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It will be a few months until I return home and start up another fantasy campaign, and I have started thinking that I might want to just get away from D&D and all its baggage for a while. I love D&D, don't get me wrong. It could, though, be nice to explore some new pastures. So if you would, please tell me what other fantasy RPGs you recomend.
I am currently considering Warhammer Fantasy RP. Riddle of Steel I don't think would match our play style. But beyond this and some Earthdawn back in the day I really have no ideas about what games to investigate.
Thanks.
Tam
I highly enjoy Mythweaver 2nd Edition (released late summer 08) and you can read more about it by Grubman's post at RPGnet here
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=426442
The game is available at RPGNow and Drivethrugames, too:
http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=733?affi liate_id=64113
There's also a great support group on Yahoo! groups, as well.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on the game ifyou check it out...
It depends what kind of fantasy game you like. If you want to try something on the gritty side, definitely go for Warhammer Fantasy RPG. The game is fantastic, but it can definitely be very lethal :). If you like high powered, heroic fantasy, then Exalted from White Wolf might be worth a try - in that game, you play characters that are essentially demi-gods in their power level. The setting's quite interesting, but the game does require a lot of d10s to play :D
For more eastern-inspired fantasy, there's always Weapons of the Gods (similar in power level to Exalted, but you play kung fu masters instead) or Legend of the Five Rings (again, pretty lethal). 7th Sea is swashbuckling fantasy, and uses the same dice system as L5R but is much less lethal. Unfortunately, I think it's now out of print.
I've tried all of these and enjoyed them at various points. Just depends exactly what you're looking for, really. :)
It depends what kind of fantasy game you like. If you want to try something on the gritty side, definitely go for Warhammer Fantasy RPG. The game is fantastic, but it can definitely be very lethal :). If you like high powered, heroic fantasy, then Exalted from White Wolf might be worth a try - in that game, you play characters that are essentially demi-gods in their power level. The setting's quite interesting, but the game does require a lot of d10s to play :D
For more eastern-inspired fantasy, there's always Weapons of the Gods (similar in power level to Exalted, but you play kung fu masters instead) or Legend of the Five Rings (again, pretty lethal). 7th Sea is swashbuckling fantasy, and uses the same dice system as L5R but is much less lethal. Unfortunately, I think it's now out of print.
I've tried all of these and enjoyed them at various points. Just depends exactly what you're looking for, really. :)
I definitely would say
*7th Seas( non-D20 version) for pirate\swashbuckling games,*Legend of the 5 Rings(non-D20) for eastern\ oriental,
*Pendragon for old english(the 4th edition for better magic system)
*Ars Magica-for 12th century england with awesome magic system
*Conan (Mongoose) -for cracking alternative to D&D
I tried Exalted but was frustrated with the White Wolf system( you roll 10's but they are countered by 1's etc and you seem to end up with way too many failures when trying to do stuff) you seem to end up with characters who are a lot weaker than they should be considering they are demi-godlings.
Used to run Vampire( white wolf pre-requiem) and found the same problems, I roll 10 dice and finish up with Zero success's(happened way too regularly for my likes)!!!! Very silly sometimes.
I tried Exalted but was frustrated with the White Wolf system( you roll 10's but they are countered by 1's etc and you seem to end up with way too many failures when trying to do stuff) you seem to end up with characters who are a lot weaker than they should be considering they are demi-godlings.
Used to run Vampire( white wolf pre-requiem) and found the same problems, I roll 10 dice and finish up with Zero success's(happened way too regularly for my likes)!!!! Very silly sometimes.
Really? I recently started playing Scion, and it's the first time I've used the White Wolf system. So far I haven't had that experience at all. And I'm usually cursed with bad rolling.
I haven't really had that experience with Exalted either, although I have seen it with WoD games. A dice in Exalted is a 'success' if you roll above 7, and you generally roll so many dice that you'll get at least a few that are 7 or more. The main issues I've found with the game are that combat can be fairly lengthy, and the number of dice you need to roll can get rather large later on (although most of my experience is with 1st edition)
Really? I recently started playing Scion, and it's the first time I've used the White Wolf system. So far I haven't had that experience at all. And I'm usually cursed with bad rolling.I tried Exalted but was frustrated with the White Wolf system( you roll 10's but they are countered by 1's etc and you seem to end up with way too many failures when trying to do stuff) you seem to end up with characters who are a lot weaker than they should be considering they are demi-godlings.
