Here's a short list of games that I will never DM/GM, for any number of reasons.
AD&D 1st Edition - Confusingly organized, even more so than 2e. I do like the tone of 1e much more, though, so there's a slight possibility that I might run it with a heavy dose of house rules to remove some of the dumber things (like alignment languages, material components, and the massive mess that is the unarmed combat system). I recently met someone who loves DMing it, though, so I wouldn't mind being on board as a player.
GURPS (any edition) - I tried to figure out the 4th edition "GURPS Lite" document. I still haven't. I'm not a big fan of point-buy systems in general, and this one is just way too fiddly for my tastes. I would probably not play this one either.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - I love this book (not surprising, since I loved the movie), and the Tri-Stat system is a bit less complex than GURPS in terms of point-buy. I'd imagine that in play it's pretty fast and simple, but the problem is that I have zero ideas for a modern-day crime game. I certainly wouldn't mind playing it, if someone else had ideas.
The World of Darkness - The system isn't too bad, and my brief experience playing Mage: The Awakening would help me get a handle on things, but I only have one story idea. I'd hate to make everyone make human characters for a mini-campaign, but if players would be up for it, I might be convinced. I wouldn't mind playing, either.
Star Wars (any post-WEG version) - I don't know nearly enough about the universe to make for a satisfying game for the players. My entire experience with the franchise is the movies, some of the video games, and a couple of kiddie novels I read as a youngling. I obviously wouldn't mind playing, considering I already have and had a blast.
Pathfinder (the full edition) - Nope. Way, way too much crunch. Wouldn't mind playing, but I will never upgrade to the non-Beginner Box edition as a GM.
You might notice that D&D 4th Edition isn't there. To be honest, if I had the time or the desire, I wouldn't mind DMing 4e, but I doubt that most of my players would want to put themselves through that. HackMaster 4e is also not there, because as much as I would want to run it (and endure all of the rules arguing and struggles thereof), it's based on the AD&D engine that two of my players hate so much, and few others would want to struggle with the rules.
I'm with you on quite a number of these. I'll never touch GURPS or Pathfinder again.
ReplyDeleteAs for AD&D, I found that it was far easier to run it using OSRIC rather than the original AD&D books... a lot of the stuff on your complaint list isn't present in OSRIC.
Also, I think you might be the only person I've ever seen mention Ghost Dog. I saw the movie once waaaay back in college. It struck me as a really specific medium for a roleplaying game; too specific for my tastes.
I wouldn't probably do World of Darkness again, though I might someday try my hand at the renamed new edition. (Chronicles of Darkness)
I also totally feel you on Star Wars. I never really got into the extended universe stuff, so I don't feel like I'm learned enough about Star Wars to do it justice. If I did run it, it would be the WEG system, though.
I'll have to take a look at OSRIC. As for Chronicles of Darkness, eh... I really, really don't like how they reimagined Demon. I get that the strictly Abrahamic mythos might be a turn-off for some people, but the overt Matrix/Tron-like "program" explanation is a gigantic turn-off for me. (Although now I'm wondering how I might turn Tron into an RPG...)
DeleteYeah, I'm not really into new Demon or the God-Machine thing, but I'm interested in the setting neutral stuff. I'm also interested in Mage and Beast.
DeleteAD&D is so seductive. You flip through the rule books and think: "I want to run or play this." And its because of the tone of the game. But then you take a closer look at the rules and layout...
ReplyDeleteI second OSRIC, though I've never run OSRIC.
And I agree with you on GURPS, Star Wars, and Pathfinder. Never looked at Ghost Dog.
The World of Darkness can be fun, but its been years since I've run or played the system.
You hit the nail on the head regarding AD&D1. I feel like if I spent enough time reading and playing/DMing it, I could probably just flip to specific spots in the book regardless of the poor organization... kind of like I have to do with AD&D2, honestly.
DeleteConsidering how many people are recommending OSRIC to me, I'll definitely have to check it out soon. :D