Tabletop player roll call

One thing that's been apparent to me in my time here is that a good chunk of CoH players are also pretty avid tabletop gamers, but I've never really gotten a good overview of what people actually play, since half of the threads have just turned into D&D 4 vs. D&D 3.5 (don't do that in this one, seriously.) I was actually short player or two for an online Exalted game a while back and went, 'well, I know a few folks in CoH play it, maybe I could ask them...' only to realize I couldn't remember most of the specifics on who played what.

So, I'm curious. What d'you play?

Me: (and feel free to format your lists differently)
Currently Playing
Exalted 2e (Infernals): And getting close to delicious Devil-Tiger-ness after playing weekly since the Infernals book came out. I'm thinking my character's Devil-Tiger title will be The Apocalypse And What Comes After, since she agrees that a lot of prominent people need to be horribly incinerated according to the current Reclamation's plans, but also thinks that Primordials need to shepherd and protect Creation instead of just rampage in it... since the current batch doesn't seem up to this job, the idea of replacing Malfeas as head honcho is starting to look mighty tempting...

Exalted 2e (Lunars): Well, a game that'll be starting soon. High Conviction, low Compassion Lunar assassin! What could possibly go wrong?

Eclipse Phase: A PbP game, also starting soon. I'm playing a jack-of-all-trades freelance reporter for the Hypercorps. In a liquid metal body. Who infiltrates Martian separatists. And with a literal addiction to viewing other people's memories. God, I love Eclipse Phase. Being wise to its ways, a good chunk of my starting points went to a backup body.


Currently Running
Nothing! Because after running Changeling for six months, then Exalted for a year, then Eclipse Phase for another four months, I deserve a break. Especially since each year of running Exalted is as much work as seven years of running something else. Just like with dogs! I'm leaning strongly toward running Changeling again soon... if I can find players. My normal group is down to about three players, only one of which actually knows Changeling.


Also Own
Changeling: the Lost: Probably my favorite game of all time... conceptually, at least. I've never really played in a game of it that lived up to the game's potential, but I still adore it.

D&D 4e: Was my beer-and-pretzels game for about a year and a half, but it eventually died after too many people had to drop out.

Gamma World: I was supposed to run this for my friends, but nah.

Geist: the Sin-Eaters: I like this conceptually, but reading it didn't really give me any campaign or character ideas. Which is weird, because usually I come away from a book with fifty ideas. Especially weird since most people report the opposite, that this was one of the most idea-inspiring books they ever read.

Mutants & Masterminds, 2e and 3e: Makes a nice game for introducing people to the hobby, in my experience. I've created about four characters for 2e, but never been in a game of it that lasted more than one session.

BESM 3e: BESM d20 was the first system I ever ran a game in (yes, it's a trainwreck,) but nostalgia aside, I seem to be one of the very few people who like BESM. It makes a nice light, flexible system if you're not playing with min-maxers. Just ignore all the fluff.

Shadowrun 4e: Shadowrun interests me on a general level, but every time I look at the core book, I get the strong sense that it requires a lot of commitment. Since, you know, it has like six different sub-systems of rules for different things and a good chunk of backstory. (I already have a game that pretty much requires you to write a doctorate thesis on it before you can run a campaign. It's called Exalted.) Still, I give it a try now and then.

Serenity: Never really read it or played it. It's a game that I think I'd enjoy both playing and running, though, so I'm not sure why.

Paranoia: My friend ran a brief campaign of this after I bought the book, and everybody seemed to enjoy it. A great game to introduce people to stuff with, especially if your friends are a bunch of devious backstabbers like mine.


I'm also very curious about L5R, but I have zero evidence that people actually play this game. It's kind of hard to work up enthusiasm for reading a game I'll likely never get to play.

I have a weekly gaming get together with my buddies - we're gaming tonight in fact.

We exclusively play GURPS 3rd Edition. We didn't upgrade to 4th Edition because, as one of our group put it, "We already have a 3-foot tall stack of books that we get wrong all the time. Why do we want to get ANOTHER 3-foot tall stack of books - at a pretty high cost - just to get THEM wrong too?"

However, what we can do with GURPS is pretty wide-ranging. In the years we've been playing, we have run:

-Fantasy (swords and sorcery, elves, etc.)
-Old West
-Horror
-Old West/Horror (this is REALLY fun!)
-Futuristic/Space
-Spies/Secret Ops
-Supers (I'm currently running this one)
-Medieval (i.e., swords but no sorcery)

That's what I love about GURPS, and why I've stuck with it for all my gaming for the past 15+ years: its flexibility. I don't need to have a separate system (and stack of books) for each of the above genres. They are all covered by one system. It also makes crossovers simple. Want to do the old standby of having the swords and sorcery fantasy characters transported to the modern world (or vice versa)? Well, you don't have to try to reconcile two different gaming systems to do that. GURPS can handle both easily.

