Roleplaying Survey

[Dredd Times]

Hi there,
Just a few ideas to get to know what people enjoy the most about roleplaying.

Marc

 

[Mythos]

Just voted for the "Free Form" option.

This style allows me the room to make changes on the fly, add or remove material as it is needed and scale up/down the challanges characters must face.
Another factor is the material that the players themselves bring to the table. If a player has an intrest in horror, then a free form style allows me to add an additional "creep factor" that a structured moduel may not allow.

 

[Purkle-chan]

I went for free form as well, as it probably fits closest to the fact that the way our groups play varies from GM to GM and from system to system.

Though these are all ways of roleplaying, rather than what people enjoy about it. Even though the two are linked.

 

[Judge Walker]

If by "Cinematic" you mean Epic, then I cast my vote here. I like a good saga...the more chances for Glory the better.

 

[Dredd Times]

If by "Cinematic" you mean Epic, then I cast my vote here. I like a good saga...the more chances for Glory the better.

Hi,
Sorry I guess I should have been more clear with the poll than just posting the questions, so I will try to clarify in a little more detail.


Free Form
As simply put as possible here. Free form is when the GM takes a basic idea and whings it so to speak, to his or her players. This is excellent for those GM's who like to think on their feet and allows for the adventure to take on a life of its own. Often free form can involve the GM just coming up with a very basic idea for an adventure and then letting the players do the work by expanding the game as they go along, adding ideas that spring up as the imagination is sparked, etc. This is excellent for experinced gamers and GM's alike, though not really that recommended for those new to the hobby.

Cinematic
This is my own personal favorite style of roleplaying! During cinematic style roleplaying each adventure will play on the most part like a movie in the cinema or a show on television, with each scene moving along to the next almost like a cut scene in a film and the action being graphically described in great detail. And yes this can of course mean Epic!

The over all feel of a cinematic game is that the players themselves are key cogs in some larger machine and that the outcomes of their actions will decide the fate of the world, universe, etc. Babylon 5 has an excellent cinematic feel when running the game as it draws heavily on an excellent stock of material.

Of course this can be mixed with free form gaming and still give excellent results.

Strict or by-the-book
This form of gaming is perhaps the one that most of us have experienced at one time or another and very often when we start our lives as gamers! Here the GM sets down an adventure, either one written by themselves or taken from an existing source such as a pre-generated adventure. When running the adventure the GM will stick to the exact details of the adventure, only allowing for a slight deviation of change to the written word. This can be fun but can also be to restricting for many and is my least favourite style.

One on One adventuring
Sometimes it isnt possible for a GM to get together a large group of players and some GM's, myself included will run adventures or entire campaigns for a single player! This allows for a much more personal approach to gaming and can give more rewards to both parites as you can concentrate your attention on one person rather than a group. In the past I have played with friends who have run more than one character at a time, including a four year long Judge Dredd campaign using the old GW rules.

Large Party adventuring
This is perhaps the thing that most of us are used to, sitting around a table at a friends home with a group of between 4 and 8 other friends or gamers and taking part in an adventrure. Some gamers who are new to the hobby find this can be offputting as they get used to the rules or actually get used to roleplaying itself, but others love it and find that they can bounce ideas off the other players adding to the experiance.

Other
Okay this is a larger catch area and can include anything not covered above! Epic could also come into this area with players taking part in campaigns that last for years and shape the way a world will go, such as going from 1st to 20th level in D&D over the period of several years real time game play.

I hope that this has made a little more sense.

Marc

 

[Judge Walker]

Yeah, that is what I meant. :wink:

 

[DKeith2011]

Cinematic for me.

 

[Surgo]

Free form, with barely any rules and stuff usually made up on the fly, either with or without a DM. Requires cooperating players who are cool with each other, but very fun.