Anyone effectively monogamEous?

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You play one game system or setting.

You might look at others. But really, you only play the one.

What game is it, and why?

Only asking because I'm feel like should have found my perfect game by now. In fact, I think I've found my "perfect" game (Trophy), but I still keep going to key parties (conventions) and doing one-shots with games that look keen but are ultimately not that fulfilling. I keep being tempted by the next shiny, but I keep getting disappointed, like I'm not spending my time with the games that really speak to me.

And worst of all, I'm still holding on to a few older games that I'll never play because of the memories, or because I want to try them and haven't yet. Some I've barely even read, which is even worse. (Gotta stop the analogies before they get really unpleasant.)
 
Uh, no.

I have a perfect game system in mind. And I keep hoping real hard that experienced professional game designers and a stable of kickbutt artists and layout specialists will simply read my mind, design and release said game.

Alas, wishing ain't making it so.

Thus, I play a bunch of games, many of which have elements I really like (setting, particular rules 'tech', etc) that hew close to my perfect game.

:dice:
 
You play one game system or setting.

You might look at others. But really, you only play the one.

What game is it, and why?

Only asking because I'm feel like should have found my perfect game by now. In fact, I think I've found my "perfect" game (Trophy), but I still keep going to key parties (conventions) and doing one-shots with games that look keen but are ultimately not that fulfilling. I keep being tempted by the next shiny, but I keep getting disappointed, like I'm not spending my time with the games that really speak to me.

And worst of all, I'm still holding on to a few older games that I'll never play because of the memories, or because I want to try them and haven't yet. Some I've barely even read, which is even worse. (Gotta stop the analogies before they get really unpleasant.)
I’m pretty close to it with Savage Worlds, but it’s still not 100%.
 
I have a short attention span, so I like to experience a variety of roleplaying games. I know someone who ran a 20+ year campaign using the 1st edition D&D rules with a dedicated group of players. They were so invested in the game that they created a detailed map of the campaign world on a wall in their living room. They never considered changing rule systems.

My wife is the opposite. She loves to go in-depth with a single system and setting. She ran great games for both Dark Sun and Numenera. I admire her dedication, but I'm not sure I could commit to the same thing.

I enjoy trying new systems and settings, and I think it keeps the game fresh for me. My wife, on the other hand, loves to explore the depths of a single system. We both have our own preferences, and that's what makes roleplaying games so great. There's something for everyone.
 
Not even close.

I've always played in groups in which we do short campaigns mixed with one shots with rotating GMs and different systems. That's the norm for me. Playing just one system, campaigns that run for years with forever GMs... I've only read about that, never seen it in the wild. I don't necessary end up liking all the of the systems that we end up playing, and as a GM there are probably only a handful I really enjoy running.
 
It must be rough when mid-life crisis set in and you discover your high school sweetheart game has been gaslighting you for years.

Oh, the campaigns you shared, the threats you faced as a team, the characters you made together... then you find yourself looking at other games after work one day, maybe go out "with your friends" one evening but really you're checking out a new game down at the local friendly game store. Maybe too friendly and it goes too far--a little dice fondling, nothing too serious. But you liked it. You want more out of (gaming) life. You want to stir things up and play around, go slumming with low fantasy, or spend an exotic weekend in a cyberpunk sprawl....

Then the arguments that ensue when your game convinces you need to stay together for the sake of the (proprietary) dice.
 
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You play one game system or setting.

You might look at others. But really, you only play the one.

What game is it, and why?

Only asking because I'm feel like should have found my perfect game by now. In fact, I think I've found my "perfect" game (Trophy), but I still keep going to key parties (conventions) and doing one-shots with games that look keen but are ultimately not that fulfilling. I keep being tempted by the next shiny, but I keep getting disappointed, like I'm not spending my time with the games that really speak to me.

And worst of all, I'm still holding on to a few older games that I'll never play because of the memories, or because I want to try them and haven't yet. Some I've barely even read, which is even worse. (Gotta stop the analogies before they get really unpleasant.)
Nope. Mostly because I like different genres, and I feel the best games cater to their genre rules. This means there is no "one" game that can do it all. Long ago I hope Fuzion would manage using its switches and dials concept to allow genre adaptability but it never managed to do it.
 
I'm inclined to convert other BRP games to BRP Mythras for consistency (such as RQ and CoC)
BRP games has been home base since way back, but I'm a long way from being exclusive.
However the truth is these days I'm not sure I even have a home base system anymore.
 
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I get bored easily. But, I also come up with epic plans before I get bored.

I decided I didn't want to run 5e anymore more than a year ago, but I'm still running the game I started in 2019 because it feels wrong to stop before tying off the plots that seemed like a great idea years ago.
 
Not really monogameous, though it takes a strongly alluring siren's call to lure me away from BRP.
But I'll play just about anything (with the right people) and I've been running B/X for school club.
 
