Missing It

I'm really pining for Dark Heresy. Heck, I'd even launch into a Dungeons & Dragons game if I had the opportunity.

Ideally though, I'd much rather play Dark Heresy or GURPS. Dungeons & Dragons is a tactical RPG: the combat system eschews realism, like Chess I suppose, in favour of presenting players with the opportunity to form effective game tactics. I think Nick once called utilising the D&D combat rules effectively "being a munchkin f***" which is as good a definition as any.

I prefer story-propelled RPGs. Yes, you can have a very deep and involving story in Dungeons & Dragons, but the system itself is not built for that. It's built for spelunking, fighting, and looting the dead.

Dark Heresy has its fair share of combat rules - and if I was to GM again, I'd like to make some additions and house rules to them; mostly inspired by rules I've read in GURPS. But Dark Heresy's game so much more interesting than a high-fantasy game of Tolkien-esque creatures (men, elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, etc.) slugging it out and stealing one-another's treasure.

Give me a guardsman/scum/techpriest party over a fighter/thief/mage party any day

Something else I'm pining for is martial arts. I can't remember the last time I had a good sparring session. Probably the odd friendly rough-and-tumble in Fairlight. It's something that can make you feel quite elated, if quite bruised. Something I definitely do miss. Training on your own is one thing, but applying your training is another.