Storygames? Simulationist? High Crunch? Low Crunch? Jenga disguised as an RPG? How have your tastes changed?

Star Wars D6.

It's been improved by the Mini-Six version.  It mostly comes down to simplifying an already simple game.  Four attributes instead of six, and the new static defense numbers cutting down the dice rolls by half since your defense "rolls" are now just pre-calculated averages.  The other changes I liked are the new rules for Wild Dice.  Instead of both a 1 or a 6 affecting the dice roll, now it's just the 6.   Last, Hero points are nerfed, but simultaneously have more options on what you can use a Hero point to do.

However, I'm slowly switching over to this new game I got in May called Black Star.  It might make me retire my D6 Star Wars altogether. 

Anything generic, but Hero System in particular, and GURPS to a lesser extent and for the same reasons.  And were I to run either again, I wouldn't run the latest versions.  I'd run Hero 4E or GURPS 3E.  I'm always going to be aware of the game model underlying a game.  However, a generic system throws the model in my face in ways that I just can't enjoy anymore when I'm the GM.

It's not an accident that D&D 3.5 is my least favorite edition of D&D, because it is most like Hero and GURPS.  Except that it shares with them a lot of fiddly accounting in GM prep, and makes it even worse, because while it is a lot like a generic system in many ways, it doesn't take advantage of that in the GM prep arena.  Hero is fiddly, but after awhile you've got all the fiddling techniques down.  D&D 3.5 is trying to build specifics (good!) on a flawed generic model (really bad!), which means constant referencing to prep according to the rules--or you could just wing it, which works better in AD&D/BEMCI/RC (despite their flaws) or even WotC 4E/5E (despite their other flaws).

I've heard others talk about board games and some strategy computer games affecting them this way.  It's referred to as no longer playing the game but "playing the spreadsheet".  Well, I don't get that playing games.  I could play in a game of Hero, GURPS, or D&D 3.5 just fine and enjoy it.  But I no longer have any patience "running the spreadsheet". 

D&D - d20 in any edition or form. But I'm hankering to do my own 1e-2e 10-level hybrid fantasy heartbreaker for kicks and giggles. I'd condense the abilities of all classes to 10-levels, Feats would be *far* beefier. I'd toss out AC altogether, and go with Defense value based on class/skill. Armor absorbs damage. Modify spellcasting to where "Vancian" magic would be just one method, of several, to cast spells - again based on class. I'd also make spellcasting a skill-check. Rebalance stats so no stat is a dump-stat. A lot of work, but it still is an itch that needs to be scratched. If I had to run d20 natively in some form, it would be Fantasycraft.

WEG d6 - The only thing I used WEG d6 for was Star Wars. I got on the FFG train, and while fun, the truth is it has internal inconsistencies (crafting and modding) that are simply all over the place in terms of arbitrary values, which annoys the shit out of me and my players. Going forward, I'm likely to run Star Wars in Savage Worlds.

Cyberpunk2020 - I got on board with CPRed. I hate it. I love CP2020, and I think outside of Netrunning, it still holds up. But likely the next time I get into Cyberpunk, I'll use CP2020 and update the PC Roles to CPRed values, and use the CPRed Netrunning. Shouldn't be too hard. Of course, I could just take CPRed and convert it to Savage Worlds using InterfaceZero as a template and call it a day.

Atlantis - Love the old Bard games version. Love the Khepera Publishing edition. I simply don't run it since it faces too much competition at my table for other things. Maybe someday.

WoD - Tired of the system. Love a lot of the old-school 1e era stuff. I do love the system from CoD(NWoD) but ultimately I feel it's overgrown and needs massive pruning. I'm happier just running Savage Worlds Rippers or my own Horror stuff. Would be interesting to do a WoD-inspired conversion into SW.

Palladium - Love the settings. But the system... I do run SW Rifts, I may never go back. But never say never.

shadowrun/wod
sr was my first game, wod my 2nd. I still like the lore and could possibly be convinced to run a caitiff game ala Near Dark, but i'll never use those dice pool systems again. First reason is the dice lag, just got so sick of watching people take forever to resolve their rolls, second is the bugs inherent in both systems, as you get better at something you're also more likely to fumble/crit fail/glitch. fuck that amateur noise.
third reason is the chance in the culture of wod specifically. when it first came out, it was "you're the monster and you eat each others' hearts to level up" but the "storytelling" fluff of the book brought in the theater kid crowd, and we just want different play experiences. I actually want to play, not just wank on someone else's lore.

MERP--Loved this game back in the 80s-90s and ran my longest cohesive campaign using it.  But over the past few years I've tried playing it a couple times and I (as well as my players) just don't have the patience for the constant use of charts and tables and the high level of bookkeeping needed.  Too bad because I still love the Middle Earth setting.  So I've converted a lot of MERP stuff over to BECMI/OSE.  I tried The One Ring 2e and hated the mechanics.  But Free League's 5e conversion, Lord the Rings Roleplaying actually looks better, though I'd still likely convert it to something else, probably Castles & Crusades, which is a very easy conversion from 5e.

GURPS - I've played GURPS for decades. Even the basic attributes have some unresolved issues - Intelligence encompasses wits, perception, willpower and charisma, which is too much, for example; some of the most popular advantages (e.g. combat reflexes) are unbalanced to the point of being mandatory.

Combat becomes boring because everyone is parrying and dodging all the time, unless you use some fiddly special maneuvers. Critical hits result in "nothing happens" about 50% of the time (except they can't be dodged).

