> > > So when you guys say 1978 and 1982, I'm assuming you mean those as the > > > years you began roleplaying. I first started in 1998, in a AD&D Darksun > > > set campaign that didn't last very long. I tend to prefer other systems > > > to D&D in terms of the mechanics, but I'll always remember Athas fondly. I have > done one-shots in Shadowrun, Werewolf, Cthulu (mostly LARPs, actually), > and others. For some reason, I've never done Vampire. > > Dragaera frequently appears in my games: I've found myself bantering > with other characters in a manner I can only describe as Brustian, and I > frequently steal Paarfi's voice for certain courtier-types. Like many of you, I played for years. Brust made his way into one of my campaigns in the form of a place I called "the hole" and certain vocabulary - it was the perfect place to find "work" and join the "organisation". The whole acquiring and holding territory thing developed into many enjoyable sessions. I abandoned AD&D a long time ago and began experimenting with different systems, combining and home-brewing systems, which led me to the Champions system. It used to be divided up into Fantasy Hero, Champions(super-heroes) and a Sci-Fi version the name for which I cannot remember. They took it further and combined the three into one system, Champions. The system was excellent for several reasons, but the foremost one for me was that it was a generic system. You built your characters using points, and the GM would set limits based on the type of campaign (200pts for superheroes, 100 for Fantasy Hero, 50 for real-world stuff). But the best part were the special effects. Say you were in a superhero campaign. You wanted to be a human torch kinda hero. You could buy a power blast, flight and a force shield all with the special effect "fire", and any limitations and advantages that seemed logical to modify the cost. Another person might want an iceman. They could by the same powers, but with different special effects and limitations, and have a completely different character. The system is particularly strong for developing a wide variety of magic systems in a fantasy campaign. This allowed me to create lots of different types and styles of campaigns - superheroes, cyberpunk, cartoons, gangsters, fantasy meets sci-fi, etc etc. I don't game much anymore, but did set up a fantasy campaign last winter using Champions, with 4 people who had never used the system b4 and they fell right into it no problem. I highly recommend it.