So, I am actually playing a game as a player. It has been a long time since I have been a player. It is good to be just a player, no stress, no prep work just show up and play, great! We are using Cepheus for the operating system which really is just Mongoose Traveller. There are some minor changes but not enough to really notice. maybe in the deluxe version there are enough changes but to my mind it looks like the same rules with a new cover. Whatever. I am enjoying the game!!
Now I have run a session of Barbarians of Lemuria and I enjoyed running it. It is a quick and easy system to run and inspires one to run simple straight forward action adventures. I can see playing this for a while, but, I have started to look at running a D&D game, most likely with 5th ed. The main reason is that I feel I would like to run a dungeon crawl high hit point game, or series of games.
Hit points are something that I have had mixed feelings about. D&D always seemed rather silly with all the hit points that a character could have. The disconnect between weapon damage and hit points is at it's most extreme in D&D. Just try slitting the throat of a 12th level character. You would typically have to saw away at the throat for a few turns to maybe kill them. Your average hero could be a pin cushion given the relatively low damage done by crossbows. But, even with these fault there is some aspect of it that I sort of like. I do feel heroes should be larger than life. I do like to see them suffer damage and not die. They keep on going despite the wounds. In contrast to this are some of the games I have recently played. Bol has very low hit point vs the potential for high damage. Heroes could be dropped by two blows. While that may be closer to reality it does cause a player to be very concerned about survival vs adventure and daring do.
The other games that I have recently played, Pulp Fantastic & Traveller also have low hit points and weapons that can easily kill off a hero. Both systems have players subtract points from their characters stats whenever they get wounded. In Pulp Fantastic you start losing functionality of that stat. So take 2 points of damage from your strength means the next time you use your strength you will do it it with 2 fewer points. Certainly simulates the weakening of a character as they take damage, but really has too big an impact. Take a wound and see your chances of doing something decrease. Now because you fail you have a greater risk of taking more damage and you will rapidly find yourself in a rapid decline that only plot points can save you, but even those only go so far. I do like Pulp Fantastic, but it does have it's problems that I may go into a greater detail sometime.
Right now I think it is time for a simple (simplistic) game of D&D, a game where players can just be heroes and I can just roll damage with no worries about what damage I dish out.