GURPS: it's what's for gaming!

I don't get to play in tabletop games as much I'd like to, these days. But I do still get a hand in 2-3 games a month.

Currently Running:
Dresden Files RPG - I am really digging the Fate 3.0 gaming engine; it's really all about the story and characters and the Dresden Files implementation works really well for any urban magic setting. My campaign takes place outside of the Dresdenverse proper and I've reworked all the monsters, so now it's more Dresden meets Supernatural, with the characters playing hunters.

Currently Playing:
Dresden Files RPG - A proper Dresdenverse game, even!

Shadowrun 4e - I'm still not a huge fan of the SR mechanics, but the setting's fun and the campaign is really starting to shape up. Plus, I play a crude dwarf with a Scottish accent, so that's fun.

Owned:
GURPS 3e - I used to own almost all (or a ridiculous amount, at least) of the GURPS 3e stuff and agree with Sleestack that it's probably one of the best, mutable systems out there. But, I ended up selling most of it when I moved and now only have the core book and the In Nomine supplement.

In Nomine - The rules are overly complex and counter-intuitive so I tend to throw most of them to the wind when I run, but it's a quirky, off-balanced setting that I really love and just hooks me. Maybe I just dig the idea that the war between Heaven and Hell is more of a cold war. Plus, music references!

HackMaster - I no longer have my D&D books, but HackMaster fits the bill when I want to go for the dungeon-delving game. It suffers slightly as it doesn't know how seriously it wants to take itself and that leads to some balance and organization issues, but it suffices in a pinch.

Supernatural - I got it mainly to augment my Dresden Files campaign, but it's really not a bad engine at all and really encourages 3-act arcs in every session.

I've got a couple others, but they're mainly like Supernatural; used more for reference than actual gaming. Once upon a time they were plentiful, but these days all my game books fit on a single book shelf.

I live some 500 miles from my old tabletop group these days, and haven't met anyone local, so I don't do much, but I am in an Exalted/Alchemicals game online lately with one of my old friends. My feelins are mixed; it's not quite the same as playing in person, especially since in the past, the game itself was often secondary to just hanging out with friends.

Still, I suffer tabletop alt-itis as much as I do in CoH, and it's nice to get to bring one of my creations to life from time to time.

I started-- like most people-- with D&D. I played with the basic set (which had a great setting, IMO, as well as one of the best books (the Rules Cyclopedia)), but added a fair number of house rules.

About 3 years after I stopped playing and assumed I wouldn't find another good group to game with, I got into Shadowrun. This actually introduced me to the guys who remain my closest friends, including the best man at my wedding and my son's godfather.

After playing Shadowrun for a while, we switched to Vampire: the Masquerade. I was storyteller by that point and I ran a 6 year-long chronicle that left me creatively exhausted for some time.

Eventually, I used the WoD rules to play in a fantasy setting that I had set much of my writing in, but that didn't last terribly long.

Now that I am on a superhero kick, I have picked up DC Adventures (which I find a bit confusing, not having any familiarity with Mutants and Masterminds... I agree with one review that called the book a "beautiful mess") and have also been re-reading my old Marvel Superheroes rpg. I am not playing anything right now, but am hoping to get the gang together for the occasional game night. I really miss it.

Currently Running:

Mutants and Masterminds 2e. It's raygun gothic/zeerust plus Native mythology plus dinosaurs. My players have made high school kids who include a kid who helps her dad forge axes and whose mother breeds Quetzalcoatluses for rich people riding purposes, a kid who ritualistically hunts animals in the name of his family spirit, another kid who creates spirit traps for engineering projects, and a kid who's part river and likes to explore mental architecture. It makes sense once you're actually playing it.

Currently Playing in:

Legend of the Five Rings 4e: Totally awesome. I swear to you that my character will create such a painting that it will kill you. Regularly producing Paintings +5 with an enchantment that makes 1d6 nearby Cranes turn green with jealousy.

Cthulhutech: Lazor beems and shoggoths, it's awesome. Even if the setting's mythology reads like the creators had never read a Lovecraft story in their lives. Or about how black ops works.

Mutants & Masterminds 2e: Medieval Arabic high fantasy. I half expect crusaders coming up the hell right now at any second.

I Own:

I'm not going to inventory my books and boxes. It'd take too long and only serve to depress me.

There probably isn't a game out there I haven't played, but the ones I enjoyed the most were:
ALL White Wolf (the originals, not the new stuff)
AD&D (1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition... Don't have any newer stuff)
Star Wars (WEG, not WoC)
Shadowrun (1st and 2nd editions)

as to running, I ran a Star Wars campaign for nearly 10 years, and a Werewolf (with HEAVY crossover from Mage, Demon, Hunter, Wraith, Kindred of the East, Mummy, Vampire... you name it) that only ended 2 years ago (and I started it with some different people back in 1994). I started my first AD&D campaign in the early 80s and they pretty much lasted until +/- 1994.

