Okay how about little know RPGs that you just love!

Fair is fair! How about some little know RPGs that you can suggest? Now I am not talking the big one like Vampire, Shadowrun, D&D or Traveler. How about some little known games that have that certain edge... that extra color... that fun that keeps you returning for more.

Victory Games, "James Bond 007." Best RPG ever. Skill-based advancement, lethal combat, hero points, detailed chase rules.

I really like Toon.

Artesia the Known World RPG (FuZion based, by Archaia Press).
Most complete RPG product ever. Great art, layout, rules, atmosphere.

Burning Wheel.

Cool character creation, "strategic combat", character story driven.
Highly recommended for something different fantasy-wise.

Fair is fair! How about some little know RPGs that you can suggest? Now I am not talking the big one like Vampire, Shadowrun, D&D or Traveler. How about some little known games that have that certain edge... that extra color... that fun that keeps you returning for more.

Try In Nomine.

For B Movie fun, I love It Came From the Late, Late, Late Show

Fireborn by Fantasy Flight Games

Adventure! or Trinity, from White Wolf. Both awesome games that vanished.

Burning Wheel.

Cool character creation, "strategic combat", character story driven.
Highly recommended for something different fantasy-wise.

I second this nomination.

If (and it's a colossal-sized if) you can find a copy, give Price of Freedom a try. Only game I know of with rules to play yourself as a character.

Cybergeneration...definitely. Most people know R. Talsorian for Mekton and Cyberpunk, but this game was their true gem! Simple rules with strong emphasis on roleplaying.

Castle Falkenstein
High Fantasy Steampunk meets League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

No Dice (uncouth devices used by sailors, vagabonds and other ner' do wells). Rather stats and skills are represented by suits in playing cards. Has the best heroic swordfight rules- lotsa snarling across bared steel. No Character sheets- players are recommended to compile a journal detailing their adventures and various ephemera.

I'm more than a little curmudgeony adn old school but 'back in the day' I really enjoyed Star Frontiers and Star Fleet Battles. I still have my Star Frontiers stuff on the shelf. I kind of miss playing...

Does HARN/Harnmaster count below the radar enough? While the rule system is not one of my favorites - although it does have some first edition feel. The world itself was pretty amazing to me - the level of detail combined with trying to stick to really medieval setting was a nice change of pace.

I remember running a medieval Europe game using Harn's ideas as the basis. Also, being American, I always was felt it had a very British feel to it.

I know it went through several legal issues and changes, and a 3rd edition was released in 2002. I'm curious, is it D20 based or still its own system?

Castle Faulkenstein +1
Providence
Feng Shui
Over the Edge
Amber

I own many of these!

Firefly Games' Faery's Tale and OG: Unearthed Edition are absolutely great fun!

Oh, and before I forget- Chill, second edition.
A seriously overlooked and forgotten classic- the skill resolution, while taking a bit to get used to, was one of the most elegant I've come across. Always came across as the lesser brother of Call of Cthulhu, but I think that was just unfair.
Oh, and the art was kickass too.

Not sure if these are obscure enough but I really enjoyed playing them-
Earthdawn
Deadlands Weird West

Villains and Vigilanties
Easy character creation, can readily create comic book type superheroes.

Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes should be obscure enough, but still in print and played.

There's a D20 version and an original version that they put out later, but I LOVED Grimm. I also liked Spellslinger(I know, I know, but I liked the fact that it was a fantasy wild-west rpg that WASN'T Deadlands) and Redline.

I really like Toon.

Toon = Awesome

I also like Paranoia for humorous roleplaying.

Morrow Project, L5R 1st. edition (absolutely love this one), Dr.Who the RPG, and Twilight:2000, and I'll second Star Frontiers.

Anyone remember Whispering Vault?
Kult (so creepy I don't think I could do it justice)?
Bughunters?
Alternity?
Pendragon?

Jonathan Tweet's Over the Edge. Work of a genious. Really, really loved that one.

Lost Souls.

You are a recently deceased person, returned as a ghost. You randomly determine your cause of death and type of ghostly form, plus some background events. Then you try to figure out how to use your ghostly abilities to complete unfinished business and earn good karma so when you are reincarnated, you'll come back as something better than pond scum. And if you are damaged, you lose Will To Live - run out, and you reincarnate immediated (removing you from the game).

Creating characters is a blast. And the action resolution mechanic is pretty ingenious, actually.

Jib wrote:

Fair is fair! How about some little know RPGs that you can suggest? Now I am not talking the big one like Vampire, Shadowrun, D&D or Traveler. How about some little known games that have that certain edge... that extra color... that fun that keeps you returning for more.

Try In Nomine.

Ooooo Angels and Demons in a d6 system, that was fun! Too bad I only got to play it once...

I also liked Trinity and Aberrant.

