I kinda like Arkham Horror, but I was thinking people here might suggest some other games with RPG elements (bonus points for cooperative games). Any suggestions?
Pathfinder? Just kidding.
Sentinels of the Multiverse is pretty fun. It's cooperative and plays a lot like a super hero RPG.
[video=youtube;Cx8sl2uC46A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8sl2uC46A[/youtube]
Quote from: Trond;903602I kinda like Arkham Horror, but I was thinking people here might suggest some other games with RPG elements (bonus points for cooperative games). Any suggestions?
Well, the immortal
Talisman, or one of its derivatives - fanmade
DJARHUN or WH40k-themed
Horus Heresy are always a good choice, however I'd like to suggest something you don't exactly ask about, but what might interest you:
The Quiet Year (http://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year/). It comes straight outta Compt... I mean, let's not discuss its origins. The game feature no board, but whole party co-creates a map, which is kind of cool.
Another suggestion is Beyond the Wall... (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?34653-Beyond-the-Wall-on-sale!), RPG which also features "map" building. It's currently on sale for 4$ IIRC
Both games are rules-light, the former is more "indie" and the latter closer to OSR.
Ask me when my two Kickstarters arrive. The Conan boardgame and the Others: 7 Sins are both cooperative boardgames with heroes going around doing hero stuff and getting goodies. I am looking forward to both becoming my go-to games when I can't get a RPG crew happening.
Descent is a good one. Battlestar Galactica (or really any 'secret traitor' game) can be if people get into it enough. BSG is easy because a lot of people have seen the show and know the characters.
Quote from: yosemitemike;903804Pathfinder? Just kidding.
Sentinels of the Multiverse is pretty fun. It's cooperative and plays a lot like a super hero RPG.
Why kid? The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is a fine deck-builder that takes you through a board/card game based version of many of their APs. You play as the iconic Pathfinder characters and even level them up as you go along the AP. There are quite a few expansions and I like it a lot better than actual Pathfinder. I never was a big 3.x fan.
Probably depends on how much RPG you want.
On one end, there are RPG's which have boardgames for combat systems, like The Fantasy Trip, it's modern descendant Dark City Games //www.darkcitygames.com, up to GURPS tactical combat.
On the other end are boardgames with characters in them. If you want something light but interesting and cooperative, I've always liked The Awful Green Things From Outer Space, though it has basically one scenario. On the far extreme of complexity, there's Squad Leader with the optional rules tracking surviving leader experience from scenario to scenario. There are also historical boardgames where each player is a historic figure, such as Conquerors. There are endless boardgames, and many of them could be extended to RPGs by um, being a GM and making up house rules...
I had almost forgotten Heroquest! A friend of mine had it, and we had some fun with it way back. Talisman is something I have only heard of, sounds good though. Have any of you tried Takes of Arabian Nights?
Quote from: Michael Gray;903860Why kid? The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is a fine deck-builder that takes you through a board/card game based version of many of their APs. You play as the iconic Pathfinder characters and even level them up as you go along the AP. There are quite a few expansions and I like it a lot better than actual Pathfinder. I never was a big 3.x fan.
I have the Skulls & Shackles set but I haven't actually played the card game yet so I can't really comment on it.
I am partial to the original , Dungeon. Something about being a wizard and just killing bugbears without a story is kinda nice.
I had plenty of fun with the 4e-era D&D boardgames — Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft.
Quote from: The Butcher;903924I had plenty of fun with the 4e-era D&D boardgames — Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft.
Yeah, this is what I was going to come into to say. I've also got 'Temple of Elemental Evil' which has a campaign mode and out of the dungeon aspects.
Someone's brought up the Pathfinder Card game - I've got to say, the tablet version of that helped save my sanity when my wife was in the hospital last month. (It can be buggy - this seems to depend on which tablet and which version of the OS you have as much as anything else - but happily it hasn't been too bad for my setup.)
In addition to OP's Arkham Horror, I'm fond of Elder Sign, a surprisingly difficult dice-throwing game that's good cooperative/solo. I recently picked up the Gates of Arkham expansion for that. (And the tablet version is very nice too.)
Zombicie: Black Plague has fantasy RPG elements against the usual slavering horde of the undead, now with necromancers to make things better or worse. I recently got my kickstarter rewards for that campaign, and I've just been drooling over everything. (which is going to make painting them sticky. :)
Quote from: Trond;903903Talisman is something I have only heard of, sounds good though.
Good Lord!
How's that even possible? The game is like the primo hombre of "simple yet engaging adventure boardgames". I was sure everyone knows it. ;)
Quote from: jcfiala;904297In addition to OP's Arkham Horror, I'm fond of Elder Sign, a surprisingly difficult dice-throwing game that's good cooperative/solo. I recently picked up the Gates of Arkham expansion for that. (And the tablet version is very nice too.)