Exalted is cool, but I agree, one requires advanced degrees in quantum mechanics to orchestrate the world correctly.

I don't run anything now, though a Serenity game is in the works...

BattleTech: I'm a BattleTech-head from way back when it was "BattleDroids". Hell, I'm the Sy Sperling of BattleTech. I'm not the best PLAYER. But c'mon. 8-12 meter tall walking tanks blowing the *poop* out of each other? If you don't like that, you're dead.

Shadowrun: Yep, played Shadowrun when it first came out while I was in HS. I liked Trolls, I like Tanks. Big surprise! I always enjoyed the melange of cyberpunk and fantasy.

StarFleet Battles: Don't play this one much any more. Playtested for the Captain's Edition back in HS (before Andromedan PA's were fixed, you're welcome!). Always liked the Interstellar Concordium. A bunch of peaceniks using big guns to enforce peace in the galaxy! Now THAT'S the kind of twisted thinking that got me motivated!

Haven't actually played D&D since just after I left the Army. The remnants of my HS D&D group were still around then. Unfortunately MtG absolutely destroyed it. To this day I still hate CCGs (hell, Collectible ANYTHING Games) with a passion that's more than "almost" Holy.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Playing Pathfinder over the internet, using a combination of Skype and RP Maptools. We're in Curse of the Crimson Throne, about halfway through it.

I don't really play RPGs (nothing against them, just never really found a group that fit me) but I do play a lot of boardgames. In general I tend towards the strategy games (especially Eurogames) but I play most types.

The most successful tabletop RPG campaign I'm involved in right now is a Shadowrun game that's been going on and off for around a year or more. Got my street samurai guy down to .3 essence, but I'll need an insane amount of money to upgrade his current cyberware to a higher class to make room for the cybernetic left arm to go with his right. All kinds of fun regardless. Especially when we -had- the opportunity to steal a submarine from Tir Na Nog and go pirate. Well, that's what -I- wanted to do, but I was outvoted. >.>

We just ended a Pathfinder/D&D 3.5 campaign that went from level 1 to 16. We've moved on to starting a new one, that's sorta D&D by way of Sliders or Exiles. I'm playing a knightly version of Street Fighter's Ryu, essentially.

There's a secondary Pathfinder/3.5 game, where we've gone from level 5 to 12ish. Epic warring kingdom stuff. My character is a (crap... not a Half Dragon, but the other one. Draconian something? Forget the name) who's basically a fighter but thinks and acts like he's a bard. I've mentioned eventually cross-classing, but the rest of the group thinks it's more amusing if I don't. Heh.

I just joined a new group in State College that's running a WoD Sabbat game with the Mind's Eye Theatre rules. Still not sold on MET though, especially the way the group just seems to use it in place of dice. *shrug*

Personally, I'd like to run/join a Star Wars game with the last rulebooks they released, or a run/join DCU game using the new M&M books, but I'm at a loss for enough players for either.

good luck D.B.B.

I am currently running Champs, and play Warhammer.

I'm not playing anything currently. There's a 4E group in the office that I've yet to have the pleasure of gaming with. I haven't played any pen-and-paper RPGs in a few months now; the last group I played with, we played 3.5E. I used to play an artificer--a class that specialized in crafting masterwork objects and imbuing them with magic, but is unable to cast magic like a wizard or sorcerer.

To get around that, I started scribing spells onto tiny scrolls that I could use, as I could place the magic onto a scroll and then read it. I put the scrolls into tiny capsules housed in a custom bandolier.

And then I built a gun. A gun with a revolving chamber that housed the miniature capsules containing the scrolls.

And then I shot fireballs.

It was glorious.

I'm currently running D&D Encounters at a local comic store and 4E or the latest Gamma World every so often at home.

As to non-current stuff, I have 5 bookshelves and some garage storage of RPG stuff, most of which I've run and some of which I've been a player for. Off the top of my head Shadowrun (all editions), Gamma World (most editions), D&D (most editions and settings, especially Dark Sun), Dark Heresy, Heroes Unlimited, Twilight 2000, Marvel (TSR, Saga, and Marvel's), World of Darkness (old and new, though I don't like the new), Stargate SG1, Champions, Serenity, Star Trek (Last Unicorn and Decipher), Prime Directive, Star Wars (WEG and WotC), Top Secret, Gangbusters, Star Frontiers (wish they would bring that back), TMNT, Doctor Who (?FASA? and the new one), Paranoia, Robotech, Battlestations (sort of an RPG depending on how you use it), Ghostbusters, and Mouse Guard (based ont he comic). Probably a few I'm forgetting and there is some more stuff I picked up on an impulse and never used (like the Supernatural RPG and some wierd independent stuff). Also some board game things like Kobolds Ate My Baby and Car Wars. And wargame stuff like Warhammer 40k (though the miniatures for that are in a seperate section of storage).

