What's your favorite system for pen and paper games, Veeky Forums?
I don't have much experience with many and generally haven't done much games, but it's something I've been interested in, and I think I've been the most fond of the system the Fantasy Flight Warhammer RPGs like Dark Heresy and Only War use.
Been wanting to read up on Call of Cthulhu and Shadowrun since they sound interesting and I don't know much about them at the moment.
Strike!
I just did a writeup here I play/played a lot of different systems though, and liked them all to some degree. Leaning towards "simple is better".
Unknown Armies. It's the only system I know of where magic is actually tied into roleplaying.
pathfinder
Its really just because from my gaming history, I was stuck with a group who religiously played D20 modern and if I'm going to be stuck in a game which uses a D20 type system, I'd like it to resemble a more functional game. I would rather play 5th edition, but I can't find anyone around here who would play it.
Call of Cthulhu, straight up. The system hasn't really changed in the last 25+ years. Yes, there have been changes but they are minor, nothing comparable to D&D's various editions. It's simple, ideal for beginners, and it works for the stories you want to tell in CoC. Setting and System of CoC work well together. Also, straight up percentiles make everything easier for beginners too.
Also, it's a good launching pad for getitng into more gamist d100 systems like WFRP or the 40K RPGs.
How adaptable is it for other settings? I've been wanting to run a campaign about cops and other investigative agencies somewhere between the 1930s and the 1950s, mostly realistic scenarios at first but slowly get weirder and more supernatural, but I still want it to feel solid before we get into spoopy shit.
Well, BRP and Runequest are a thing but they never blew up. CoC is simple (good for beginners) and it doesnt get much in the way (good when the story is the focus, not cool combats). So, for your purposes, it depends on how important combat is. You don't have the cool combat talents of 40K RP or D&D's feats. What's more the setting is both close to your timeline and there is Delta Green which is set in more current times but it's about various government agencies versus the Mythos.
I've been considering either Dark Heresy (first edition) modified to fit the setting or CoC for this campaign, not quite sure what exactly I want it's just stuff I'm fleshing out at the moment, how is the combat in CoC and the other stuff? I'm not really wanting to combat to be that important, but it's cops in the 30s, it has to happen.
It's generally pretty straight forward: roll d100 vs appropriate skill. Enemy may dodge or parry. If you hit, you roll for damage. Damage is comparable to D&D, however hitpoint levels are like 1st to 2nd level D&D characters and stay there.
GURPS is easily my favorite. The game plays very smoothly and has lots of fun options.
Well, that depends on whether we're taking nostalgia factor into account. If so, my favorite system is West End Games' d6 system. WEGd6 was the first generic system my group got into after graduating from d20 back in the day, and we used it for a supers campaign, a horror campaign, and a near singularirty sci-fi campaign that drew heavily on Irish mythology of the Red Branch and Cu Chulain cycle.
If we're disregarding nostalgia, I'd say Savage Worlds. It fills a lot of the ground WEG d6 used to as a rule-medium universal system, with a lot more official resources and fan support behind it.
I like Savage Worlds for most of my games, because I like it quick and highly adaptable. It also strikes a good middle ground for me between "barely any crunch" of FATE an "way too much crunch" of GURPS.
Call of Cthulhu is also very good if you want that specific brand of horror and helplessnes it gives you.
Various mixed and matched versions of D&D retroclones.
>decades of material ripe for the plucking
>tons of modern reinterpretations with interesting ideas
>ultra simple character creation--no building, no optimizing, no fawning over your perfect backstory
>gold for XP
>supports absolute normalfag noobie players and long term epic campaigns
I would really like to see more game developers working on games with a more objective incentive structure.
Frankensteinian OSR D&D Retroclone, like the guy above me and basically for the same reasons as him.
I made a classless version of fantasy flight games' 40k rpgs that I'm quite fond of. It's different enough of a homebrew to be it's own system, and I'm r rather fond of how it turned out.
Savage Worlds is ass, may as well play 4th ed DnD its so dumbed down and special power based, doesnt scale for shit and almost has to be played with minatures
Got any details on that? How does that work out?
Kinda depends on setting and style. Adapting Dark Heresy 2e has resulted in some of the best modern and sci-fi combat gameplay I've ever seen. For fantasy, I really like Rolemaster's immense amounts of material and splats for putting together parties with lots of different power levels and flavors.
Basic Fantasy or Dungeons and dragons 5e, i like the concept of other games but those two are the one i have played the most
GURPS. I always come back to it, nothing else quite like it.
>pathfinder
>resembling a functional game
damn son, you've had it rough
I'm going to throw my hat in the ring for GURPS as well. It's not really crunchy unless you want it to be, it's got a super simple basic mechanic that everything else is built around, and the best part is that you're not constrained by the setting of the system, so you can basically play whatever you want.
The One Ring
>Well known and liked setting
>Simple and easy to understand even for complete beginners
>Yet codified enough to not make it too vague really, really rules-light systems are usually hard to understand by beginners because they have lot of assumptions that unexperienced player oftewn can't get
>despite being simple, mechanics are still fun in themselves, but mostly don't get in the way of the storytelling, as contrary to many other systems where "gaming" part can often grind hard against the story and atmosphere
Of course, you have to like Tolkien at least somewhat to like this game.
And since it is very true to it's source, there is little magic in the game, so if you want to play fireball-throwing bathrobe faggot it also isn't game for you.
Woohoo, someones really butthurt about a stranger not having the same opinion!
You can just narrate anything in SW man. And it's dumbed down to be a pulpy cinematic universal rpg. No need for any realism there.
I really like warhammer fantasy roleplay 2e.
