Well, I was thinking about starting up a new D&D-style game, before I did, I wanted to see what everyone's interest was, as there really is no point in taking the time to start a game in which no one wanted to play. So, with that in mind.. What does everyone like?

What I had in mind was:

Playing a game using Pathfinder rules, set in either Golarion (Pathfinder Game Setting), Faerun (Forgotten Realms), or maybe a Home-Brewed Game Setting.

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I'd like to do something different, or at least not as common as every other game. I have no issues with GM-ing Gestalt or Mythic Games, or even higher-level games. So, what I'd like to know from everyone is:

1. Do you prefer Dungeon Crawls? Story/Plot/Political driven games? Arena-Style games? Games centered around a specific location? (i.e. in a major city, or terrain type.)
   
2. How does everyone feel about using the Mythic Adventures Rules?
   
3. What about Gestalt Characters?
   
4. Would you rather play the "Good-Guy" or the "Bad-Guy"?
   
5. Do you prefer "Low Magic" games (magic items/mages are uncommon/hard to come by)? "High Magic" games (magic is very common)?
   
6. Do you prefer "Low-level" games (1-5th level)? "Mid-level" (6-11th level)? "High-level" (12-20th level)? Or "Epic-level" (21+)?
   
7. What would your "ideal" game & PC be like?

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I've got a few different ideas for some games.

If I can get enough interest in the same general concept on here, I'll start working on a game.
This message was last updated by the user at 21:30, Sun 07 Dec 2014.

1) I prefer Story driven games.
If it's too obvious that it's a dungeon crawl, then it can start to seem like all of the other. It breaks the immersion. Sure, the game is called dungeons and dragons, but it can get repetitive, and in the end they all start to blur with one another. I don't mind one once in a while, but I've seen very little of dungeoncrawling done well enough not to devolve in to kill/loot/next room.
If the story requires you to go in to a dungeon sure it happens, but I prefer to focus on the why and how as that is what keeps a character going.

2) They can be fun for short run.
3) Not much experience there. From what I understood, it can be good, if you want to have more things to do with your character and really like tinkering with your classes. Definitely not for people that like simple characters. I don't mind gestalt, but haven't used them with pathfinder yet.
4) Alignment wise: Bad guy. I like playing a character that has or often resorts to questionable tactics. But I still think bad guys are people with goals, that want to attain those and for that reason is willing to anything to reach those, even working with a bunch of doogooders.
On the other hand the evil kind of bad guy that just turns every scene into a bloodbath is actually more boring than a paladin in my mind. Doing atrocities and only claiming "but my character is evul", only further cements the "no evil alignment' rule for some DM.
A ranger with a backstory hatred for elves and always kills one a night is more acceptable in the grand scheme of things I think.
5) 5 & 6 are questions with the same kind of answers I think. Whether someone is loaded with +2 longswords or is an addict of the fly spell, both can be jarring for someone that prefers a more lowkey story. I think both views, low and high magic  have their places. Magic items & spells sometimes define an encounter more than the enviroment and I've come to expect that from D&d and pathfinder.
I like low key. I like starting a bit better than a nobody (or worse). But at a certain point, I expect magic cast by party members to be able to blow away certain enemies.
6) Most of the fun I've had when combining magic with story & setting, without magic over shadowing the story or making the setting irrelevant is 6-11th. The only one I don't enjoy is epic. At that point casters dominate too much, or you need to have a specific build in mind for martial characters.
7) If I could answer that, I would be DM'ing it. Add a small to decent sandboxy element in it, or atleast opportunies to impact the setting outside of the immediate scope adventures and the answers I gave above and then it would get close.

Ideal PC: A hybrid between Melee, support & utility spells, loads of class options outside of spells. I don't mind being weak in ranged or mobility. I like druid and clerics.
This message was last edited by the user at 01:04, Mon 08 Dec 2014.

1) It depends. A dungeon crawl is usually fun, but plot driven games can be fun as well. I'm not too fond of arena games, as those can quickly turn into "Who is the biggest min-maxer" fests. A game centered around a fleshed out metropolis with a lot of places for adventuring can provide a nice balance for just about any kind of character.