Used to run Vampire( white wolf pre-requiem) and found the same problems, I roll 10 dice and finish up with Zero success's(happened way too regularly for my likes)!!!! Very silly sometimes.
I am surprised. I've run several WW campaigns, Vampire a number of times(masquarade a couple of time and Sabbat once), Mage and Werewolf and with the 'I roll to attack, I roll damage then they roll to soak we were finding due to the 10 cancelling the 1's we often did no damage the more dice you got....odd I know but the campaigns each went on for about a year.
Then one of my mates got Exalted we made characters. I can't remember what type I was but all in all I should have been pretty tough compared to the average man.First combat I met a basic human guard rolled the attack, then on through damage and soak etc and did nothing!! It sorted went downhill from there and we gave up.
The new vampire has a number of good new rules that stopped the counter rolling but exalted's 2nd ed still hasn't updated the rules in line with Vampire Requiem or the new Werewolf-forsaken etc.
How have you been getting on and is it 1st or 2nd edition Exalted?
Really? I recently started playing Scion, and it's the first time I've used the White Wolf system. So far I haven't had that experience at all. And I'm usually cursed with bad rolling.I tried Exalted but was frustrated with the White Wolf system( you roll 10's but they are countered by 1's etc and you seem to end up with way too many failures when trying to do stuff) you seem to end up with characters who are a lot weaker than they should be considering they are demi-godlings.
Used to run Vampire( white wolf pre-requiem) and found the same problems, I roll 10 dice and finish up with Zero success's(happened way too regularly for my likes)!!!! Very silly sometimes.I am surprised. I've run several WW campaigns, Vampire a number of times(masquarade a couple of time and Sabbat once), Mage and Werewolf and with the 'I roll to attack, I roll damage then they roll to soak we were finding due to the 10 cancelling the 1's we often did no damage the more dice you got....odd I know but the campaigns each went on for about a year.
Then one of my mates got Exalted we made characters. I can't remember what type I was but all in all I should have been pretty tough compared to the average man.
First combat I met a basic human guard rolled the attack, then on through damage and soak etc and did nothing!! It sorted went downhill from there and we gave up.
The new vampire has a number of good new rules that stopped the counter rolling but exalted's 2nd ed still hasn't updated the rules in line with Vampire Requiem or the new Werewolf-forsaken etc.How have you been getting on and is it 1st or 2nd edition Exalted?
Scion is a bit different from Exalted. I don't really know how because it's the first White Wolf game I've played, but that's what I've been told. So far we've been doing really well even against fairly powerful stuff.
Just my two coppers here, but as I've said in other similar threads, two games you might want to look into are.....
Paladium Fantasy its fun, and you can house rule the game to your liking very esaily. Moreover its very much less dependent on minatures then D&D. Heck no minatures need at all. Its an older system, and a lot of people have issues with it, but what I always like about it is that its very free form, and customizalbe. The setting is a none issue if you don't like it, but I find it a lot of fun.
Also, but this is out of print. Mage the Dark Ages, its WW system, but if you dump a lot of the setting specific stuff it works well as a fantasy game.
AS to Warhammer fantasy and Exsalted, I've had experince with both. I like both to a degree, Warhammer being more to my liking, but the problem with both is that they are very much tied to the settings. If you like the settings, great but if you don't, well they lose something. Exsalted dice pool has been spoken about to death everywere, either you like it or don't. I'm, okay enough with it to play, but the setting simply never gave me enough joy to stick with the game.
TTFN DRE
Rolemaster Fantasy is always worth a look - we just played it yesterday and had a very very good time - definitely partly because of the rules :)
Talislanta is the best fantasy rpg I've ever played. It has a very rich, complex and exotic fantasy world, fairly simple rules, and nifty illustrations that really bring it to life. www.talislanta.com
Savage Worlds by Pinnacle Entertainment Group is an excellent game system, and it runs fantasy as easily as it does any other genre of game.
Best of all the core game book is only 10 bucks.
www.peginc.com
I ran a Savaged Burnt Offerings game with 5 PC's and it was extremely successful, until Ripnugget and his minions killed the entire party due to poor PC tactics and choices :P
Warhammer Fantasy looks good too.
WFRP was better in the 1st edition - deadly, fast, mean :)
2nd edition solved a lot problems (magic that works for instance), but lost the "different" feeling of the 1st edition - battle for instance is the standard 08/15 battle you can find in 90% of rpgs.
... the standard 08/15 battle you can find in 90% of rpgs.
Pardon?
Paladium Fantasy its fun, and you can house rule the game to your liking very esaily.
