LibriumArcana.Games

Focusing mostly on storyline, character interaction, and the universe itself...

What is your favourite fantasy RPG? System which it can be played on is irrelevant, and MMORPGs sort of don't count, since they're entirely "Grind, Grind and Grind some more"

And a reason or two would be nice.

My favourite, for sheer characters alone, was Baldur's Gate 2...

The characters in that were completely unforgettable, and the storyline wasn't the best out there, but it sort of drew you in with the completely vibrant (if quite isometric) world. You tend not to forget Minsc and his humourous non sequiturs, Viconia and her acid wit, or even Jon Irenicus' apathy and amorality which made him such an excellent bad guy (if a bit monologue-y).

I cant pick one... Baldur's Gate 2 or Neverwinter Nights.

For the same reasons as Dakarne really. For the technology they had at the time BG2 was the best game ever. The graphics were awesome and the character development was very well done. The world is my favorite fantasy world ever, Toril, the world of Forgotten Realms, and the story line was damn good, especially for a game they tried to make relatively non-linear.

NWN will be done later

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

Great game by Sierra. Great storyline interesting characters that grow, the ability to choose whether you'd rather lean towards a more magickally inclined or technologically inclined character. Selectable races, names, etc. Be able to find dozens of extra npcs for your party. Able to research and build your own weapons, multiple schools of magick to select from with spells ranging in power in each of them.

The world story was really good too, IMO. Full of side stories, history, religion, etc. Rather indepth for a computer game. Plus the character reactions were great, based on your actions in game as well. If you were a relatively good character people reacted favorably, if you were evil they were negative(well thieves dens and the dark side of the game acted favorably), if you were more magick inclined most dwarves and technologists were less trusting and less willing to help. If you were a technologist, magick users were equally less inclined towards you. You could develop lockpicking skills, theft, gambling, smithing, bartering, etc.

Really really enjoyed the game. You can find it dirt cheap usually, picking up a copy when you can find it for about $5-10.

Tabletop: D&D, Forgotten Realms. Huge, detailed setting, deep, breaks fantasy conventions.

Console: Chrono Trigger. Anyone who hasn't played it really owes it to themselves to try it. You won't necessarily like it if you're allergic to CRPG conventions, but it's got a great story and is alot of fun.

Computer: Baldur's Gate 1/2. Great, solid gameplay, taking place in my favorite setting. This entry would most likely be blown away if I could ever find a copy of Planescape Torment.

Online: DikuMUD. Just in general, they're fun little grinds for lazy days.

Computer: Baldur's Gate 1/2. Great, solid gameplay, taking place in my favorite setting. This entry would most likely be blown away if I could ever find a copy of Planescape Torment.

Planescape Torment is okay IMO, but it's too restrictive on character choice, restricting you to being a (practically, I'm not entirely 100% sure) undead human (although you can choose your class, to an extent). And the perspective is too close in on your characters to properly utilize any form of area-affect spell. But, like I said, the character choice, in my opinion, was overly limiting and could do with an overhaul. And a "Zoom Out" feature would have been nice as well.

Planescape Torment, by a large margin. Dakarne's complaint about (basically) free-form flexibility in character creation is true, but the point of the game wasn't to make your own character, it was entirely about soaking in an existing character's storyline. But then, my feature is often another man's bug. A common complaint about the game was that it made the player "have to read too much"; that, for me, was one of the things that made it stand head and shoulders above other games of the like: there was an unending wealth of story story story, at all times and from all avenues. Pretty much all CRPGs amount to running errand-boy missions from location to location, fighting things along the way, and solving the occasional puzzle; Planescape Torment additional wraps a lot of narrative context around it all that was completely unneeded, but (IMHO) softened and disguised the inherently mechanical nature of CRPG plot structure.

On the tabletop, my body belongs to D&D 3e but my heart will always be Warhammer's.

--The Elder Dan

Well...

Baldur's Gate 2 had all of the storyline, and a character background...

Plus the fact that you could have more customization of your character's class, appearance and even race... not some mutilated blue guy with clothing that makes him look like a stereotypical tribal chieftain.