Anyone remember Whispering Vault?

Kult (so creepy I don't think I could do it justice)?
Bughunters?
Alternity?
Pendragon?

I remember Bughunters, Pendragon amd Alternity. Alternity, especially -since it seemed like a good alternative to Traveler at the time.

Here's the thing I always get into when I think about Alternity,and also Dark Matter (which was their X-Files/Horror concept using the same rules system.)

If you go back and look at the game system, it was basically the proto-D20 system that was being made by TSR just before they got bought by Wizards. The shift from 2nd edition to 3rd edition D&D to me was based partially on the research they must have made with this system. I'm not saying that they were using it as guinea pig to playtest for a new D&D, just that I think some good ideas came from that source.

I think its kind of funny now (nearly 10 years later) that we look at D20 as so distinct to having been created for D&D, but really I think the ground work was laid well-before. D&D 3.0 initially seemed to me a combination of the Alternity system with some Rolemaster elements thrown in (anyone remember that one?).

The fact that much of Alternity's & Dark Matter's story materials were reintroduced through the d20 Modern system - which I also like - seems to have brought it all full-circle after a fashion.

Sorry about totally throwing off the thread, Jib. You kind of hit a spot of contemplation on my part.

Short answer - yes, I did remember those. ;-)

I'll second Kult. It's a game that should have gotten more attention, as it is one of the single best supernatural/horror-based games out there (At least, in my humble opinion. Mind you, I never much liked World of Darkness). I've never actually played it, but I have a friend who tells me the rules are serviceable, and the actual setting more than makes up for them.

And speaking of games you don't hear about... Pokethulu. Oh, I don't want to RUN it, I just frigging love to READ it. Well, I might try to run it someday, but I'd definately have to port it to another system. Serious business, and all that.

Kult (so creepy I don't think I could do it justice)?

Love this game, wish I got the chance to run/play it more than I did.

Amber

Great for character creation, but actually game play fell flat for us. After 2 sessions, we converted all the PCs to 1st level D&D characters -- they've been almost without exception some of the most interesting characters we've ever played.

Here's the thing I always get into when I think about Alternity,and also Dark Matter (which was their X-Files/Horror concept using the same rules system.)

If you go back and look at the game system, it was basically the proto-D20 system that was being made by TSR just before they got bought by Wizards. The shift from 2nd edition to 3rd edition D&D to me was based partially on the research they must have made with this system. I'm not saying that they were using it as guinea pig to playtest for a new D&D, just that I think some good ideas came from that source.

Since you brought it up, I find it mildly disturbing that Bill Slavicsek is co-author of the Alternity system, and the back-of-book blurb states "An easy-to-learn game system designed around a unique dice mechanic."

Don't get me wrong. I love the game. But "easy-to-learn" it ain't.

And this is the guy behind the new edition that is stated as simplified and streamlined. (But that is enough of that talk.)

Space:1889! "Science-fiction role-playing in a more civilized age." In 1870, Thomas Edison invents a spacecraft and travels to Mars, where there are canals, people and flying ships. Venus is a jungle and full of dinosaurs, some of them sentient. Truly a fun game setting, although it was clunky rules-wise. I've never been able to leave it alone for long.
Props also to Top Secret, Twilight:2000, Morrow Project, Star Frontiers, 2300AD. Yes, they all have guns in them.

Space:1889! "Science-fiction role-playing in a more civilized age." In 1870, Thomas Edison invents a spacecraft and travels to Mars, where there are canals, people and flying ships. Venus is a jungle and full of dinosaurs, some of them sentient. Truly a fun game setting, although it was clunky rules-wise. I've never been able to leave it alone for long.

Props also to Top Secret, Twilight:2000, Morrow Project, Star Frontiers, 2300AD. Yes, they all have guns in them.

I'd recommend grafting the Falkenstein Rules onto Space: 1899. It's actually a pretty smooth fit, since the genres are almost identical (and Falkenstein's rules for Mad scientists are a hoot).

I'd recommend grafting the Falkenstein Rules onto Space: 1899. It's actually a pretty smooth fit, since the genres are almost identical (and Falkenstein's rules for Mad scientists are a hoot).

Actually, I'm having a good time switching S:1889 to d6. The common mechanism of d6 is one of the systems used in S:1889, so it's a cake-easy conversion.

Space 1889? Yeah!

Justice Inc too.

Over the Edge was great.

Do obscure GURPS sourcebooks count? Then I have to mention that I love GURPS Bunnies&Burrows which apparently was originally a FGU game I haven't seen...but which is rumored to have the first detailed martial arts rules in RPGs :)
And I have adopted "Imperial Stormtrooper Rule" to some other games too (the first shot by the enemy always misses).

I would love to try Pendragon at some point.