Any system can be easily house ruled. I think most people prefer a game they do not have to heavily house rule.
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Any system can be easily house ruled. I think most people prefer a game they do not have to heavily house rule.
I believe that "systems you do not have to house rule" quickly becomes something of a myth once you start getting aware of your needs and wants as a game master (when you start, you just accept written material as the thing that stands. Which in itself has its advantages and flaws, and which of course creates this feeling that "this game was so much better when I was young". But hey... we all evolve). There are literally zillions of game systems out there, and yet gamers still feel like chasing what they call "the perfect system".
It doesn't exist ouside of their own imagination.
Which is a good thing.
Take a game system and universe that most reflect your own tendencies, and then tweak them to suit your needs. House rule. Modify. Make it work for you. That's the way tabletop gaming's supposed to work.
Take a game system and universe that most reflect your own tendencies, and then tweak them to suit your needs.
Agreed. I still stand by my assertion that most GMs do not want to run a game they have to heavily house rule.
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Agreed. I still stand by my assertion that most GMs do not want to run a game they have to heavily house rule.
I believe you are right. I believe that most of these GMs are just searching for something they will never find, not because games are more badly done than they were say... 15 years ago, but because THEY, the GMs, or their needs, rather, changed over the years.
My conclusion is just for them to realize they have to make their needs happen through house rules and agreements at the game table rather than chase something they will never find in a stale rule book.
I believe you are right. I believe that most of these GMs are just searching for something they will never find...
Topic Drift
I know my own gaming tastes have change. Before, I looked for rule heavy systems with plenty of granularity. Now, I find I am looking for more rule light systems that get out of the way.My own experience with house ruling was the further you drifted from core, the more likely you were to alienate players. I have found that I can be at peace with the core rules of most games I am willing to entertain.
Contributor
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I believe you are right. I believe that most of these GMs are just searching for something they will never find...Topic Drift
I know my own gaming tastes have change. Before, I looked for rule heavy systems with plenty of granularity. Now, I find I am looking for more rule light systems that get out of the way.My own experience with house ruling was the further you drifted from core, the more likely you were to alienate players. I have found that I can be at peace with the core rules of most games I am willing to entertain.
Here, here. And on that note:
Sorcerer
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I suggest giving GURPS a look. It's 100% customizable and adaptable to any style of play. ...and check out the forums too, where the posters are as helpful and gracious as they are on Paizo...
Bling Bling, I'm not suggesting that you're wrong, but that hasn't been my experience.
I tried learning GURPS with the two 4th Edition hardcovers, back in January of 2006, and the experience, frustrating as it was, was matched by the unpleasant experience of asking on-line what we'd done wrong, and getting chewed out by one of the game writers for trying to run a combat without first, as he put it, reading both books, cover-to-cover, twice.
Needless to add, I haven't purchased anything for GURPS since January, 2006.
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Earthdawn!
The only system I've ever played where houserules are not needed.
You can pick up the orignal Earthdawn book at a reseller.
You can pick up Earthdawn 2nd edition from Living Room Games
or
You can pick up Earthdawn Classic from RedBrick Ltd. (Expensive as you need to get it printed through Lulu, since RedBrick is down under.) (I might finally pick up my own after this week, since I got a sidejob fianlly! woo...extra cashola!)
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I'm not a GURPS fan myself,
Palladium Fantasy isn't too bad, Palladium isn't bad if you take out the MDC and hit location specific mega-armors...then it just bogs down like Battletech.
Basically Armor has an Armor rating, and SDC (hp)
Hits are touch attacks, then hit DR (Armor rating).
Character creation is cool cuz it's not 3d6, it's 2d6 or 3d6 or even 5d6 depending on stat and race. Roll 6's again, so you have have truly exceptional specimens.
Back to Earthdawn.
The reasona I love Earthdawn: The powers grow with you, dice explode, and magic items get better. You don't just get XP you get legend points which you use to make yourself better. Karma points are one of the first "action point" systems, but you can buy more as you play, with legend points, and not everyone has the same size karma dice. Trolls only get a d4 for example, while windlings get a d12. Magic is skill based. You weave threads then use spellcasting. Spells are filtered through a matrix, to keep out the negative astral energy of casting raw magic...very bad. Devils and demons have nothing on the horrors in Earthdawn.
There's a built in Wound system that works great.
There's a step system for dice, instead of static +1/+2 you go from rolling d6 to d8, even 2d6+2d8+d20 as an upper level step.
