What makes it your favorite? Do you want to play it? If so, what’s keeping you from doing it?
For me, it’s Burning Wheel.
I bought it purely based on aesthetics back in 2008ish, then got the supplements, then Gold, then Gold Revised, with the Codex, and the anthology…
I blame it for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardcover RPGs. :P I also like the graphic design, I like the prose (even if it’s divisive), and it has both interesting lessons you can plug into other games (like “let it ride,” letting success or failure stand instead of making lots of little rolls) and arcane systems that pique my interest (like the Artha cycle, which makes roleplay, metacurrency, skill rolls, and advancement all intersect). I genuinely like reading it for its own sake.
I haven’t played it because… well, since it’s not D&D, that immediately makes it harder to get people interested, sadly. It’s also a bit daunting, given its reputation as a crunchy system. But I have a group of players interested in trying new things, and fewer other games calling for my attention, so hopefully I’ll get a chance soon. :)
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I have so many that I’ve come across over the years but never had a chance to try. Many of them have been mentioned by others so I’ll just throw in a fresh one: Mouseguard.
The setting just feels so cozy but also heroic. Something akin to a video game like Tunic. The rules are actually quite dense though, so I’ve never gotten buy-in from any players. But it’s one of those golden egg games that I’d really love to play some day
I actually want to check that out too, since it’s in the Burning Wheel orbit. :P
That and Torchbearer, but as much as I loved the books, I think it’s the last among the three. (Though I still really want to play it.)
Yeah, Burning Wheel is high up on my list as well. I know the games are related, but I don’t know enough about either of them to know exactly how similar they are
I’m not an expert on the three either, but here’s my understanding:
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Burning Wheel is the oldest of the three, the most complicated, and geared towards dramatic fantasy stories. It’s replicating classic fantasy novels and the like.
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Mouseguard came out next, is significantly simpler, and obviously made to evoke the feeling of the comics it’s based on.
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Torchbearer is the newest of the three, is an intermediate level of complexity, and geared towards dungeon crawling and the like. Think old-school RPG with a Burning Wheel chassis.
I still haven’t got my hands on Mouseguard, and I’d love to try all of them at some point. It just breaks towards Burning Wheel for me, to begin at the beginning—but they all have a unique appeal. :)
@Lianodel @pikasaurX4 I own all three and have played one con slot of Torchbearer of which I remember none of the interactions with the mechanics, and pretty much none of the story.
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I did find a Burning Wheel LP with that name, so I’ll have to check it out!
There’s also a podcast I loved called Campaign, and since a lot (all?) of the cast were improvisers, they would hop into scenes as NPCs quite often. (I’m pretty over that podcast, but when I liked it, that was one of my favorite parts.) I tried that in other games, but it was a bit hard to get non-improvisers to get into it. I’ll have to try again!
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Shadowrun. I love the idea and most of the mechanics. But all of these editions, all of them confusing and too crunchy for the lack of competent editing… Except Anarchy. I’ll probably get around playing that one. Now if I could only get my hands on a physical copy…
Also Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game. I love the source novels, while the mechanics of the game seem like a lot of fun. But physical copies are worth a fortune and it’s not easy finding a group who would be down with the setting. I might be able to give Lords of Gossamer & Shadow (Diceless) a go, though.
Anarchy is the only version I play now. I can recommend to read it.
Shadowrun really has been mishandled by Catalyst. :/ You also get big Shadowrun fans who genuinely love the setting actively discouraging people from using the rules sometimes. “Shadowrun is great, but it sucks, so if you want to play Shadowrun (which you should!) avoid using Shadowrun.” :P
I’ve also heard Amber come up a bunch over the years. I keep meaning to check it out.
Why is it so hard for people to read the blurb on the right?:
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(Emphasis entirely mine.)
Genesys. Technically. I’ve played the Star Wars FFG system that eventually became Genesys (and loved it), but I haven’t played Genesys itself. I even own the Genesys dice, but I lack anyone else to roll them with.
I finally got a physical copy of the Genesys rules last year, but I’m in the same boat. I played in a Star Wars game for a couple years and I love the system but I doubt I’ll ever have a group to play Genesys with
I’ve heard so many crazy stories about RIFTS that I’ve always wanted to play it. But none of my friends wanna play it, and I’ve also heard it’s an absolute nightmare of a game system to actually play it.
Yeah, it’s rough. I never liked the mechanics. I love the different settings and world building. However, it’s not balanced in the slightest. You can play a glitter boy pilot or a Russian peasant in poverty. Same starting points. It takes a strong gm hand to balance it.
RIFTS does now come in Savage Worlds flavor! Simpler, more cohesive… Still a little imbalanced, but what’s RIFTS without imbalance?
I collected nearly all the books for a long time and love the setting, but I’ve rarely been able to play it. I have heard there’s a version called Savage Rifts that has better mechanics, but I’ve never looked into it myself.
Friends of mine have played both and prefer Savage by farrrrrr.
Satasupe. It’s a Japanese ttrpg. The name is a shortening of Saturday Night Special, and the game focuses on zany crime capers. I did a translation of it for a friend but nothing much came of it. If your character ever became too good or evil, they became an NPC, which was a nice mechanic to keep players from acting like saints or demons. https://d66roc.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/happy-15th-anniversary-satasupe/
Ah, that reminds me of City of Mist, where leaning too hard towards your mundane or supernatural side would do the same.
I’ve also found it interesting how vibrant the Japanese tabletop RPG scene seems to be, but how little of it makes its way over here. It seems like there’d be a huge market for it.
Pathfinder 2
I’ve watched people play MOTW and Paranoia. Both look plenty fun.
I’d also love to try one of the WH40K RPGs, but they seem like a big commitment. And like you said, it’s a lot harder to find people who want to go beyond D&D
I’ve had the change to play Paranoia, actually! It was a ton of fun, and one of my favorite gaming memories. It ran great as a fun one shot.
From way back in the days, Valley of the Pharaohs. While not my first game that attempted to be historically accurate (that honour falls to Chivalry & Sorcery) it was the first such game I found that not only tried to be historically accurate but also supplied loads of supporting material for it. (This was more important pre-Internet than it is now because it was both time-consuming and hard to find good, solid historical information that was usable in play.)
But I could never interest anybody in playing it.
Alien, that’s a game that caught my attention.
And also Aquelarre, is a game set in medieval Spain, where legends and gods are real. The game describes itself as a “Demonic medieval rpg”, and their rules are based on BRP, so it’s quite familiar on the basics.
I want to play a lot more Chronicles of Darkness, but most people prefer fantasy or sci-fi and those who want urban horror prefer World of Darkness. They don’t market it well.
I’ve also never played Blades in the Dark game. I think I need someone else to DM it for me first. I don’t really have PBTA down, my mind hasn’t quite grasped it yet.
I’m curious… what is it about CofD that you feel is missing from WoD? I’m actually on the other boat but since I’m often the storyteller, I get to decide. And my choice is mostly because I like WoD’s lore more and because I don’t own CofD books.
Regarding PbtA, I thought I’d recommend the Dungeon World Guide. The early sections apply for any PbtA:
That’s a good question. I think I’m just more familiar with the CofD lore and rules having first come in to these lines around nWoD. But I do like a lot of their mechanics, the themes, and feel of it all. It’s very mysterious and X-Files to me, versus WoD which always felt more punk. I’m sure I’d enjoy playing in a WoD game, too, but I’ve got all these CofD books I need to use if I got the chance to ST lol.
I never stopped to think that they have a different feel. Worth pondering. Thanks for the insight.
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I would like to give Scum & Villainy a go. Have the book, but not managed to get a game. Yet! I won’t give up. :)
Vampire the Masquerade, if only because I’m not into being bad guys. Love the vibes, vamps are fun, but I find it just a little too dark to want to RP as or write about.
It also kind of sucks that 5e apparently makes it mandatory to be bad guys. One of the announcements pretty much said that if you’re not playing miserable and truly irredeemable monsters, you’re having bad wrong fun.
For what it’s worth, apparently the older editions can be played as “goth superheroes.” You’d still grapple with dark themes, but get to, you know… succeed against them.
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@Lianodel Spire. We we’re like 80% close twice to set up a group though.
I bought Factorio like four years ago. I’m just waiting for a six-month period in my life where I can do nothing but play that game, because I know that as soon as I start it, that’s what the next six months of my life will be.
