...Tabletop Gaming

  • Two Factor Authentication is now available on BeyondUnreal Forums. To configure it, visit your Profile and look for the "Two Step Verification" option on the left side. We can send codes via email (may be slower) or you can set up any TOTP Authenticator app on your phone (Authy, Google Authenticator, etc) to deliver codes. It is highly recommended that you configure this to keep your account safe.

toniglandyl

internal data fragmentation : 62203480%
Jan 20, 2006
2,878
0
36
diceedge.blogspot.com
I play plenty of Pen&paper :p
I might mix french and american games in the list, though.

DnD (second to forth edition)
Spirit of the century
Polaris
Legend of the five rings
Anima
Brain Soda
Scion
Vampire : masquerade and Dark Ages
Mage : Dark Ages
Warhammer
Tri-stat
couple of homebrew
and more but that's about it I think

much laughs :D
 

DarQraven

New Member
Jan 20, 2008
1,164
0
0
I really want the expansion(s) to Dominion. I have the basic version right now and my friends like it a lot, but we've gotten to the point where we've played and replayed all the cards (even the broken ones). Villages are annoying >:(

Roborally is great fun, but Puerto Rico is just fantastically spectacular. Probably my favorite board game. Get your friends to play it!

I think it's worth mentioning Catan and Carcasonne because they're borderline specialty. Catan I like (Puerto Rico is better by a mile IMO), but Carcasonne is too random without enough of a theme for me to enjoy.

Intrigue is definitely worth it. It provides some much needed cards to balance out the immense power of chapel decks or gardens strategy. Keep in mind, though, that most cards in Intrigue are very action-heavy. If you find Villages annoying, wait 'till you see some of the +2 action/+2 cards options in the expansion (and I wholeheartedly agree on villages; sitting through a 3-minute, 24-action turn that ends up producing the same I did in three cards is REALLY annoying). Sure, some of them are conditional (+cards only works under certain circumstances, for example the Shanty Town), but unless you include Attack cards, base+intrigue is going to be very +action oriented.
When you use the attack cards and use random generated sets (to prevent handpicking of the 'convenient' spam cards), though, the expansion really spices the game up.

I don't have much experience with the other expansions, but from what I've read Seaside revolves around planning ahead (new 'duration' cards that are active for multiple turns, certain cards that increase the price of other cards, filtering deck pollution, etc) while Alchemy is a game of resources. Turning money into actions, actions into VP's and vice versa. Not too sure about the actual contents of that set, though.

I agree Carcassonne is a typical European boardgame in the way you describe. I could put some photoshop work in and produce a dinosaur-themed version and the gameplay would not seem out of place. Or a ninja-themed one. Or one about power grids or the stock market or pressing orange juice.
Doesn't change the fact that the gameplay is pretty solid though.
We play with a house rule where every player has a closed hand of three tiles that they can pick from instead of the regular 'draw a tile, place that tile' mechanic. It significantly cuts down on bad draws crippling your play. If you know your next three tiles will have at least three roads, you can plan ahead for that.
Some of the expansions also really add to the game, just like Catan. I find the Catan base game a bit bland, but with the Knights expansion stuff gets more interesting. You don't just lose because someone's managed to (intentionally?) block your progress or because you get bad die rolls.
It's not just extra stuff, but extra mechanics and extra depth for the game that really help flesh it out.

I'll try Puerto Rico as soon as possible. Hopefully tonight when one of my roomies comes back, but then again, I also just obtained an SC2 beta key for him, so chances are slim;)
 
Last edited:

DarQraven

New Member
Jan 20, 2008
1,164
0
0
I really want the expansion(s) to Dominion. I have the basic version right now and my friends like it a lot, but we've gotten to the point where we've played and replayed all the cards (even the broken ones). Villages are annoying >:(

Roborally is great fun, but Puerto Rico is just fantastically spectacular. Probably my favorite board game. Get your friends to play it!

I think it's worth mentioning Catan and Carcasonne because they're borderline specialty. Catan I like (Puerto Rico is better by a mile IMO), but Carcasonne is too random without enough of a theme for me to enjoy.

Intrigue is definitely worth it. It provides some much needed cards to balance out the immense power of chapel decks or gardens strategy. Keep in mind, though, that most cards in Intrigue are very action-heavy. If you find Villages annoying, wait 'till you see some of the +2 action/+2 cards options in the expansion. Sure, some of them are conditional (+cards only works under certain circumstances), but unless you include Attack cards, base+intrigue is going to be very +action oriented.
When you use the attack cards and use random generated sets (to prevent handpicking of the 'convenient' spam cards), though, the expansion really spices the game up.

I don't have much experience with the other expansions, but from what I've read Seaside revolves around planning ahead (new 'duration' cards that are active for multiple turns, certain cards that increase the price of other cards, filtering deck pollution, etc) while Alchemy is a game of resources. Turning money into actions, actions into VP's and vice versa. Not too sure about the actual contents of that set, though.