All this nostalgia...
ahhhhh *BIG HAPPY SMILE*
It could, though, be nice to explore some new pastures. So if you would, please tell me what other fantasy RPGs you recomend.
It may seem off the wall, but you could try vanilla RuneQuest (rather than Elric or Lankhmar or similar) from Mongoose. It's gritty, and has a very different feel to D&D/d20, but is also a very different style, too.
It will be a few months until I return home and start up another fantasy campaign, and I have started thinking that I might want to just get away from D&D and all its baggage for a while. I love D&D, don't get me wrong. It could, though, be nice to explore some new pastures. So if you would, please tell me what other fantasy RPGs you recomend.
I am currently considering Warhammer Fantasy RP. Riddle of Steel I don't think would match our play style. But beyond this and some Earthdawn back in the day I really have no ideas about what games to investigate.
Thanks.
Tam
Tam –
We’re having a similar discussion on a few other threads in this section, so your post caught my eye. I’m not yet completely sure what you tastes are, but please allow me to suggest Metal, Magic and Lore.
I’ll tell you immediately that I am co-author of the game, but since you asked the question I figured I throw our hat in the ring. D&D is a great game and I grew up playing it. However, MML is very different. Our game is focused on skills rather than classes and we strive to build an atmosphere of realism throughout the book.
Check out the discussions under the threads “My Fantasy Holy Grail” and “Metal Magic and Lore Authors Update”. If MML sounds intriguing then I’d be happy to chat with you further.
Best Regards,
Andy.
Co-Author
Metal Magic and Lore.
Earthdawn now that takes me back, How is the new game? is it a straight reprint or has it been changed?
D6 Fantasy! Extremely easy to learn and play, and very very customizable. I pretty much only use it now. Pick up the D6 Fantasy rulebook and bestiary. There is also a locations book but it isnt that useful.
Other than that Metal, Magic, and Lore sounds really awesome and Ill be pickin that up as soon as I deploy.
Anima: Beyond Fantasy
A recently released title from FFG, using D10 and %Dice
I would really like it to do well so they'll bring out more material for it.
Anima's up-side (which pretty much everyone agrees on) is that it looks great, the style and content is excellent.
The biggest down-side is it's character sheet. There is so much flexibility and options regarding character creation that they've had to create a 4-page character sheet that can incorporate everything available to a player, and it's pretty weighed down in black ink.
I suppose another downside might be GMs feeling that they have to buy a second copy of the handbook so that they'll always have a perfect untouched(by players) version as well as the copy that players will paw through and drool over.
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I believe you are right. I believe that most of these GMs are just searching for something they will never find...Topic Drift
I know my own gaming tastes have change. Before, I looked for rule heavy systems with plenty of granularity. Now, I find I am looking for more rule light systems that get out of the way.My own experience with house ruling was the further you drifted from core, the more likely you were to alienate players. I have found that I can be at peace with the core rules of most games I am willing to entertain.
Here, here. And on that note:
Sorcerer
I've played sorcerer. I have nothing good to say about it, other than i'll never play it again.
Currently I'm having a hell of a fun time with Palladium. I've played GURPS, and it's not that bad, imo. Witchcraft was a load of fun till one of the players ruined it (which i'd love to play again, minus that player). Helix is a game my friends made, and one of our other groups is having a ton of fun with it. After out Palladium game is finished, my GM (and creator of Helix) wants to playtest another game/system/setting he's developing, and i'm looking forward to that.
There is so much flexibility and options regarding character creation that they've had to create a 4-page character sheet that can incorporate everything available to a player...
That sounds interesting. I may have to check that out despite my recent binge on rules light systems.
Warhammer 2ed with 1ed setting:)Good rules and fun setting! (storm of chaos didn't do it for me.
" Conan" from Moongoose publishing Sword and sorcery with a d20:)
I tried learning GURPS with the two 4th Edition hardcovers, back in January of 2006, and the experience, frustrating as it was, was matched by the unpleasant experience of asking on-line what we'd done wrong, and getting chewed out by one of the game writers for trying to run a combat without first, as he put it, reading both books, cover-to-cover, twice.
Needless to add, I haven't purchased anything for GURPS since January, 2006.
I don't know why anyone would have taken offense...it's not as if your LJ post was confrontational or anything. Asking for help is one thing...asking for help while knocking the ruleset favored by the people that are in the position to best help you is another.
Anyway. GURPS rules do seem quite complex on the surface but IMHO they're no more boggling than D&D 3.5 and the system hangs together better as a whole. I do recommend GURPS for serious fantasy roleplay and, for a D&D-like experience get the Dungeon Fantasy supplements.
