What game is hitting your table?

[ChadBoudreau]

I also picked up the Pathfinder: Beginner Box ....

I've been circling the D&D Red Box (4th edition abridged rules, tokens, map, mini-campaign) as something to consider getting for my boys (and, honestly, me) for the holiday season. I am now, however, considering Pathfinder Beginner Box, too.

Anyone want to give me their opinion on how the two compare?

Note: I'm an old school DM-- played a heavily modified hybrid of D&D and AD&D for many years when I was younger and could not afford books and modules, Star Wars RPG, Vampire the Masquerade (yes, I admit it), Battletech, a homemade Western RPG, and some other miscellany.

And since this forum is about what has been hitting the table let me add that King of Tokyo is in high rotation at my house, too. My son also recently got Galaxy Trucker and Smallworld Underground for his birthday so we've given each of those a run or two.

[Kurt Swekla]

I recently got the new Volko Rhunke game Andean Abyss, a 1-4 player war game focused around the Colombian insurgencies, although it plays a fair bit more like a Euro game than a war game. I have been able to get in a couple solo games and it really is quite a fun solo game not like others that are only ok as solo, this one was partly designed with that in mind, and a 2 player game that went all right. Certainly has a bit of a learning curve to it, and I imagine a 4 player game would be outstanding. In some ways it reminds me of Dominant Species and in some ways like Chaos in the Old World.

[celticgriffon]

Chad - my good friend Bruce Beckett gave me a rundown about D&D 4th vs Pathfinder.  I appreciated his commentary.  Here is what he said:

"Second system that I like is D&D, it might not be the best from a lot of people view but it is still the biggest and for some good reasons.  I liked 3.5 and played it a fair amount, switched to pathfinder when it came out, then tried 4th edition but I and most in my group did not like it.  If we wanted to play a video game we would have played a video game.  I still like the D&D idea and still like 3.5

The third system is pathfinder this is the one I have played the most in the last few years and likely the one I will be playing for a while.  I prefer it to D&D 3.5 and 4th edition.  All the reasons I like 3.5 are included in pathfinder but pathfinder has cleaned up a lot of the rules and generally makes the games flow smother.  The player`s manual is very comprehensive and eliminates the need for a DM guide book and it is a good price for people trying to get into the system.  Very good price considering the size of it.  I find the book very well laid out (an index would have been nice though) and easy to read.  It is generic enough that you can adapt almost any D&D world or module to it without a lot of work and that means you have a large library of material to pull from or pick and choose what you want to allow in.  The modules from paizo are really good and the campaigns are VERY good.   I really want to play the kingmaker campaign but it would not work well with my group.

Bad points:

Customization of characters is hard, a fighter is good in combat and not much else a rogue has lots of skill points always.  There is not much difference between an evil or good cleric (at least on paper). 

D&D and pathfinder are combat systems plain and simple.  The standard roll vs. role playing argument.  I tend to disagree with this argument to a degree.  I agree that the pathfinder rules are primarily about combat as is the experience generation but I think they have to be.  It is very difficult to write rules for player interaction for roleplaying this must be handled `on the fly' by the DM and the party has to agree to spend time interacting with the environment but all of this is outside of the rules and cannot be quantified easily.  In short there is as much role playing as the players want, to force them to role play more or less then they want is not desired."

[ChadBoudreau]

Chad - my good friend Bruce Beckett gave me a rundown about D&D 4th vs Pathfinder.  I appreciated his commentary.  Here is what he said:

Thanks to you and your friend. I think my boy would like some dice-rolling but, yeah, I'd like to encourage some "roleplay" too, some decisions to be made in the mind not the dice, exploration of the world outside of the paper, etc. But I am now going to take a closer look at Pathfinder.

[XtianHardy]

It was Starlit Citadel's review of Pathfinder that pushed me over the edge. Honestly, the components, guidebooks, cardboard minis, plastic map, just the incredible wealth of everything included in the box made it worth it to me. Even if my friends and I only make it through the basic campaign included in the box, I will have got my money's worth.

Everything that I've heard about the Beginner Box makes the D&D Red Box pale in comparison. Also, if you have any experience playing 3.5e, then yeah, Pathfinder is your game.

[Jolo]

3 player game of Chaos in the Old World last night, it was good, but I think the game requires Khorne. Khorne adds that extra element of risk that forces players to look more towards planning.

[Jolo]

2 - 4 player games of 7 Wonders with the Leaders expansion. I was getting bored of 7 Wonders, but the Leaders may have added enough that I will play it again

[XtianHardy]

Played three games this weekend.

First was a game of Elder Sign. Five investigators vs. Yog-Sothoth. Great game. Ended with most of our investigators beating devoured but in the last moments of our battle with Yog-Sothoth one of our investigators managed to beat him back. This was my first time playing Elder Sign with a group, and it was a lot of fun. It really captures the Lovecraftian theme quite well, and though it isn't as immersive or strategic as Arkham Horror, it's still a very good game and can be played in under two hours. I wouldn't play with more than four though, as people become easily distracted.

Next up was Dixit. I adore this game for its art and creativity, but I absolutely hate the scoring mechanics. Despite having only three rules for scoring, it never fails to confuse people. I really need to develop a few house rules to make scoring less confusing, either that, or write the scores down on a white board so people can remember how to actually score points in this game.

Lastly, we played a game of Cards Against Humanity. I can't discuss the game's particulars without offending someone, but let's just say this is one of my favorite party games and leave it at that.

I also bought Twilight Imperium (Third Edition) and Rex: Final Days of an Empire, and am really looking forward to getting Rex to the table soon.

[Jolo]

Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, we played it 4 player (and I lost both times). I like this game, when you play a lot of Martin Wallace games you know them as tight economic games, until you play this, chaos rules and you have to work at it to win.

[Bix Conners]

This summer has been a summer of family and camping trips. I have played lots of lighter fare including Werewolf, Farkle and Mexican Train Dominoes.

A short while ago, four us us got together for a rousing game of Fiasco. Holy crap was that a ton of fun and since I no longer play D&D, this will be an outlet for some Role Playing goodness. Very clever; very fun.