a lot of forest areas to explore and you could get attacked by any number of creatures as you moved from one zone to another. By zone, I mean that was your mode of movement, from one "screen" to another, it wasn't free motion like Doom, more like a visual version of Zork in that you could move N, S, E, W by hitting the edge of the screen zone.

I remember getting attacked by rabbits, possibly vampire rabbits, I think werewolves too. Once area that you explored had a lake or pool that a selkie woman was in that tried to seduce you, but if you helped her out and were nice to her, she was nice back and grateful for your aid and wouldn't try to kiss and drag you into the water. Eventually, you could make your way to a town that had a castle. There was a change in time from day to night, so going out at night meant getting attacked more. There were controls at the bottom, like Monkey Island or Doom, where you could choose your actions or items.

Somehow, the castle was especially important, like either the main enemy was there or you had to get in there, but I don't remember ever getting that far in the game. I also remember in the town, there was a fountain or garden in it. Overall, pretty colorful ^_^

2nd Game:
PC, possibly cd by this time. This game was a weird space comedy game, with you playing a man that was trying to explore this strange planet he was on. It felt like you were a space detective, but I don't think that was his profession, just trying to explore. It was in 3rd person view. If I remember correctly, you were actually stuck on that planet, like stranded or some such. It was a pretty colorful game too, I remember there was an alien arcade with super bright colors and there was a game called Toe Jam Football or such. There was also random comedy moments, like when I was exploring a store and when I tried to click on something, the game said "Don't touch that, we don't know where you've been." Pretty sure there was a bar there too, but no, it wasn't Space Bar and it wasn't Callahan's Crosstime Saloon. Much more comedic than those.

3rd Game:
Playstation 1, not sure how many cd's. 2nd or 3rd person view

This was a very anime/comic style of game where in the beginning of the game, you had...7 people? to choose from. Each of them started in their own "area" (or possibly even planet) and you had to guide them through areas. Not sure what their goals were. Super colorful game again. I just remember one of the characters was this guy that you took into a laser room, or at least that is what it reminded me of. There was a beam of light that you could direct moving different crystals in the room. I'm not sure if moving the beam was to unlock the next room or not.

I hope those were detailed enough explanations, but if you need more info, please ask ^_^ These games have been driving me insane trying to find them. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

What is the name of this weirdo, super detailed (J?)RPG?

cog_nate — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:46:35 -0800

What is the name of this weird-ass, super detailed (J?)RPG? MOST IMPORTANT CLUE (I THINK): I remember the title as being very vocalic, like Eunoia or eronia or ysoina or something like that.

I read about it on a forum a couple years ago, installed it and played a bit, then got bored and deleted it. Now I want to find it again. I don't think it was a rogue-like. You could create your character with a bunch of ludicrously detailed options, and then roam around freely. There was a crazy number of skills, including piano playing I think?

Help me help my players.

fiercekitten — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:47:43 -0800

I've played every version of D&D and am wondering, is there an RPG that doesn't take 3 hrs to make a character, where combat can be resolved in less than an hour and doesn't require a dozen books? I'm flexible on the genre, but fantasy or scifi is what I'm most interested in, something that can be used over the longterm, not just for a few games (RISUS and it's pals appeal but doesn't seem durable enough), with enough flexibility for me to mash things together but without me having to design my own homebrew from 2 or 3 systems. I've done that. Lots more inside... Specifically, what I'm looking for is a system that can have players playing in an hour or two, uses 2-3 books, combat is usually resolved in a few turns, turns don't take hours to accomplish and is fun to play. I don't want people arguing over rules because someone forgot something 6 turns ago. It can be either fantasy or scifi (or both), with psychics or not. If it's scifi, something without aliens would be best, with space travel and computers. If it's fantasy, something more adventure and swordfighting rather than dungeoncrawl.

I recently joined an RPG group that plays 4th Edition D&D and found that the character generation was WAY too complex and combat isn't any easier than 3rd Ed. The reduction in the number of skills was a good idea, but the addition of "combat powers" or whatever they call it didn't help anything.

I've played Shadowrun and thought the rules easy enough, but I didn't care much for the min/max mechanic of character generation in the system. I'm OK with the fantasy-scifi combo.

I've read GURPs but never played it, mainly because I could never find anyone to play it. I've heard it also is very heavy on the min/max. It seems like a less complex version of RIFTS/Palladium, both of which I found way too rules heavy and mathy ("crunchy" is the term I've heard used"). It shouldn't take advanced mathematics to find out if you've killed something.

I've tried Ars Magica and found that it's not quite fantasy enough for me, although the setting is very interesting. However, like the LOTR RPG, combat is mindnumbingly slow, worst than 2nd Ed AD&D.