M
I'll pipe in with a game that I found was quite interesting, JAGSrevised, though it does suffer slightly from GURPs-itis: the way Ability Scores higher than 14 or so skew the success of using skills.
I believe something along the lines of Ability Scores giving a bonus/penalty to skills, and limiting how high/low a skill can be would work much better. The way skills can be linked to a stat or bought outright is awkward at best, and is one of my only complaints with the system. I'd say it would be fairly easily fixed though.
I always found Palladium to be a great concept in general but the way arbitrary percentage-success of skills were assigned reduced it to a great reference for other games instead of playing it as is.
WhiteWolf and kin - too many dice, Ars Magica was better in that regard.
A game that is likely out of print for many years now, but I always used for reference, was "The Arcanum."
If Gurps could fix the problems with stats > 14, the game would be by far one of the best. The way it handles magic, power stones, spells, magic item creation et al... is amazing :-)
Well I was bouncing around the various RPG Sites, and came across:
Atlantis: The Second Age, Based on the classic Atlantean Trilogy by Bard Games (ie The Arcanum ... wow wish mine was in better condition, Like New is going for over $180 on Amazon). Available as a PDF from enworld.rpgnow.com.
Also "A Game of Thrones" - which I haven't played/read (yet), but garnered quite a few awards and rave reviews.
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Earthdawn!
The only system I've ever played where houserules are not needed.
You can pick up the orignal Earthdawn book at a reseller.
You can pick up Earthdawn 2nd edition from Living Room Games
or
You can pick up Earthdawn Classic from RedBrick Ltd. (Expensive as you need to get it printed through Lulu, since RedBrick is down under.) (I might finally pick up my own after this week, since I got a sidejob fianlly! woo...extra cashola!)
Thought I'd point out that Mongoose will be releasing the newest version for Redbrick so you won't have to buy it from Lulu, making it available in stores come June.
Feels on the first glance like a refreshing mix of D&D and Rolemaster:
HARP
Nice, fast, easy to play :)
Also "A Game of Thrones" - which I haven't played/read (yet), but garnered quite a few awards and rave reviews.
AGoT is an excellent game but out of print since the production company went bust. If you like D20 and prefer a level-based system, I'd definitely track it down. The new social/reputation and shield rules are also excellent and well worth integrating into other D20 games, and give options for playing political factions which I haven't seen in other D20 titles yet.
The current Song of Ice and Fire RPG is this one from Green Ronin. This is a leveless, classless, d6-based dice pool system which features a much-raved-about noble house creation system and a well-received mass battle system. Haven't tried it out but it sounds very good.
This is a leveless, classless, d6-based dice pool system which features a much-raved-about noble house creation system and a well-received mass battle system.
Don’t forget the social encounters too. Although, I think that is a mixed bag of love/hate depending on personal preference.
It will be a few months until I return home and start up another fantasy campaign, and I have started thinking that I might want to just get away from D&D and all its baggage for a while. I love D&D, don't get me wrong. It could, though, be nice to explore some new pastures. So if you would, please tell me what other fantasy RPGs you recomend.
Don't forget that the new HackMaster Basic edition is scheduled for end of June... :)
If you can get hold of a copy, artesia: adventures in the known world is amazing.
AGoT is an excellent game but out of print since the production company went bust. If you like D20 and prefer a level-based system, I'd definitely track it down. The new social/reputation and shield rules are also excellent and well worth integrating into other D20 games, and give options for playing political factions which I haven't seen in other D20 titles yet.
Easy enough to track down, course it looks like it is pretty much cover price on Amazon: A Game of Thrones, $59.50
In regards to WarHammer FRPG I had thought the 2nd Edition was a reprint of 1st with Errata included (apparently not).
While I love the WarHammer system, Games Workshop completely flubbed the license, and it took something like 15 years for the "coming soon" Realms of Sorcery supplement to see the light of day. Warhammer has gone thru 4 or 5 different hands, the last one I knew was Hogshead Publishing. Green Ronin was mentioned in this thread (& Black Industries, closed up shop in 2008). All the links for Warhammer on Green Ronin are dead links, except for the FAQ and the main warhammer page.
They (Green Ronin) don't even mention that they no longer have the license - I had to go to wikipedia to find that the current publisher of Warhammer FRPG is Fantasy Flight Games. They have a number of books available, except the core WFRPG rulebook - which appears to only be available on Amazon.
I may have to pick up the current edition and find a nice balance between 1st and 2nd+ :-)