This game was made by the Devil himself. Playing it is to condemn your soul to eternal torment.
That's what I'm thinking.
Quote from: JesterRaiin;904298Good Lord!
How's that even possible? The game is like the primo hombre of "simple yet engaging adventure boardgames". I was sure everyone knows it. ;)
I've tried to teach my 4 year old daughter how to play - but she's not quite ready for that yet. Too much reading. But soon!
Talisman's a classic that's been in print for decades for a reason. (Also, the computer version via Steam is pretty good too.)
Quote from: JesterRaiin;904298This game was made by the Devil himself. Playing it is to condemn your soul to eternal torment.
That's what I'm thinking.
So, you're a fan of the game too?
Quote from: jcfiala;904321I've tried to teach my 4 year old daughter how to play - but she's not quite ready for that yet. Too much reading. But soon!
If I may... I had quite good fun changing Talisman into a quasi-RPG game, where kids (I
deny buying them on Ebay, this is a preposterous lie!) rolled dice, selected cards and I acted like a GM, inventing a story to match the card. I think those brats found it fun too.
QuoteSo, you're a fan of the game too?
Definitely!
I've bought digital version and way I see it, the LESS characters you pick, the more their survivability rate grows. One character seems almost perfect.
OK, so I am getting the impression that maybe we were stupid years back, when my friends and I picked Heroquest over Talisman? :D
Quote from: Trond;904628OK, so I am getting the impression that maybe we were stupid years back, when my friends and I picked Heroquest over Talisman? :D
(http://static1.squarespace.com/static/505498e6e4b0088c255f1bd8/t/52521490e4b0f952d83c0e77/1381110930338/Repent+and+sin+no+more+white+512x512.png)
You may want to take a look at games that are marketed as RPGs yet are full of cardgame or boardgame elements and/or have a robust OOC metapoint economy and/or dissociated mechanics to give OOC player-facing tactical challenge.
D&D4
WFRP3
FATE
Cortex
2d20
Savage Worlds
The One Ring
Some X-worlds
Necromunda and Mordheim get quasi-rpg if you throw in all the crazy "between fights" encounters and stuff from the GW magazines.
Quote from: Trond;904628OK, so I am getting the impression that maybe we were stupid years back, when my friends and I picked Heroquest over Talisman? :D
Probably not (http://drakesflames.blogspot.ca/2009/12/board-game-review-talisman.html)
Quote from: TristramEvans;904810Probably not (http://drakesflames.blogspot.ca/2009/12/board-game-review-talisman.html)
Considering that he says "The only possible explanation I can find (for good reviews of Talisman) is that these people are the same people who spend days on end making supplementary material for HeroQuest when that game is actually only fun the first three times you play it", I suspect he thinks the same of both of them.
But that's fine, he's wrong. :)
Quote from: Trond;903903Have any of you tried Takes of Arabian Nights?
I've been waiting for an electronic implementation on ios or android. There was a barbarian prince clo (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=road+of+kings+ios&adlt=strict&view=detail&mid=38CD9948408AD8D705A238CD9948408AD8D705A2&rvsmid=68BF1BE5F952B493340868BF1BE5F952B4933408&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV)ne at some point, but it's disappeared.
One of my best gaming war stories comes from Barbarian Prince.
For those unfamilar, it's a solo hexcrawl style game. You're an exiled barbarian prince, you start at the top of a hex map and once you cross below the first hex row, you can't go back (ending the game) unless you have either an army or 10,000 gold to hire one to reclaim your throne. You have all kinds of random encounters.
Chris bought the game and played it for weeks. Never succeeded once. He was convinced it was unwinnable.
Paul asked to see the game and give it a try. They sat down, started a new game. On his first turn, Paul moved one hex, searched the hex he was in, and got a random encounter that said he found a chest filled with 10,000 gold. Moved one hex to top of the map. Game over. Flawless victory.
Chris looked like we'd driven over his dog.
Quote from: daniel_ream;904831One of my best gaming war stories comes from Barbarian Prince.
Googling online, I discovered that you can legally download Barbarian Prince (http://dwarfstar.brainiac.com/) and make your own copy, as well as a few other games by that publisher. Something I'll have to look into.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Battlestations (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gorillagames/battlestations-second-edition-classic-board-game-r). Everything I've read indicates that it's about the RPGest boardgame you can get. I might report back next year when my 2nd Ed copy turns up.
Talisman is extremely dice driven -- IMO it's barely a step up from Snakes and Ladders as far as depth and meaningful decisions go, it just has more visual appeal. Further, any roleplaying is entirely incidental -- it's as suitable for roleplaying as Monopoly.
They don't call it Fantasy Candyland for nothing.