I've liked some of the d20 3rd party resources but I haven't found one that's fantastic enough for me, although I loved the flexibility and found that combat was pretty quick. Character generation could be a bear, mainly because you're sort of stuck making character types from whatever sourcebook you were using. So while the Farscape and Anime RPG sourcebooks are interesting to use as material, getting farther than 8th level was hard and coming up with a more detailed setting it can be sort of hard going. That's probably more an aspect of the 3rd party publisher world than anything.

White Wolf's World of Darkness was one of the most interesting campaigns I've played and the system was interesting to run and play. But the whole "dark, serious, gothy" tone got to be overwhelming. The fact that it was designed to be used as a LARP didn't help, but it also didn't have the flexibility to go off the range in tone or design.

Other games I've played/tried to play:

Talislanta (no elves, confusing rules in early editions)
Cthulhu (a long time ago, plus it's horror which isn't my thing)
Cyberpunk 2020 (hard to integrate with magic, implement space travel)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (cool setting, career system stifling, uber-crunchy)
Ghostbusters RPG (fun, but I was 14)
and many more...

I'm willing to try them any of them again, but usually I didn't like something about character generation or game mechanics. Maybe the rules were confusing because of poor editing, maybe I thought there were just too many rules for something simple, maybe there weren't any rules for what I wanted to do.

Please help, my fellow dorks.

CASE COSTLY ACQUISITION (2d6 SAN)

longbaugh — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:02:32 -0800

I recently bought the Laundry series by Charles Stross and thanks to that and Artw's constant efforts to encourage the stars to come right I'm really jonesing for some Call of Cthulhu/Delta Green action. It's been a loooong time since I've had any chance or time for roleplaying and I'm so far out of the loop I'm in non-euclidean space... I'm looking to find either hardcopy or digital copies of the original books and expansions and somewhere to find likeminded geeks with a desire to play them. I've looked in the more obvious bookstores online but the prices I've seen beggar belief. I'm not a rich man by any means and paying £30-70 (and up!) for realtree books causes me to develop a nervous twitch.

Since it's been a long time I have literally no idea how to get some folks together (either IRL or online) or where to even start looking. I have tried the "just f*cking google it" but either I am a total spaz or the Outer Gods are working to hinder me.

How do I extensively, safely mod D&D?

neewom — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:28:01 -0800

I am attempting to create a new D&D-based RPG, using a lot of non-standard races and rules. Help? Specifically, I was challenged to create a magic-heavy world that combined elements from Neverwhere, Discworld, and Harry Potter. We will be using v3.5 to start, and half of the crew dislike GURPS.

I'm aware of many D&D-universe flexibilities when it comes to types of campaigns and campaign settings, but I am hoping to modify the rules for certain races, encounters and some mechanics.

While I do have a solid grasp of the playable races from these various universes, the problem is that I am still relatively new to the world of RPG's and D&D in particular, and I know nothing about potential restrictions beyond what's already in the PHB.

Are there any sources available that will help me work out the changes to game and character mechanics without me hopelessly crippling the game? Tips, things to avoid?

What should a new rpg adventure writer expect in regards to the contract?

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:17:06 -0800

What should I be paid for writing an adventure for a rpg system? Against all logic, I've been approached by a reputable make of role playing games to write an adventure for one of their new game systems.

This is against all logic because my last experience with playing pencil and paper RPGs was probably over ten years ago. And, also, because I don't have anything even slightly resembling a track record.

That aside, they've approached me, I'm interested and, at some point, I imagine they'll be wanting to offer me a contract.

So, my question is, in essence, what should I expect to be paid? Also, should I expect to maintain any ownership of the characters or stories in the adventure? And should I expect royalties on this or are these sorts of things strictly work for hire? If I write before they get me a contract, do I get to set my own terms?

Basically, I have no idea what I'm getting into and my contact - an otherwise very friendly sounding bloke - sort of hemmed and hawed when I started asking these questions. I need to stress, the company has, as near as I can tell, a proven history of success.

Anyhow, basically, I need some decent "newbie RPG adventure author" sort of advice. Help?

First time runner.

JonnyRotten — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 08:11:00 -0800

After 5 years of her refusing, I have finally convinced my wife to try playing a Pen and Paper RPG. But. She claims she has no imagination. Is this going to be a horrible experience, or is there hope? Have you ever gamed with someone who was willing to learn, but had to overcome the "getting into it" factor? I have another married couple coming over today to play shadowrun, and my sister is going to play, so there will be two guys and three gals so she won't feel "out geeked", but everyone else has played RPGs before.
I guess we all had our first times, but I am hoping this will not be a horrible experience for her.
Any advice for me, as the GM to make it easier for her?
Any advice I can read to her to make her feel more at ease?