RPG-a-Day: 18th through 24th

Now for the third week of RPG-a-Day entries. This week we probe of my favorite genre games and the perfect gaming situation for me.

Favorite SF RPG

I have never been quite satisfied with any of the science fiction RPGs out there. Partly I think this comes down to two issues. First I hate running games in other people's worlds. Second people have wildly diverse visions of what the future will be like. The latter makes it hard to get everyone on the same page with any given setting. My favorite science fiction setting to read and think about is definitely GURPS Transhuman Space but in play I couldn't able to make it work as well as I'd like.  I did much better in my corporate version of Star Trek but that was just a specific use of Fate, not a dedicated science fiction RPG.

Favorite Supers RPG

Over the years I've played around with running a Superhero game. I looked at Champions but combat seemed too slow. I played Aberrant but it's a bit unbalanced. I enjoyed a good game of Mutants & Masterminds and thought that would work. But ultimately I like Worlds in Peril best. It's fast paced, has truly limitless character creation (balanced by narrative considerations), and is easily tweaked. I'm still not sure when I'll run my game but now I know the system I'll use.

Favorite Horror RPG

Clearly this one goes to the new World of Darkness. More specifically the Mortals line (with additions from Hunter: the Vigil). Being a fragile normal person in a world of vampires, werewolves and worse is pretty scary. Character creation is quick, the rules robust but simple, and I like how the system has just enough crunch to satisfying my desire for rules mastery. From a game master perspective it also has the advantage of supplying lots of story seeds and potential hooks.

Favorite RPG setting

I've mentioned (above in the SF RPG question) that I don’t really like to use published settings. I much prefer a toolbox. The new World of Darkness setting generally gives me just enough material to work with while leaving lots of empty space for me to fill in. Out of the various game lines I'd say I favor Hunter: the Vigil setting best. Between it and the blue books of the main World of Darkness, I have a cornucopia of story seeds and setting material.

Perfect Gaming environment

My perfect gaming environment doesn't me involve travelling very far and occurs around a large table in a relatively quiet environment. Perhaps there is some light instrumental mood music in the background and a few healthy snacks but overall there shouldn't be much to distract me from the game.

I'm hoping that when my son and Child 2.0 are older and I've secured my gaming table that I should be able to approximate this. So I'll have it, some day.

Perfect game for you

The perfect game for me would be one with a rule set that encourages collaboration. The setting should include some element of the fantastic like psychics or magic. Of course the rules are nothing without a good group of proactive players working together to tell a good story and flexible game master. I guess as a final option I'd like the system with intricate and /or extensible rules to play with.

Favorite House rule

I think I've mentioned this before but adapting Unknown Armies's Madness Meters to Hunter: the Vigil worked wonderfully for me. I got the tension and fear responses I wanted without any resentment about lost experience or conditions to remember. People organically went crazy in their own special way. Some couldn't handle the violence. Others were distracted by their growing superstitions. One guy rarely failed a roll and slowly made his way towards sociopathy.