Generally games that show the player how well they've done, like Army of Darkness or Savage Worlds that generally have the same target number.
Also Whfrp2e has a great setting, nice magic and a good level of lethality. I like luck mechanics like fate points that whfrp has or bennies in SW. I like whfrp's martial supremacy and the tough magic rules (for the most of it).
2 houserules I use: you can exchange your degrees of success in hitting for damage and degrees of success in channeling grant you an additional boon to your casting roll.
Also the setting is part fantasy satire which is just great. I think games should never be completely serious all the time.
Savage Worlds. Nice and light but just crunchy enough to keep things interesting and make homebrewing a breeze. The wild die mechanic also gives Players the true feeling that their characters are touched by destiny.
It doesn't work if you want a more realistic game where the PCs and the baddies are on equal footing but if you want something a bit more pulpy then it is lovely.
Did I mention it only costs $10 USD?
Just use enemies with wild die to have them on par with the pcs
Open Legend is good. It's designed to work for almost any genre, and it's open-source, so the rules are available online for free. Almost any character concept can be realised, as it is a classless system.
How does the system work? Sounds inerdasting
Also: is there a printed version for my library?
My favorite games are by far Shadowrun and Vampire the Masquerade.
It probably is more about the setting than the system with these games but these are the games I came to really love. Sadly both have a very steap entry if you ask me, vampire moreso than shadowrun.
Shadowrun is also stupidly crunshy in some parts and not crunchy enough in others... but I played shadowrun for years, ran a couple of games myself and I love cyberpunk and shadowrun was the best cyberpunk I ever saw.
Vampire is very interesting in that it is very narrative focused. There is combat, sure, but it is clearly not the center of the game, especially if you play in the camarilla. It's alot about conspiricies and secret agendas in the vampire society that exists among humans without the humans knowing. I love it. It gives you so much opportunity to roleplay and a lot of freedom for your character costumization and background because you are playing immortal super fucking vampires with all kinds of fantastical powers after all. A Comicbook artist can be as viable of a character concept as a gardener or an ex-cop.
The entry in shadowruns case is so hard because there are like a million books you could read to supplement your game. Like, we played 4e and used like 10 different sourcebooks on a regular. You could very well play with only the core rules but most people tend to use the supplements too in my experience. All of that is, ofcourse, ignoring everything you could read up about the lore of the world, which is a fucking lot holy shit.
Vampire is simularly fucked. There is so much goddamn lore in this game, it is unreal. I haven't even got to read all the clanbooks, and that would be kinda basic for a gamemaster to understand the clans and their relationships with each other which is essential for a game of vampire. I'd love to run a vampire game and get a better feeling for the rules and stuff but I just don't feel up to it.
I started playing and running games with Shadowrun so..
You can find the rules here: www dot openlegendrpg dot com
A print version has been funded on kickstarter recently.
Legends of the Wulin is my favourite system I've never actually found a game for.
RuneQuest is t massive but it has always had as many fans as a lot of the branded systems. You can always find a group on roll20 if you know where to look, and for a long time it got its own listing on the top games of roll20 because there are as many as other popular non-D&D titles.
Mythras is a generic version that covers all my heroic game needs without breaking a sweat and is my favorite system.
bump
It's super easy, really, nothing from the PC side implies the setting except Sanity and Magic systems. BRP is a really robust ruleset.
Fantasy Craft. Easily one of the most smartly designed games I've seen. It takes 3.5 and makes it logical and balanced while adding a slew of innovative ideas.
OSR is a close second for me, you've got all the right reasons. I'll also add that I think the best part is how the game is so goddamn simple to play and run.
>BRP
What's that? Something within CoC?
Basic Role Playing, and yes, it's what CoC is based on.
A generic version of the rulesets for Runequest, CoC, etc. However, BRP hasn't been a huge success outside of CoC. I think it has lacked advantages and disadvantages/edges and flaws.
>Woohoo, someones really butthurt about a stranger not having the same opinion!
yeah, he didn't attack you, he attacked the system, you buttblasted faggot. grow up. And the system DOES suck.
>buttblasted faggot
>grow up
>the system DOES suck
I think there's only one buttblasted faggot here
Yeah he didn't attack me, I'm not the one who uses savage worlds for all his games.
But if your first response about hearing someone say he likes X is saying X is shit and dumb and you are better off playing that game most people dislike that sounds rather butthurt.
If I can't call someone butthurt over the internet anymore in what time do we live in?
Sincerely,
A buttblasted faggot that doesn't want to grow up
That user gave reasons for his dislike of sw. Reasons =/= butthurt; reasons = thoughtful analysis (may or may not be accurate, but is at least thought out).
Butthurt = your game is stupid and you are stupid and i can't believe how stupid you are.
Do you see the difference?
This is making me want to dig out my GURPS books I have.
"Your game is ass, it's dumbed down ad absurdum and you can't play it without minis, you should rather play a shit game."
Is no thoughtful analysis, no matter how hard you want it to be but these aten't the words of a man calmly expressing his opinions.
Especially if one of these claims just isn't true and the other is what the game is basically about.
>i dnt hav 2 look up tuns of shit so its dummed duwn
sw is a lite system (i.e. dumbed down), is a mini game (i.e. needs minis).
Do you even savage worlds, brah?
And are you even aware of your hypocrisy, brah?
>screamin' about thoughtful analysis while calling game he doesn't like a 'shit game'
(You) are a special kind of funny, kiddo.
I'm trying to find a game system that handles initiative in a cool, fun, effective (maybe even innovative) fashion. Anyone have any recommendations?
D6 System seems really damn good despite its quirks, I've been considering using Mini Six and bolting on stuff from D6 Fantasy for my next campaign.