I suppose I'm just too much of an elf-addict though

Dakarne wrote:Well...

Baldur's Gate 2 had all of the storyline, and a character background...

Plus the fact that you could have more customization of your character's class, appearance and even race... not some mutilated blue guy with clothing that makes him look like a stereotypical tribal chieftain.

I suppose I'm just too much of an elf-addict though

Bah. Elves. And it didn't even have Copper Elves.

Jade Empire was pretty good...

Bah. Elves. And it didn't even have Copper Elves.

Ah well...

Copper Elves are okay in my opinion, but the bloody intelligence penalties piss me off. But my favourite, in all honesty, are half-elves, such as Jaheira, the half-elf fighter/druid of arse-kicking attitude + 4.

Got to say Planescape : Torment.

Dakarne wrote:

Bah. Elves. And it didn't even have Copper Elves.

Ah well...

Copper Elves are okay in my opinion, but the bloody intelligence penalties piss me off. But my favourite, in all honesty, are half-elves, such as Jaheira, the half-elf fighter/druid of arse-kicking attitude + 4.

Intelligence penalties be damned. They're elves what have loud, bawdy drinking parties. If you don't love that, you have no soul.

Of course, I have no soul, but.

Drinking parties? Elves?

Come on Nitram, you can do better than Copper Elves for freaking loud drinking parties without the bloody need for an intelligence penalty (permanent ones at least ). Anyone who's anyone knows that Dwarves are the best drinkers in fantasy, bar none. Their pints will put hair on your chest, and a shiteload more hair on your face as well...

Of course, I have no soul, but.

You Soulless Brit! Um, wait... *looks at own nationality, and current state of soul*

Forget I said that...

Dakarne wrote:Drinking parties? Elves?

Is there a problem, kiddo?

Come on Nitram, you can do better than Copper Elves for freaking loud drinking parties without the bloody need for an intelligence penalty (permanent ones at least ). Anyone who's anyone knows that Dwarves are the best drinkers in fantasy, bar none. Their pints will put hair on your chest, and a shiteload more hair on your face as well...

Pffft. Copper Elves drank when the Dwarves were newly forged! And plus they can arm-wrestle half-orcs.

Pffft. Copper Elves drank when the Dwarves were newly forged! And plus they can arm-wrestle half-orcs.

Any Wizard worth his mettle can arm-wrestle a half-orc... and win.

Simple Tenser's Transformation/Bull's Strength buffs and then BREAK the bugger's arm like a twig. Of course, Dwarves simply rock because they have scottish accents... which is a +4 to Awesomeness...

Is there a problem, kiddo?

Now that you mention it, your Avatar only shows up as a Broken Image Link to me, and I'd have a look at that if I were you.

Dakarne wrote:

Pffft. Copper Elves drank when the Dwarves were newly forged! And plus they can arm-wrestle half-orcs.

Any Wizard worth his mettle can arm-wrestle a half-orc... and win.

Simple Tenser's Transformation/Bull's Strength buffs and then BREAK the bugger's arm like a twig. Of course, Dwarves simply rock because they have scottish accents... which is a +4 to Awesomeness...

Copper elf women dress like something out of a medieval romance novel. That's at least a +5. ;)

And a Copper Elf needs no Tenser's Transform. He just is. Plus, the damage you can wreck with a Composite Bow(+5 Strength Bonus) with a 20 Strength and 20 Dex at level 1? Insane!

Is there a problem, kiddo?

Now that you mention it, your Avatar only shows up as a Broken Image Link to me, and I'd have a look at that if I were you.

Hrm. Didn't know that. Curse the minions.

Copper elf women dress like something out of a medieval romance novel. That's at least a +5.

[Darkstar] It's a conspiracy to badmouth Trek! [/darkstar]

Damn, I'm going to have to concede that one. Although, Wild Elf women are a bit better on that front...

And a Copper Elf needs no Tenser's Transform. He just is. Plus, the damage you can wreck with a Composite Bow(+5 Strength Bonus) with a 20 Strength and 20 Dex at level 1? Insane!

True, True...

But I honestly prefer blasting the fuck out of everything that moves anyway... just give me a magic missile and some darkness to fire it at .