tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3137427717203852100.post2363438355812896676..comments2022-11-09T00:48:23.783-08:00Comments on Telluric Currents: Two Styles of PlayKeith Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00059044388944936192noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3137427717203852100.post-65273286823787089132011-12-27T14:59:49.207-08:002011-12-27T14:59:49.207-08:00Anna, thanks for your comment! You make many great...Anna, thanks for your comment! You make many great points, especially about "combat for combat's sake. There has to be a purpose and it has to be unavoidable." I think this is something that too often gets overlooked in modern gaming.<br /><br />I'll look into the board game/RPG topic further. I think you're right in saying it is a good way to introduce newbies to the hobby (as well as make some money.) Whether it is an avenue that will promote specific styles of role-playing might be an issue worth considering as well.Keith Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059044388944936192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3137427717203852100.post-29863103675145672622011-12-15T11:32:23.296-08:002011-12-15T11:32:23.296-08:00Hmmmmm……sounds like I’m in the old people category...Hmmmmm……sounds like I’m in the old people category. ^.^<br /><br />Thanks for the Mouse Guard picture! Cute, cute, CUTE! Patrick was invited to play it, but couldn’t find the time. I would love to try it someday. I have two mice of my own and I find what little I know of the game just charming.<br /><br />I think that younger players are also just young. They want things now. Older players tend to be more world-weary and patient, more willing to let things play out. We have more life experience and we see complexities in situations and people because we’ve lived them. So it can get incorporated into gaming. Maybe older players read more too because they are not so CRPG exposed. Again, there are complexities in a book you don’t see on screen. Of course, there are also plenty of 14 year olds in 40 year old bodies, so I don’t want to oversimplify.<br /><br />I’m of the firm opinion that the players make the game. I know that you play with the players you have, not the players you wish you had (thanks Rummy!), but if I had it my way I just think it’s better to have one style in one group and another style in other. My opinions have just changed over the year and become less tolerant. Keep the actors/role-players in one group, keep the combat masters in another, and keep the dungeon crawlers in another. Like should always play with like, otherwise someone will eventually feel excluded and that is a crappy way to feel. And never allow a clique to form in a group because I do believe men are prone to that too. And I think you are more likely to have more positive dynamics with similar playing styles. Again, hypothetically.<br /><br />Having said all that, yeah, I could do a session based on story and one based on combat. One year ago, I despised combat in every conceivable way because I didn’t understand it. Now, I’ve come a long way actually primarily through board games. Mansions of Madness is essentially a dungeon crawl. Arkham Horror is essentially combat with monsters and sealing gates from beginning to end. I learned to play for a couple of hours with some guys and Patrick from Seattle Metro Gamers and had a marathon 5.5 hour combat session with friends down in Sumner. This thing has skill checks, bonuses, spells, dice, everything. All these people I played with also had RPG experience for probably 20 years or more. I had hoped to introduce non-RPG friends to RPGs using this game, but I think it’s too complicated.<br /><br />And, after that 5.5 hours session, there are still MORE rules to learn. I could certainly go back to a 4e combat no problem. Bring it on. But I still resist combat for combat’s sake. There has to be a purpose and it has to be unavoidable. I don’t get excited because I killed something just because I killed it. That hasn’t changed.<br /><br />And I would like to suggest as a future topic the relationship between board games mimicking RPGs and RPGs themselves. Arkham Horror and its expansions, Castle Ravenloft, etc. there may be more. Is this a way to hook people into RPGs or just another way to make some money. I suspect A because the whole framework is so similar. Is it a good way to introduce newbies to the hobby?Annahttps://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=XX#106437661751318809554/postsnoreply@blogger.com