Right now it's fairly set on system and setting, but that's mainly due to player wishes. I'd run with Shadowrun 2/3 again, WFRP4 Enemy Within Campaign, 40k campaign using the FFG/C7 systems which are broadly compatible I hear. Hell, I might even do a complete M:Y0 campaign if I had the players for it.
 
I play one system at a time, and convert all other materials to it. I'm a serial monogameist.
That's very close to how I am, though I've got a couple of exes Im willing to go back to for the occasional fling (mainly Traveller and BESM). Savage Worlds these days is my main squeeze but I was in a couple decades long relationship with Gurps before that.
 
Uh, no.

I have a perfect game system in mind. And I keep hoping real hard that experienced professional game designers and a stable of kickbutt artists and layout specialists will simply read my mind, design and release said game.

Alas, wishing ain't making it so.

Thus, I play a bunch of games, many of which have elements I really like (setting, particular rules 'tech', etc) that hew close to my perfect game.

:dice:
Tell us more about said system:shade:?

The author's names make the joke clear even for those of us who aren't sure what you're referencing:thumbsup:!

It must be rough when mid-life crisis set in and you discover your high school sweetheart game has been gaslighting you for years.

Oh, the campaigns you shared, the threats you faced as a team, the characters you made together... then you find yourself looking at other games after work one day, maybe go out "with your friends" one evening but really you're checking out a new game down at the local friendly game store. Maybe too friendly and it goes to far--a little dice fondling, nothing too serious. But you liked it. You want more out of (gaming) life. You want to stir things up and play around, go slumming with low fantasy, or spend an exotic weekend in a cyberpunk sprawl....

Then the arguments that ensue when your game convinces you need to stay together for the sake of the (proprietary) dice.
...brilliant:grin:!
 
I believe in Serial Monogamy for games. One game at a time. If you are campaigning in it, you should live and breathe your game.


My Third longest relationship was Stalking the Night Fantastic. It started as "select people" culled from my Tri-Tac West Demo games. I ran it for 14 years every con weekend, 2 to 8 times a convention. It was always "the side piece". No matter what else I was running, if it was a Con weekend, pretty much that was the only thing I was running.

I think my second longest relationship was Champions/ Hero System. While mostly I used it for super heroes, we would scratch itches for pulp games (Justice Inc), Danger International, a bit of Third Imperium in Star Hero, and way much Fantasy Hero. I ran that game (and played upon occasion) at least once a week for nearly 20 years, from Ed 1 on.

However, I have been in a long-term relationship with my game Convergence Point. (AKA Continuum) We have played Super Heroes (a lot), Fantasy Nippon (two chronicles, but very long runs), Pulps, Martial Arts (Modern) Action, Mecha jocks/ anime, Confederation **cough**STNG**Cough**Space, Night Hunters, Waunders, Fantasy, and some other odd things with it. I have been playing with Neo Frontiers recently... but no players... and I will finish v1.9 soon.
 
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I believe in Serial Monogamy for games. One game at a time. If you are campaigning in it, you should live and breathe your game.

However, I have been in a long-term relationship with my game Convergence Point. We have played Super Heroes, Fantasy Nippon, Pulps, Martial Arts (Modern) Action, Mecha jocks/ anime, Confederation **cough**STNG**Cough**Space, Night Hunters, Waunders, and Fantasy with it.
Well, you wrote it, so you have an excuse:grin:!
 
Well, you wrote it, so you have an excuse:grin:!
Well yes. To take a page from "if games were girlfriends" thread from long ago, She is cute when she is not doing much. However, she tends to "dress to the situation" and with prep and makeup -oh wow. She could slink around in a little black dress on a date, wear flannel and jeans at a coffee shop, go to a cocktail party and be elegant, look strictly high end professional at work, a So Cal Princess at the farmers market, and a flower child when going to the Haight, all because she styled her hair different, changed her makeup, put on the clothes, and acted appropriately. She is a social chameleon, adapting to the situation. So while most people have one "girlfriend" I have several - all with the same phone number.

(We only have problems when she wants to do one thing and it does not match what we are currently doing.)
 
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Well yes. To take a page from "if games were girlfriends" thread from long ago, She is cute when she is not doing much. However, she tends to "dress to the situation". She could slink around in a little black dress on a date, wear flannel and jeans at a coffee shop, go to a cocktail party, look strictly high end professional at work, a So Cal Princess at the farmers market, and a flower child when going to the Haight, all because she styled her hair different, changed her makeup, put on the clothes, and acted appropriately. She is a social chameleon, adapting to the situation. So while most people have one "girlfriend" I have several - all with the same phone number.

(We only have problems when she wants to do one thing and it does not match what we are currently doing.)
Those are the best...games:thumbsup:!
 
Currently, I'm simultaneously in two long-term relationships: running a Savage Worlds Adventure Edition campaign for a little under four years and playing in a Dungeons & Dragons 5e campaign for a little over four years.

