krm (12/02/82)
my experience with frp started about 6 yrs ago with the old d&d. avoid anything from TSR hobbies like herpes. My best recomendation, based on cost, playability and ability to expand, is The Fantasy Trip from metagaming. I currently play a good deal of Traveller. While it is an excellent system it does have some silly holes. (computers have masses on the order of tons). There has been some discussion on net.games.frp about the superiority of Space Opera. I haven't played it since it costs $20 for the basic set. (TFT is around $3 a module and Traveller is $12 basic set, $19 delux set, $15 hardback <-- definate best buy.) Let the net know what you try and how it works out. You'll find the people who are experienced are also very opinionated. Listen to them (including me) then discard anything you don't like or can't understand. 'chard. decvax!cwruecmp!krm ps. I've heard good things about spell law/ arms law but that system is basically fantasy.
argo (03/15/83)
I don't know wrote this in, but he must be somewhat crazed. Avoid TSR at all costs! Never! TSR is the best thing ever to happen to the hobby buisiness. What he apparently forgot when mentionning that TSR products are slightly higher in cost is that they are also higher in quality. I have played D&D for several years and I find it is the best game on the market. Although you can spend a lot of money on the system, it is not necessary to do so. All one needs are instruction manuals. After that, you can make your own modules. All extra material is just that, extra!
tim (03/15/83)
TSR stinks! Avoid it entirely! Their games are written without the least concern for organization, modularity, realism, ease of learning, or consistency of worldview. The only reason for their edge on the market is a few years' head start. The best examples are the rotten AD&D and Top Secret games. AD&D is topheavy beyond belief. Instead of modifying the rules of D&D to support the new system, Gygax just added page upon page of arbitrary rules and tables to the ad hoc rules of D&D, creating a vast, lumbering, and unpleasant game. (To be fair, it should be mentioned that the spells available to magic-users in AD&D are much more powerful than those available in other systems, and many people feel that this is a great advantage of the system.) Top Secret has an interesting framework, but the unarmed combat rules are unplayable, and you can survive a shotgun blast to the head at short range. It, like Star Frontiers, is a good example of a game with great potential ruined by an incompetent design staff. I strongly suspect the person who said that D&D was the best FRP game on the market has never tried The Fantasy Trip or Runequest. Play these first; I've known people whose attitudes towards FRP were ruined forever by D&D and AD&D. Remember, the games are about ROLE-PLAYING, and are not like war games! Tim
wombat (03/22/83)
#R:hou2a:-600:uicsl:4900002:000:200 uicsl!wombat Mar 21 11:44:00 1983 You have left out three important words: In your opinion. There are an awful lot of people who disagree with you, and just your saying TSR is one of the best doesn't make it so. uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat