RPGs other than D&D?

[SGI]

Well time to add more threads to our glorious new forums.

What RPGs do you all play other than D&D. I love my D&D as much as the next person but I am curious about other RPGs that are popular in our magnificent forum.

[Manhattan_Project_2000]

I love Shadowrun as a setting, but I loathe d6. I'm also pretty up on D20Modern.

[SGI]

I love the talents system and action point system of D20 Modern. I'd love to eventually run a 'Classically Modern' campaign. But printing out all those books would be murder on my ink and.or bank account.

Shadowrun is a great setting, it's a pity about the bucket of D6's you need to run it on. Almost as bad as Palladium RPGs.

[ShadowWalker]

Whitewolf Games are awesome, but you have to be very selective about whom you let into them, and even more selective about whom you let play. They can be a LOT of fun though.


Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, they are ALL good.

But KOE is my favorite. Kindred of the East. =) Vampires that run on Cho? They can rip the head OFF of a werewolf. Intense. ^_^ I love Akuma.

[Lon]

Lets see, you have White Wolf (and all of its sub-titles), you also have their new World of Darkness line which moves the story beyond the original scope of the games. Think of it as WW 2.0. I'm not a huge fan of their new line up.

You have Dungeons and Dragons, and it's 4 editions. 4rth ed isn't a BAD version. I think it certainly plays diffrent than the original game designed by TSR and Gygax, but wasn't that the goal of Wizards from the start; to create their completely own unique version of D&D? Personally my heart lays with 2nd edition.

You have Star Wars the RPG game by West End games. Many of you may not realize it but Wizards didn't have the original rights to the Star Wars game franchise. West End produced the first (and by far in my opinion most fun) version of the Star Wars RPG game. Wizards did release (which is in current publication) their version of the Star Wars game, but they built it off the back of their d20 model which really just is 3rd ed D&D. The original West End game used d6's and was much more impressive when a high level character took out a dice sack to roll damage against you.
IE: "What do you mean you have 30 dice in Alter!!!!!?" -A surprised Game Master to his players Fallen Jedi's response to a peasant asking for a hand out.

Next is my favorite game system of all time Big Eyes Small Mouth. BESM trumps a simplistic game engine design using only three prime stats (Body Mind Soul) where as most other popular game systems focus on six or more. BESM becomes for many the gateway drug into gaming since its simplistic design leaves doors wide open to players and game masters alike to create just about anything their minds can come up with. Unlike D&D, BESM games are almost always story driven with an emphasis on plot and actual character interactions (role play) with a minor emphasis placed on game mechanics. This is contrary to the popular d20 game systems where the mechanics over rule the game play. The only down side is the company went bankrupt last year thus making any copy of the games most recent release BESM Third Edition harder to find than big foot. If you can score a copy... GET IT! You won't be sorry. Also as a minor side note: BESM is the ONLY successful Anime RPG game system out there!

Speaking of anime RPG systems, can't find a BESM book? No problem Try Tinkers Damn! If BESM is the big foot discovery of the century then Tinkers Damn in comparison would be Atlantis. Tinkers Damn circa 1997 was a private company's attempt at a multi genre anime based RPG game. Tinkers Damn featured two mascot girls, one a squirrel one a cat, and came complete with it's own multiple genre settings in the back of the book. Tinkers Damn creators had intended more material, judging from their website links, to be released by 1999, but for some reason the new material never came. Oh well... Fun game.

Do you like mystery and sci-fi? Try the Conspiracy X RPG game now in Second Edition! Conspiracy X is a X-Files wanna be game system in where your character plays a part of a secret government black ops organization called Aegis. You suppress the activities of Aliens, Ghosts, Paranormal, and the likes in your quest to find the "truth". The game system in the first edition was overly complicated and unnecessarily involved, kind of like the plots of their first few suggested mission. The good news is they clean this up for second ed! Instead of the 4 page front and back character sheet that came with the first ed book, second ed boasts a new and improved 2 pages front to back! (minor exaggeration)

Like Dungeons and Dragons but can't get enough of your sword wielding Samurai? Then try the Legends of the Five Rings (L5R)! The original game was based on a d10 percential system and took player characters through an exciting adventures in fuedal Japan. If you weren't worrying about saving your characters face in court with your dynamo then you were worrying about saving your *** from some nasty Oni who wonders around the realm trying to stir up trouble. Like most good titles Wizards gets their hands on, this game also has a d20 version. I don't know what happened to the parent company, either they were bought out by Wizards or went under but Wizards now produces the game. I believe it is under the Swords and Sorcery d20 title. Don't quote me on that though. Not much changes between the two versions. You still have all of your Oni and Samurai classes, but instead of using d10's, you now have the full set of polyhedral at your command.

D20 Children: Wizards around the turn of the century launched an all out offensive effort against the gaming world in a quest for total domination. Spearheading the assault was the OGL, which stood for Open Gaming License. Basically Wizards took the work and effort of Gygax's TSR company's game engine (used in Dungeons and Dragons) stripped it, re-tooled it, and called it the d20 system. They in turn released this system to other RPG game companies for their use in creating (or converting their existing game ideas to) this new D20 system. The sales pitch was it created a more unified gaming world. The end result was more money for Wizards and the death of many good already existing game systems such as L5R and Star Wars. If the game is popular enough to still be in print, chances are good you'll find a d20 version of it. L5R, Star Wars, and BESM being just prime examples. The only company to not sell out on this cheap plot was White Wolf. Oh no wait... they now own the rights to Ravenloft (an original D&D setting) and released a book in 2002-3 under the Swords and Sorcery label. Damn. Anyways, if you want a game system that is unified and cuts back on the need to learn different game mechanics then this is your system. As a minor note: D20 Modern also fits in here. D20 Modern was Wizards attempt at making a D&D universe but only in a modern setting. Fun... but it gives a new meaning to Elvish Impersonator.

Want to really feel nastalgic? Try any of the following one hit wonders: X-Files, Elf Quest, Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles, Men In Black, and Star Trek. You would think that a game based around Gene Roddenberry's creation would have been more successful with the fans. Second Ed was out in stores circa 1998, and I've been told that a Third Ed game exists under Steve Jackson games (they do GURPS) but I have never seen it. Of the three, I really like the idea of playing in a Star Trek universe. If anyone has any info on that please let me know.

Mutant Mayhem! Thats right fans, you too can play as the friendly neighborhood Spiderman in Marvel Comics own RPG game system. Unfortunately this isn't my thing, so I can't even seem to recall the name of the system off the top of my head... but it does exist! And still in popular print so I'm told. There is a game called Hero's too. Not to be confused with the above. Hero's runs off the GURPS system. Good game book, if at nothing else then for ideas.

GURPS and Rifts: I lump these two together because they were both pioneers in the multi-genre setting RPG games. They both offered a simplistic game system that could be used to play in ANY setting you wanted, and they then would release countless numbers of supplementary game books for said thing. GURPS took a more neutral stance with existing plots and continuity. Nothing really meshed well together unless your Game Master said so. RIFTS on the other hand did have something of an existing storyline. In Rifts your characters could participate in multiple worlds that were just variations of the original one, so I'm told. Rifts also tended to be more sci-fi.

Shadowrun: Move over Johnny Neumatic this is the original cyber-punk RPG game. Gobblins, Ghosts, Gouls, and computer hacking super teens! Yep this game had it all. This game is obviously a child of the 80's.

Traveler: Before there was D&D there was this sci-fi RPG game. Really interesting books, circa 1970's. If you get a chance, see if you can find a copy.

Lastly, and by far the best... Battle Tech. Sure, this is more a miniature War game (such as War Hammer) but there were great potentials for RPG elements. Besides the Madcat totally roxzors!

I think that about covers all the games that I can currently think of! If anyone else cares to add on do so!

Cheers,
Lon

[Alerhys]

We played Big Eyes, Small Mouth 2nd Edition for seven years (2000-2006), through five campaigns (three I ran, two I played in).

These days we are playing Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition, an OGL superhero game from Green Ronin.

(Oh, and Lon? Hero and GURPS are entirely different games, although they both use point-build for characters and 3d6 for skill resolution).

[Lon]

bump

[Sanosuke23]

My usual DM is looking at GURPS pretty hard lately, and it looks like fun. We're probably gonna try it in the near-to-mid future.

[ShadowWalker]

I prefer more of the WhiteWolf games because it is so much more controlled, the power gaming is kept down, and the focus is on the roleplay of the game. With a lot of hard work, you can still have a hell of a lot of fun. Not many RPG's blend the modern day quite as well was what they do, not to mention, but if properly executed, you can have truely scary and inspiring games.


I love the Kindred of the East games, WereWolf, and I have been dabbling into many others lately since D&D holds my interest for tabletop in passing these days.

L5r is always a good game. And as for GURPS and some of the others....>Riiiiiiight. Let's stick with what we know. Shall we?

[sunnyside]

First off for GMs looking around many systems now have quickstart rules. I know shadowrun fourth edition does (Just google Shadowrun 4th quickstart rules). Also it gives out a lot of free adventures.

Anyway some other systems.

Paranoia. This game is crazy fun with the right group. A mad mix of George Orwell, Kafka, and the three stooges. Black humor runs rampant, and yes even your fellow players will turn on you. Hard to describe. Maybe some of the artwork will give you an idea.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Paranoia2nd.jpg

http://www.bluemeat.com/paranoia/parry6.gif

Try it at least once if at all possible.


Deadlands. Another great game. Uses a range of dice, poker chips and playing cards. Though I've heard it may have gone D20. It's set in a weird west where the dead stalk the land (and are sometimes PCs). THere is a chance it might get old after a year long campaign. But in the short run it's incredibly awsome RP.

http://www.cultgamer.net/images/deadlands.jpg


Cyberpunk 2020 (and it's kids). "The other good cyberpunk game" unlike shadowrun this one keeps to to pure tech. This is a game of attitude, with a simple but brutal underlying game mechanic. If you play it like D&D in the future you are doing it wrong. In a good game of CP2020 it'll be mixed sexes, maybe with that creepy old bondage guy you know, and the PCs will be in a whirlwind of sex, drugs, keeping up in the scene, while keeping that antihero swirl of idealism. You can let up on the sex and drugs part of course, but if you aren't willing to give up a point of armor to show off your killer abs than maybe you aren't ready for this.

Oh. It also has the awsome lifepath generator. Something that people sometimes sneak into other RPGs. Instead of playing souless killing machine orphan #28753 it saddles you with a style, and ethnicity that probably won't be pure caucasian, and maybe some family members and current or old girlfriends etc.

http://www.reddawn.net/costume/Cyber/cp2020.jpg

http://meglivorn.pl/rpg/cp2020/cp.jpg


And finally a shout out to shadowrun 4th edition. The system still plays great on the table but it's a system where ideally the players and absolutly the GM must have some brain cells to rub together. Part of why it plays so well is Shadowruns "three worlds" where there is tech stuff, magical stuff, and Matrix stuff, all going on at the same time. What that means is that it's very easy to have a team where every player brings special and needed skills and has a "job" to do. Instead of being one of three guys with a two handed weapon.

4th edition made a lot of changes. The result is generally simpler. However what I love about it is that hacking is SO MUCH BETTER AND FASTER.

http://www.irook.com/images/products/product_22191.jpg

Feel free to PM me with questions.

[Zach Powers]

My favorite is Anima: Beyond Fantasy. As implied by it's name it's heavily influenced by Anime. It has its own detailed setting but can be easily used for most animes and even a decent amount of videogames. It distinguishes itself from Big Eyes Small Mouth by being more crunchy.

It is level based but at each level you get points you can spend on abilities like magic, ki, psychic abilities, or just plain old combat skills. The price for each type of ability is determined by your class.

I picked mine up at a con but I think it will be avaiable from Amazon tomorrow (September 29th.)

[SGI]

Like Dungeons and Dragons but can't get enough of your sword wielding Samurai? Then try the Legends of the Five Rings (L5R)! The original game was based on a d10 percential system and took player characters through an exciting adventures in fuedal Japan. If you weren't worrying about saving your characters face in court with your dynamo then you were worrying about saving your *** from some nasty Oni who wonders around the realm trying to stir up trouble. Like most good titles Wizards gets their hands on, this game also has a d20 version. I don't know what happened to the parent company, either they were bought out by Wizards or went under but Wizards now produces the game. I believe it is under the Swords and Sorcery d20 title. Don't quote me on that though. Not much changes between the two versions. You still have all of your Oni and Samurai classes, but instead of using d10's, you now have the full set of polyhedral at your command.

L5R RPG is still alive and kicking very well. They are in their revised 3rd edition of the D10 system. They have really balanced the system out and it's an absolute joy to play. You can easily get you hands on the Legend of the Five Rings 3rd Edition revised book. I also very highly recommend the Emerald Empire book as well as Masters of Court. That makes for some very nasty scenarios.

[Valkarma]

If your a games-workshop fan their is 'Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay' and 'Dark Heresy' set in the Games-workshop worlds of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 respectivly
I personally would recommend the fantasy one but you could try any of them out. They are both done by Fantasy flight games:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/roleplaying.html

They also do a few other interesting ones.