I'm sort of obsessed.

Tabletop player here, got my start in grade school with the Red Box.

Over the years, I've played DnD of various stripes, oWoD, Rifts, Mekton Zeta, Villains and Vigilantes, Brave New World, and probably others that I've forgotten. I also have no few that I've picked up from bargain bins and never played. I've played Exalted, I've played home-brewed systems, I've tweaked rules and I've never actually managed to play Shadowrun.

My last gaming group, I had to leave because I had to relocate from California to Washington. I currently have a small gaming group - my wife and one other guy. (People I'm willing to invite into my home to game with seem to be difficult for me to locate up here - the gaming scene seems to skew a lot younger up here. And I'm too old to play the Encounters games at my local game store that's scheduled for the after-school crowd.)

When I moved, I had to sell off a lot of my books, but I still have about 6 or seven feet of shelf space devoted to gaming materials.

Also, I met my wife partly because of this game, and partly because of a tabletop game.

I play D&D 3.5 with a group of people I know from university 20+ years ago. 3 or 4 times a year, they come up to me for the weekend, leave their wives and kids and behave like students while playing D&D for 2 days. Doritos/beer/curry, then back to real life, glorious.

In a weekly Ars Magica game, and enjoying it quite a bit. (House Verditius FTW!)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Would probably be shorter to tell which games I havent played.

I too started on the red box (in this case the Marvel TSR version) but also did D&D every version except 4th.

Ive done Starwars d6 and d20 and had a blast at both. multiple versions of various Palladium games in fact ive pretty well played every single palladium game in one form or another.

Ive played all WOD games 2nd edition. Vampire, Werwolf, Changling, Mummy, Mage, Wraith. All fun and all sorts of mischief and adventure.

Abberant and Trinity, TW 2000, Champions.

Mutants and Masterminds 2nd ed and loads of fun doing it. In Nomine was also loads of fun as playing an angel and demon can be a real trick.

No current game due to having moved clear cross country and not having any real time to do so. but hope one day to run or play something again.

I started gaming with the Basic D&D, then AD&D, 2E, AD&D Core Rules, 3E, and 3.5.
I've had long campaigns that ran in Aliens, Vampire the Masquerade (several different games in this world at that), Werewolf, Cyberpunk 2020 (of which I was the ref), and both the original Marvel and DC Universe.

I've also played multiple sessions in Dracula, Indiana Jones, Ghost Busters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robotech, Rifts, and probably a few other gaming systems that I've forgotten.

Sadly though, the last gaming group I was with that used D&D 3.5 broke apart and I've been table topless sense then. I just found out that a friend of mine joined a combo 4e / Pathfinder group that had about 10 people just start up several weeks ago, but I don't know if they have the room for one more.

With all the games I've played, I have a fond love of Marvel, it was the first hero system I played and while it took many tweeks with the advanced system rules, we managed to make it pretty robust ( we added a lot of items and quite a few rules). Cyberpunk 2020 is the game that I personally ran the longest, and again with quite a few tweeks and rules added, but it was a blast. I also really enjoyed the AD&D core rules game that I was running for quite a while, the players were really good and we had a great campaign run.

I never got into the 3E D&D games though. It probably had to do with the fact that I made the mistake of making a Bard before I realized how pathetic they had become in that system, on top of that, the campaign dealt heavily with undead, so I was largely useless.

My second character was a dwarven monk, who ended up being overshadowed by every other melee-type character and the local rule-lawyer's completely nasty druid that didn't do much else except take a particular bear form with buffs and when he hit, did more damage than anyone else.

Sadly, I'm currently between groups, as my former group and I had a

bit of a falling out, in the middle of the last chapter of an epic Mutants and Masterminds campaign that I was running, too.

I've played just about everything at some point, Star Wars (d6 and d20), Rifts/Palladium, D&D, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Hackmaster, even GURPS...it's been 6 months so far, and I find myself thinking back to those games, but reluctant to try and get the old group together.

As this seems a good place to ask where people might know, anyone know of ways to find new groups for the "not sure where to start looking" crowd?

You mean Pen and Paper RPGs? Because when I think of "tabletop", I think of all those guys playing strategic wargames in the comic shop with miniatures.

But RPGs? I still have and love the original Mage: The Ascension oWoD book. I can't get into the nWoD, but that last version of the original Mage was something special and spoke into my soul. All the talk about "The One", "Prime", "Avatars", and "slivers" of "The One" really spoke to me on a personal level.