I remember the first time I played AD&D 1st Edition with a group and we didn't use the books.  I was shocked that a game could be played that way.  The DM was a master at it.  In 1979, it was just assumed we would need the books hung on lanyards the rest of our lives.

In terms of being incomprehensible, my vote would have to be that new Borgstrom game. Following the thread on RPGnet, where poor mechanics are couched in cutesy terms, and even her most strident fans have difficulty deciphering just what the hell the game means, is a study in someone having no idea how to write rules for an RPG.

Seriously, it's something along the lines of:

"Trust Karma can be given at a second levels if a Bond is activated. Players may also frame scenes if Resolution: Resolve if named at Level 1 ("Oh, Hello There, Creature of Cuddly Finite Darkness"). Level 0 would result in less Resolution, meaning perhaps that the Resolution affected their Bond in some adverse way. Meanwhile, Boundary Issues can involve a Quest, but only if they do not infringe on another player's current Trust ^_^.  If a Monster or Abject Legend is involved, however, they can push their Named Demise to a Perk Bead, providing they (say, Wojek the Rabbit-Tossing Frump), then players can Show Their Hand (or exquisite fur-lined mitten ^_^). Of course, that means a Shonen Card is still a possibility, provided the Card Path has progressed to 1 or 3".

...

Yeah, I'd think that's a decent approximation of that style.

Mechanics-wise, probably a Rolemaster FRP game with all the options turned on. I use RM2 now, and don't go overboard on the options, which makes a huge difference.

Aftermath, Space Opera, Rolemaster.

But I am sure I am overlooking a few.

Quote from: David Johansen;663075Nope, that's not it.  FGU was primarily a fulfilment / vanity press house.

FGU had a 'house' system used in several of their games: Bushido, Aftermath, and Daredevils were all pretty similar under the hood. I think all those games shared the same creators, so no surprise.

The original Hackmaster, with very little disregarded. It was modular. You could use what you want. I used almost all of it.

Quote from: RPGPundit;662968Which was the most mechanically complex game you ever participated in (playing, or GMing)?

And, importantly, did you like it?

RPGPundit

Dum & Drag 4th edition.

Was a player in the campaign. It was stupidly complicated where it didn't need to be.

Wound up hating it.

- Ed C.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;663488Mage the Ascension for GURPS seems pretty complicated.  And that's just the source material, before any GURPS complications are added.

See, that's what I mean by GURPS being more user-unfriendly than HERO.  In GURPS conversions of White Wolf, both Vampires and Mages had to buy a special power called "Immune to the Delirium" to reflect that magically Awakened characters are immune to the hysterical amnesia that affects humans who see Werewolves in full shifter form.
In HERO, rather than buy a whole new big and expensive power for those characters, you'd just apply a Limitation to the Werewolf's Delirium: "Not vs. Awakened Beings."

JG

Quote from: Zachary The First;663530Yeah, I'd think that's a decent approximation of that style.

Sounds like Fizbin. If not for the rep her settings have, you almost sold me on the game...

For me, Mythus would certainly be up there among most complex I tried to play. Can't say I enjoyed it.

I have a could sense what everyone will enjoy as a group, which varies considerably per group.  So, I don't have this problem.  However, there was the time I reffed a few sessions of Traveller: New Era.  The players didn't like the shear number of rolls in combat at all.  So, I suppose that would be my choice of poor matching of the group's interest and game.

A fan made d20 modern variant of that Naruto anime.
...
It was bad.

Space Opera.

Programmable calculator with scientific functions required for character creation?  

Task resolution wasn't a picnic either.

The setting was the a hodgepodge of science fantasy tropes.  

If it wasn't 1980 and we didn't know better, we never would of played it.

For the time, it was messy, but only a bit worse than the rest of the field worth playing.

Quote from: estar;662987SPI's Dragonquest and Universe. RPGs made by wargame companies are a class into themselves.

For the time period, they really weren't that bad.  Especially if you came from the Grognard side of things.  Universe actually has a lot of redeeming qualities.  

All of you people who are sissy about rules need to go back to the roots of gaming first, Grognardia!  GO READ AND PLAY SQUAD LEADER FIRST then tell me how complicated the modern rpg rules are today.  You will then see how much better games are today.

Quote from: MoonHunter;664378Space Opera.

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The setting was the a hodgepodge of science fantasy tropes.  

That was the problem with Space Opera. Not that it wasn't a good game, but rather, it was about five or six good games, thrown in to a blender set on puree. Sort the small bits long enough, and you can peel a good game out of it.

Chivalry & Sorcery I was beat out by Rolemaster, which of course never rivaled the combat calculations required to play The Morrow Project.

While I liked the Morrow Project, I detested the combat system and converted the complex penetration and damage calculations into a few simpler charts that speeded up play considerably.

Quote from: GameDaddy;664415Chivalry & Sorcery I was beat out by Rolemaster, which of course never rivaled the combat calculations required to play The Morrow Project.

While I liked the Morrow Project, I detested the combat system and converted the complex penetration and damage calculations into a few simpler charts that speeded up play considerably.

I seem to remember the older version of The Morrow Project 3rd edition being more complicated than the revised version that threw in BRP skill checks.