Tim said:
Im running the d20 conan currently, and to be honest it works great. The real secret to a good game is good players and a good GM with a good story Idea in a Good fantasy world. The mechanics are (or at least should be) of secondary consideration. if you are playing a game because of the mechanics and not because of the world and the story, then you are not "role" playing, your "roll" playing.
:roll: Ahem:
a) System
does matter. Vast discourses on the importance of system have been discussed by many of us, ad nauseum, for many, many years. Are you familiar with the Forge or GNS models? System, if well-designed, supports a certain feel and genre style of play. However, given that how each individual envisions that feel and style of play is extremely subjective and personal, it stands to reason that different folks will find different systems either fail or succeed on that score. While a system is secondary to good play, it
is still an important factor for the "game" part of rpgs (they are roleplaying
games after all!). If they weren't remotely important, we'd all be playing the d20 System for everything, because we wouldn't care. RPGs would not have changed and evolved somewhat over time through design, trend, and desire.
b) That whole, "You're roll-playing NOT roleplaying" schtick is passe, old, and thoroughly disproven. If it helps you feel better, I used to use that phrase back when I was a bit of a pretentious twit, so it's a pretty forgivable error to make. Ever hear of the phrase, "There is no BadWrongFun"? If not, learn it; it's taken years for me to get over myself, and come to realise that there is simply no right or wrong way to play rpgs; there is no BadWrongFun (tm). All that matters is that you and your friends are having fun, and given that we're all individuals, that's defined in a huge spectrum of personal approaches and preferences. Looking down our noses at someone because we happen to think our own preferred style of play is the "truest/best/that we're of so much wiser" is arrogant, especially if we're making a pretty strong assumption that just because someone doesn't like [insert your favourite system here] they must be all manner of wrong/not as good/must prefer to play a certain way, etc. Remember the old phrase: Don't ASSUME - it makes an ASS out of U and ME.
c) Before you try to drop old cliches as if they're the benevolent whisperings of a sage, stop and consider your audience. Do you honestly think folks haven't heard what you're saying before? Haven't considered and debated such points for the best part of a decade? Have you considered how many of us here, for example, are extremely experienced game designers and freelancers in our own right? Take me, for example. After roleplaying for the last 23 years in all manners of approaches and styles, with groups wide and varied, I've also been involved in the creation of the following rpg publications:
Talislanta, Midnight Realms, Chronicles of Talislanta, Talislanta: Menagerie, Talislanta: Northern Reaches, Talislanta: Codex Magicus, Godlike: Will to Power, High Medieval, Omni System, Atlantis: Second Age, Iron Kingdoms Players Guide, Iron Kingdoms: Lock & Load, Iron Kingdoms: Monsternomicon, AFMBE: Enter the Zombie, AFMBE: ZM Screen, AFMBE: Book of Archetypes, AFMBE: BoA2, Castles & Crusades: Player's Handbook, Castles & Crusades: Ltd Boxed Set, Arms & Armor, Waste World: Hydra, Waste World: A Fist Full of Credits, with more to come.
Note, some complex systems, some lite systems, a variety of genres, games, and publishers. Plus, I'm responsible for a huge swathe of material for various rpgs online. I've quite literally heard it all before, tried it before, seen it before, and probably believed it before as well. Like I said, I was a twit once. I was pointlessly dismissive of other playstyles. I touted tired old cliches like they were wisdom. Thankfully, I grew up and put such narrow viewpoints behind me.
Want to know what the
real secret to a good rpg is (unlike the hackneyed point you raised)? That everyone is having fun, however they personally define it. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that because certain elements (whatever they are) make things less fun (or not fun) for others, they must somehow be wrong/in need of correction, just because said elements don't bother you. The God of Gaming has not yet died and made you Judge, Jury, and Executioner-in-Chief of the Game Police; I've still got a number of years in me before I die, thanks.
Now, like I said, it's great the OGL Conan works for you. Wonderful, have fun, I'm honestly happy for you. But again, remember, what is to your taste is not to everyone's, and however much you might say otherwise, system does have some import. Just because we happen to like or dislike certain systems does not necessarily make us "roll players", which is a pretty arrogant and condescending attitude to take if you stop to think about it. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but that's one reason why it's really important to ditch that whole, "roleplay vs. roll-play" cliche. Are you personally prepared to come out now and tell me (and the other folk you've just so labelled) exactly where we all fall on the vast range of preferred playstyles, just because we really don't like OGL?
Now, the real question is this: Why do you feel it necessary to poo-poo anyone suggesting that they'd like Conan with RQ rules? What
exactly is your objection, and please be specific.
cheers!
Colin
PS: It's "RuneQuest" not "Ruinquest".