2) Mythic Rules are nifty. Starting off with a mythic level could be an interesting way to help craft a backstory, as you could detail what exactly the character has done to become mythic. Plus, there's some awesome abilities in there for just about any build or concept.

3) Gestalt is awesome. It has the potential to be abused, of course, but it can also lead to some rather well rounded characters, assuming the rest of the world is similarly beefed up.

4) Honestly, depending on the plot? This kind of thing could be left open. A greedy, Evil aligned mercernary could very well go on a quest alongside a Good aligned cleric, assuming the cleric's church is willing to pay for the merc's services, or there's a good chance of loot in the process of said quest. It's a risky proposition on the interwebs where you don't know how good people are going to be about keeping IC arguments from bleeding over to OOC, but it can result in some really fun roleplay moments.

5) High Magic. Low Magic can be interesting, but then the GM has to make sure to give the party ample ability to do things tactically so as to minimize the risk of getting injured. Low magic generally means that taking damage is a lot more serious than it ordinarily is, after all. That, and I've seen more than a few GMs use a low magic setting as an excuse for "OK, so you don't have any magic users, and almost no magic items, so now you gotta fight this really cool monster that's really magical and has a lot of DR that can only be overcome by magic! Isn't it a cool monster? This way you don't kill it in two rounds!"

6) Again, depends on the story. Pathfinder does a good job of making even low level characters feel like they're something, but at the same time, starting off with some levels under your belt can be a lot of fun. Around level 6 is generally a good place, in my opinion, since you can usually dip a toe into a prestige class by that point, but you're also not starting a game with enough firepower to turn Camelot back into a model before you've got a real grasp on who your character is.

7) I'm not all that picky. I find that the games I like best are more because I enjoyed playing with the GM and the other players, rather than it was any particular theme or format. As far as PC... like I said, I like flexibility. What that means depends on what role in the party my character needs to play.

1. Anything but Arena.
   
2. No
   
3. No
   
4. Not picky.
   
5. Very slight preference for low or no magic. There was an indie setting called Pure Steam. That's about right.
   
6. I always want games to start at 1-4th level, but provided that nothing happens medically, I'm willing to carry on indefinitely.
   
7. Steampunk is definitely my favorite genre, so there is that. I like playing characters who take up adventurers so they can build better stuff, because they have to go out and get the components themselves. That's not character calling by the way, that's just me saying that I want to build stuff.

This message was last edited by the user at 01:35, Mon 08 Dec 2014.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 4):

Steam Punk is a completely different setting/genre than Pathfinder's Golarion, or Forgotten Realms's Faerun, which is what this thread is about.

Fair enough. I'm not saying I have to have it. I just happened to answer all the questions you asked. I have no objection to actually playing a non-steampunk game, and the concept doesn't leave me uninterested. So I'm still more or less down, depending on details. For example I'm fairly out of date on my knowledge of d20 so I might need a bit of a helping hand here and there. I also don't know any campaign settings (except Pure Steam) front to back so I'm positively useless in a game where working knowledge of them is required.

1. Do you prefer Dungeon Crawls? Story/Plot/Political driven games? Arena-Style games? Games centered around a specific location? (i.e. in a major city, or terrain type.) Anything besides Arena games is fine.

2. How does everyone feel about using the Mythic Adventures Rules? Quite like them.

3. What about Gestalt Characters? Hate them; generally.

4. Would you rather play the "Good-Guy" or the "Bad-Guy"? GOod guy.

5. Do you prefer "Low Magic" games (magic items/mages are uncommon/hard to come by)? "High Magic" games (magic is very common)? Low-medium magic is better.

6. Do you prefer "Low-level" games (1-5th level)? "Mid-level" (6-11th level)? "High-level" (12-20th level)? Or "Epic-level" (21+)? I prefer starting low.

7. What would your "ideal" game & PC be like? Don't really have any ideal; I'm fairly flexible.

1: Anything but arena.
2: Like them
3: They are fine too.
4: don't care
5: medium to high
6: High end of low (starting 3rd)-4th
7: Like various ones.