And as of the past ~6 months, I'm also having a fling with The Black Hack at work, having run a handful of one-shots and just started a short campaign.

Also done a handful of one-night stands one-shots along the way, with the likes of Dungeon Crawl Classics, Paranoia, Dungeon World, 0D&D, etc.

I'm still up for a one-shot of pretty much anything that the people around me are willing to run.

And, like I suspect a lot of us do, I've got a notion in the back of my head of making my own game that theoretically would be the best match for my gaming preferences.
 
That's very close to how I am, though I've got a couple of exes Im willing to go back to for the occasional fling (mainly Traveller and BESM). Savage Worlds these days is my main squeeze but I was in a couple decades long relationship with Gurps before that.
In order, mine were D&D, Rolemaster, GURPS, Palladium (that was a dark time, and I was trying other things to try to get the gamers to like something else), Storyteller (another dark time), Fate, PbtA/FitD, Gumshoe, and now a hybrid of Fate/Gumshoe/FitD that I'm working on.
 
Short answer: No.

Long Answer: Its complicated. I have been treated for Anxiety for over 20 years and around 2012 I started a new medicine that not only treated my Anxiety but treated my ADD, which I wasn't aware I had. I started my blog www.crossplanes.com. I got early access to the DnD Next playtest because I run 2 game stores in KY and my rep asked if I wanted in. And I had found the OSR. There were times until about 2016 where I was running 3 games a week of DnD Next and I was sometimes doing 2 blog posts a day. I knew I had always had lots of ideas but I'd never had the focus to make myself do anything with them. And through it all I was content to run or play DnD 5E. I didn't drool over new systems or dream about making my group love Dragonbane of 5E, none of it.

I ran 2 DnD games from level 1 to level 20 and one of those games had a designed sequel using Shadow of the Demon Lord. It was amazing.

I have no idea if it will every happen again though. My mental health is very good but my focus is not. However, I have discovered that my focus is much better DMing 3-5 players than 6-8 players. But I'm pretty tired of 5E. I keep up with the playtest and am watching Kobold's and ENWorlds Advanced 5E.

I didn't miss running other games when I was focused though. I would just say to myself, "these rules are fine everybody knows them". Two things did catch my attention though. DnD Beyond was such a nice tool that it seemed stupid not use it and the more 5E games I ran and the OSR I consumed I went from a DM who always made the game about his players to an adversarial DM and that compounded by my meds failing around 2019.

Now, I'm just another DM with Game Mastering ADD. But I still have those two Level 1 to 20 campaigns in my heart :smile:

Edit: I will play nearly anything but not Amber, a WoD Darkness game with only monster or Paranoia.
 
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Uh, no.

I have a perfect game system in mind. And I keep hoping real hard that experienced professional game designers and a stable of kickbutt artists and layout specialists will simply read my mind, design and release said game.

Alas, wishing ain't making it so.

Thus, I play a bunch of games, many of which have elements I really like (setting, particular rules 'tech', etc) that hew close to my perfect game

:dice:
How off do you start reading a game and you are like, "Yeah, cool, exactly, awesome, wow.....oh. Why did...why did you do THAT? This mechanic is clearly better! Don't...Don't you see THAT?"
 
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Mostly. The vast majority of my gaming career since high school has been GMing GURPS. I bought the new edition of Fantasy Trip when it came out, for nostalgia and to be a simple TTRPG to start my kids out on. And I have had a dalliance with Mongoose Traveller 2e over the last couple of years. But, other than those: All GURPS, all the time.
 
My wife is the opposite. She loves to go in-depth with a single system and setting. She ran great games for both Dark Sun and Numenera. I admire her dedication, but I'm not sure I could commit to the same thing.
Did she use the original AD&D 2e system for Dark Sun or did she switch to another system? In my experience the 2e AD&D does not deliver the nuances that Dark Sun setting has kind of built in.
 
How off do you start reading a game and you are like, "Yeah, cool, exactly, awesome, wow.....oh. Why did...why did you do THAT? This mechanic is clearly better! Don't...Don't you see THAT?"
Worst part is when you've read through dozens of pages of character creation stuff that seemed really cool; only to discover the game is fucking stupid. I hate how many games leave the 'how to actually play the fucking thing' till the end of the book. I've learnt to start carefully checking the contents to figure out where the important bit is before I waste time reading the first seven chapters.
 
I don't see that I could ever settle on a single system because I like contradictory things. I also strongly feel that mechanics set a tone in such a way that having a system tuned to the setting and the feel of the play in that setting is important so a universal system needs lots of specific rules for different settings and feel and thus is not so universal.

On the other hand, I am narrowing down my systems to RuneQuest, Cold Iron, Classic Traveller, and early D&D (which are all pretty close). I'm not sure that Burning Wheel makes the cut anymore.

And then I'm willing to play in some other systems...
 
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