I agree Carcassonne is a typical European boardgame in the way you describe. I could put some photoshop work in and produce a dinosaur-themed version and the gameplay would not seem out of place. Or a ninja-themed one. Or one about power grids or the stock market or pressing orange juice.
Doesn't change the fact that the gameplay is pretty solid though.
We play with a house rule where every player has a closed hand of three tiles that they can pick from instead of the regular 'draw a tile, place that tile' mechanic. It significantly cuts down on bad draws crippling your play. If you know your next three tiles will have at least three roads, you can plan ahead for that.
Some of the expansions also really add to the game, just like Catan. I find the Catan base game a bit bland, but with the Knights expansion stuff gets more interesting. You don't just lose because someone's managed to (intentionally?) block your progress or because you get bad die rolls.
It's not just extra stuff, but extra mechanics and extra depth for the game that really help flesh it out.

I'll try Puerto Rico as soon as possible. Hopefully tonight when one of my roomies comes back, but then again, I also just obtained an SC2 beta key for him, so chances are slim;)
 

ambershee

Nimbusfish Rawks
Apr 18, 2006
4,519
7
38
36
Nomad
sheelabs.gamemod.net
I used to play Magic and Bloodbowl quite a lot and when i was a kid tried a lot of other Warhammer games. The only time i ever came close to D&D though i was way too young to play it properly, i probably tried to attack a Gazebo or something.

Bloodbowl was great. I think the best game they ever produced was Battlefleet: Gothic though, genuinely solid and you really needed to consider the effects of your moves on subsequent moves made by yourself and your opponent(s).

Shame finding anyone to play against is pretty much impossible.
 

JaFO

bugs are features too ...
Nov 5, 2000
8,408
0
0
D&D ... check, played 2nd edition a bit until I got bored. I've also done the DM-bit for a few games (using warhammer-scenarios). You really do need a good DM to show you how stuff works (and to kill the idiots who argue about rules instead of playing the damned game). The worst part was that fights basically boiled down to 'roll D20 for attack / roll for damage'. The only thing that made them interesting was the dwarf berserker in our team.

I do own quite a few pen&paper rulebooks and add-ons for various systems. It covers White Wolf's world of darkness, Traveller:New Era, Cyberpunk 2020, Paranoia (worth having for its humour and insanity if you've got the proper clearance that is) and 'All flesh must be eaten' (which could be used as Left4dead in pen&paper rpg format with a few rules about those mutant undead).

Warhammer/Wh40k/WFRP ... well I liked the background and the idea, but not the insane amount of money and work required to be able to have a decent fight (never mind the time required to play).

I really wish there was a way to combine the advantages of technology (like MS's Surface-hardware) with 'traditional' games. That would reduce the amount of bookkeeping and math required to run the average game.
 

Trynant

Manic Brawler
Jan 31, 2002
2,019
1
38
Quiet Island
trynant.wordpress.com
D&D hippy

JaFO, you should really consider looking at the 4th edition if you didn't like the "roll d20/roll for damage, no variety" problems of the past editions. Even at first level, every class is given half-a-dozen or so "powers" (basically spells), most of them can be used at least once a battle and always a couple or so can be used indefinitely. This doesn't take into account the fact that players can also do whatever they think of and try to pull it off.

The other pen & paper RPG I heavily recommend (to anyone), is Burning Wheel. Seriously. This game is an absolute blast and has a great rule-set that gives in-game benefits for clever-roleplaying be it in or out of combat. Heck, this is one of the few games where having a conventially "bad" character makes for a great game (e.g. having someone who has the Lost trait lead a party into a forest). The rules are fairly intuitive. The only possible downside is that character creation takes a while but the process is actually fairly entertaining. Best of all, the main game runs you $25 dollars; it's hard to pass up.

I DM'ed for a few people new to 4e (some new to the whole RPG experience) on a 1st-level adventure yesterday. They ended up entirely bypassing two encounters I set up and decimated the other two I had planned. Still, I'm glad they did so well on their first adventure; it means I can throw the really hard stuff at them later ;)

4E is probably one of the most accessible RPGs I know. I can't imagine the pain it would require of DM'ing a beer and preztel 3.5 game for people who've barely played RPGs and didn't have access to the rulebooks.
 

toniglandyl

internal data fragmentation : 62203480%
Jan 20, 2006
2,878
0
36
diceedge.blogspot.com
4th ed is horribly hard if you've got a tactical DM.
I think the DM I've got had the whole table killed like... 5 times before we players started to get a grasp of tactics and how to use our powers to the team's advantage. the slightest breach in the defenses can completely kill the team. :p
 

dragonfliet

I write stuffs
Apr 24, 2006
3,754
31
48
41
4th ed is horribly hard if you've got a total dick of a DM who feels that games like Ninja Gaiden and Demon's Souls have coddled players for too long.
I think the DM I've got had the whole table killed like... 5 times before we players started to get a grasp of tactics and how to use our powers to the team's advantage. the slightest breach in the defenses can completely kill the team. :p

fixed
 

Trynant

Manic Brawler
Jan 31, 2002
2,019
1
38
Quiet Island
trynant.wordpress.com
I'm siding with Ambershee. A good DM (GM) should give the players a variety of encounters to face, a majority at the level of "challenging" with a few easy and a few hard ones, and the DM should absolutely consider the players' tactical prowress and/or knowledge of the rules.

Throwing newbies into the deep end is doing it wrong.