King of Dragon Pass (http://a-sharp.com/kodp/) plays more like a boardgame than a RPG but certainly has a lot of RPG aspects.
Fun too
=
Runebound has held up well I think, although I have yet to try third edition.
Mice & Mystics is technically a board game but I've been running it very much like a RPG. YOu have to like the "play animals who act like people" theme, however.
M&M pretty much is a very simplified D&D. I found there wasn't enough meat on those bones, though, the core campaign gets very repetitive after a while.
Quote from: daniel_ream;907155M&M pretty much is a very simplified D&D. I found there wasn't enough meat on those bones, though, the core campaign gets very repetitive after a while.
But it comes with those cool minis! :-)
Quote from: finarvyn;907380But it comes with those cool minis! :-)
Almost worth it for those alone. Those sculpts are gorgeous.
There's also Super Dungeon Explore.
http://sodapopminiatures.com/game-super-dungeon-explore/
(http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq45/oldhat321/SDEgroup-1024x790_zpsj3qqc7xy.jpg) (http://s432.photobucket.com/user/oldhat321/media/SDEgroup-1024x790_zpsj3qqc7xy.jpg.html)
You kind of need to like that chibi character style though.
Quote from: daniel_ream;907418Almost worth it for those alone. Those sculpts are gorgeous.
Agreed. I'm bad at painting minis (really poor vision) but I convinced my sister to paint up the
Mice & Mystic figures for me. Awesome!
I like Talisman, don't get me wrong, but as far as getting interesting situations to roleplay? Not so much. Most of it comes down to picking up items and very simple one roll monster battles. Not saying roleplaying is not possible, but eh... Plus it is competitive.
Personally, I would highly recommend most of the games from Flying Frog, like Touch of Evil (sort of a Colonial Arkham Horror with less finicky mechanics) and Last Night on Earth (small town zombie apocalypse).
Also, a suggestion from someone who is big into using board games as structures for story telling and roleplaying? Have an actual rule that people accompany their turns with at least a line or two of nonmechanical narration or roleplaying.
Quote from: Manzanaro;908341Also, a suggestion from someone who is big into using board games as structures for story telling and roleplaying? Have an actual rule that people accompany their turns with at least a line or two of nonmechanical narration or roleplaying.
A friend of mine and I are huge into pulp adventure and we cannot both go to a games day at the same without people demanding Fortune & Glory.
Sometimes our die rolls last rather longer than most people's entire turns.
Quote from: Manzanaro;908341I like Talisman, don't get me wrong, but as far as getting interesting situations to roleplay? Not so much.
I disagree, or rather, I'd like to make use of old "tweak the shit of it" rule.
By default, Talisman is very good game for beginners, but unfortunately rather boring in the long run. There's, for example, NO real justification for using any of expansions - with a bit of luck and planning it takes +/- 20 "take it slow" turns to beat the game without ever visiting the City or Caverns and god forbids anyone using that crappy "Werewolf" expansion.
However, once you skip the default victory conditions, replace them with something better and slow down character's progression, you're about to play way more interesting game.
For example, add a GM character who selects Adventure cards for players and rather than allow to deal with them as usual, roleplays encounters. This + mission generator (find and bring the Cross to Cemetary, kill a dragon with the Holy Lance) radically changes the experience.
So yeah, on it's own
Talisman isn't "best there is". But it might be easily evolved into something far, far better.
Quote from: JesterRaiin;908383So yeah, on it's own Talisman isn't "best there is". But it might be easily evolved into something far, far better.
At that point, you are playing your own homebrew game using the Talisman components.
Quote from: daniel_ream;908381A friend of mine and I are huge into pulp adventure and we cannot both go to a games day at the same without people demanding Fortune & Glory.
Sometimes our die rolls last rather longer than most people's entire turns.
Ha! That's the spirit alright! And I'll note Fortune and Glory is also from Flying Frog.
As a house rule we have someone play the Nazis intelligently rather than by the game's AI. It gives us a chance to practice our atrocious German accents.
Quote from: yosemitemike;909202At that point, you are playing your own homebrew game using the Talisman components.
Certainly, sir. That's pretty much what my first sentence were meant to announce.
See, that's what board/card games are too me
ALSO: sets of props I could use to play my own games.
The best example of that, aside of
Talisman would be
Dungeoneer, IMHO hardly any playable and interesting by default, but quite great if replaced with more saner set of rules.
Today I played Infiltration by Fantasy Flight. It's a cyberpunk rob-the-corporation scenario where the locale is made out of random cards and your PC is a defined by their gear. It was fun with awesome devotion to the genre, but while it had RPG elements, it didn't feel like a RPG because the PCs themselves were interchangeable. But its the best cyberpunk not-RPG that I've played.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/118063/infiltration