H.O.L. by Black Dog (White Wolf).

Give Price of Freedom a try. Only game I know of with rules to play yourself as a character.

Villains and Vigilantes did the same schtick. You didn't roll attributes; the DM assigned your character attributes based on your actual capabilities. (We're al geeks, so I know too many people who were offended by a Strength of 9. But the Intelligence of 8 and Charisma of 6 really sting.)

Star Frontiers, yes.

I've still a soft spot for the old universal chart MSH game.

Beyond the supernatural. I actually liked that game using the paladium system, w/o megadamage you could spend the hour of character generation time making up a character that would last and be enjoyable

Beyond the supernatural. I actually liked that game using the paladium system, w/o megadamage you could spend the hour of character generation time making up a character that would last and be enjoyable

Since someone brought up the Palladium system. I have to do it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I have the rules along with 4 sourcebooks. Yeah, the rules could get a little crazy, but my friends and I had a blast creating tons of animals characters.

Most of mine already turned up in this thread...

Chill (Pacesetter and 54-40 Orphyte versions; Mayfair's version was good but missing something...) - third RPG I ever owned. Fun little system, but don't let PCs with Martial Arts live TOO long or you won't be able to kill them (without pulling some of the NASTIER Disciplines out, that is...).

Villains & Vigilantes (FGU) - any game that puts out a mega-controversial module like For The Greater Good is cool... Though they DID make (IMO) two fundamental flaws in the game design:
1) "Game Balance? Everything's random - that should even out. Beyond that, it's entirely up to the GM..." This wouldn't be TOO bad, except that you can wind up with one player running Superman and another running someone like Doc Savage or The Spirit in the same group... Puts a LOT more work on the GM to keep chalenges even... AND
2)Agility is WAY, WAY WAY too important. It adds to POWER. It determines how often you act in a round. It modifies combat rolls. AND... It's the second highest modifier to hit points. Characters who don't get Enhanced Agility tend to, well, SUCK unless the GM determines them to be very agile on their own, or they're somehow purely defensive...

GhostBusters The Role-Playing Game(West End Games) - the original GB RPG, not GBI. That added too many unneeded rules to the game. One of the best comedy games I've read anywhere, and one of the best licensed games I've played.

Now Playing Carnivore Games. FUDGE-based system for playing television games. Different. Spawned it's own spin-off game (should be hitting stores soon, but I haven't seen it myself), Strange World, a "Non-Fiction Paranormal Investigation Role-Playing Game."

Burning Wheel Only managed to play in a demo of it once, but it has one of the coolest combat systems I've seen anywhere.

Kills puppies for satan, despite the devilish nature of the game (or perhaps because of it) It is A> Fast B> Fun C> Engrousing. My players began the game as vanilla prudes and ended the game as puppy killing, backstabbing, morally deficiant scum.

And everyone had fun, was involved, and got to do that whole role play thing. I call it a win.

Logos

Anybody remember Crimefighters? The sixteen-page pulp action game by Zeb Cook, published in Dragon #47?

Wow. It works so well. It has the "1-second dithering" rule that makes combat entertaining. It allows for the spooky supernatural heroes and the two-fisted crime-busting action guys right next to one another.

Sixteen pages.

We played that game for years.

Dragon Warriors - a fantastic little game. Featuring a simple unified system, 4 paths of magic (8 if you include the separate elementalists), magic item creation rules, numerous scenarios including 2 campaigns and a well worked setting similar to 10th century Europe - all packed into 6 Octavo size paperback books!
Perfect for tucking into a schoolbag for those lunchtime campaigns...

Ars Magica - the game that got us out of the dungeon and into character-driven, political-heavy gameplay. Again, a great mythical Europe setting, great magic system and (of course) Grogs!

WitchCraft is a game of modern magic and dark secrets. Player characters are the Gifted. Feared for their unique powers, they have been hounded for centuries, and forced to practice their Arts in secret. The time for hiding is over. A Time of Reckoning draws near. It marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one or the destruction of all things. The choices the Gifted make will determine what our future will be like.

And the First one is FREE :)

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=692&it=1

for the recorded I do not own stock or work for them. I just love it

Don't get me wrong. I love the game. But "easy-to-learn" it ain't.

Ah. Alternity. That was my first gaming product ever. None of us had really played any roleplaying games before. and I can't have been older than 15-16 with limited grasp of the English language, but I don't remember it being that hard really. But for all I know we may have played it all wrong. I just know we had great fun playing it :)

Also want to toss Paranoia into the ring. I've never had so much fun during a session as I've had during Paranoia.

Also has fond feelings for an old supers game called Brave New World. In retrospect I hate the rules, but loved the setting when it came out :)

Tribe 8
Legend of the five rings
Inspectres has a strong boardgame feel to it, but is still loads of fun.