Also, too many skills. It takes a couple of hours for experience players to create PCs in my experience (yes, I know that YOU can create one in five minutes).

But I'm nitpicking; it is a decent system overall, just not my cup of tea nowadays.

5e - I was excited at first (it was simpler than 3e, 4e, adn even AD&D), but they kept adding more crunch, and things go fiddlier as the PCs got levels... By level 10 it was too much, by Tasha's I had given up, and when the OGL fiasco happened I got compeltely turend off from D&D in general (although I still enjoy B/X and AD&D).

I used to really love AD&D.  When I ran it I always had a stack of rulebooks on hand.  Nowadays I like a more streamlined game, so OSE advanced really tickles my fancy.  Or maybe Castles & Crusades.

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on July 13, 2023, 02:16:57 PM
I used to really love AD&D.  When I ran it I always had a stack of rulebooks on hand.  Nowadays I like a more streamlined game, so OSE advanced really tickles my fancy.  Or maybe Castles & Crusades.

Agreed; both those options, especially C&C, have replaced AD&D for me.  Once you get it down, C&C just plays faster than AD&D and has basically the same level of options.  And it's easier to convert later editions of D&D to C&C than back to 1e/2e.

When I got Cepheus Engine I thought it was the perfect replacement for original Traveller and used it instead. Now, however, I think Traveller is just...better. Maybe it's the presentation or flavor, but CE gives me nothing I can't get from the original LBBs.

Also, D&D 3.X. I got rid of everything except the main three books. I would probably never run it except in some specific cases.

When I used to play traveller I would like the expanded cchargen in the Mercenary, High Guard, Scouts, Merchant Prince.  But it really gave the characters way too many skills compared to everyone else in the traveller universe.  If I were to run Traveller today I would just use the core books, and maybe Citizens of the Imperium for chargen.

I enjoyed Megatraveller too, but it was a hot mess as well.  I would just steal adventures from there now.

HERO. I have played and run so much HERO. Fantasy Hero, Justice, Inc., and more Champions than you an shake a stick at. But like tenbones, I've started asking "why would running this be more fun at the table than running the same campaign in Savage Worlds"?

Anything D&D other than 5e--not that I love 5e per se, and I've always had a love-hate relationship with D&D. But older editions simply don't have the level of customization, options and modern mechanics (Skills, Feat/Advantages, 1d20+Mod vs Target Number, etc.) I expect from a game, while 3e (my favorite edition of D&D for a long time) is just too convoluted and broken for me to deal or try to fix it anymore. But 5e is good enough and simple enough while still providing options with modern mechanics for me to run with it, even if I don't necessarily find it ideal.

Palladium System/RIFTS: I LOVE RIFTS as a setting, and there are some elements of Palladium System that I want to like and I'm sorta nostalgic about (Robotech was the 2nd TTRPG I ever played, after Basic D&D). But there's just too much about the system I think is broken for me even try. I'd rather play RIFTS with another system if I ever try it again.

Other Games...: There's a bunch of games I haven't played in years (sometimes decades) that aren't fresh enough in my mind for me to be sure one way or another, but I suspect I might not like anymore. Shadowrun, for example, has many issues with rules complexity and fiddly subsystems I'd rather not deal with at this point in my life (I have less tolerance for rules complexity than when I was a kid), and while I kinda like dice pools they have their issues and I prefer simple 1d20+Mod. Cyberpunk 2020 had way too many attributes and skills. Star Wars d6? I'd probably look at Mix-Six instead, etc.

Quote from: Eric Diaz on July 13, 2023, 01:28:28 PM
GURPS - I've played GURPS for decades. Even the basic attributes have some unresolved issues - Intelligence encompasses wits, perception, willpower and charisma, which is too much, for example; some of the most popular advantages (e.g. combat reflexes) are unbalanced to the point of being mandatory.

I still enjoy GURPS but sometimes it is too heavy for what I want to do. INT does not include charisma. Charisma is an advantage, you either have it or you don't.

3.X D&D- far too rules bloated and heavy for a D&D game. I will still play if a friend is running it, but I won't seek out a game to play with strangers. The most DM unfriendliest game I have ever run.

Quote from: Exploderwizard on July 13, 2023, 09:27:11 PM

Quote from: Eric Diaz on July 13, 2023, 01:28:28 PM
GURPS - I've played GURPS for decades. Even the basic attributes have some unresolved issues - Intelligence encompasses wits, perception, willpower and charisma, which is too much, for example; some of the most popular advantages (e.g. combat reflexes) are unbalanced to the point of being mandatory.

I still enjoy GURPS but sometimes it is too heavy for what I want to do. INT does not include charisma. Charisma is an advantage, you either have it or you don't.

3.X D&D- far too rules bloated and heavy for a D&D game. I will still play if a friend is running it, but I won't seek out a game to play with strangers. The most DM unfriendliest game I have ever run.

I don't have the books now. But Charisma comes in level (IIRC 5/level) which even Kromm admitted are too cheap. You're right that INT does not include charisma, my bad; however, social skills are based on Int (and Charisma), so a guy with high Int is suave, courageous, attentive, and smart. He is the leader, the brains, the face and the scout. Feels like too much.

Agree about 3e - I would never GM it and I'm unsure I'd play it, although I think it has a good "skeleton" and nice ideas (e.g., Int/ref/Will).