Fantasy RPG recommendations
Moderator: Moderators
-
- Duke
- Posts: 1725
- Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:18 pm
Fantasy RPG recommendations
Other than 3.5/Pathfinder, what game would would you guys recommend as a fairly solid system for running a generic fantasy adventure for a couple of players that are experienced board gamers, but are wholly new to RPGs in general?
Related to this, does anyone have any input on Fantasy Age and Titansgrave? I've been given the pdfs, but haven't read through them yet and know nothing about either of them.
Related to this, does anyone have any input on Fantasy Age and Titansgrave? I've been given the pdfs, but haven't read through them yet and know nothing about either of them.
Fantasy Age and Titansgrave are built on the Dragon Age green ronin's engine, which has been discussed on this forum before and is kinda not very good. It's boring. You may get some info on Titansgrave by watching Will Wheaton's videos on youtube.Related to this, does anyone have any input on Fantasy Age and Titansgrave? I've been given the pdfs, but haven't read through them yet and know nothing about either of them.
- angelfromanotherpin
- Overlord
- Posts: 9745
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Generating a divide by zero situation in Mouseguard is trivially easy. The rule of both sides being able to achieve their goals simultaneously stops working when conflict goals are truly fundamentally incompatible. I.e. "We want to make the crucial information we possess reach Lockhaven!" vs. "We want to prevent Lockhaven from getting the crucial information they possess!", an example which actually happened in our test session. When a game can be broken unintentionally this fast - moreover, when you actually attempt to follow its supposed design goal and avoid framing conflicts purely in terms of straight-up fights to death - I wouldn't call it functional.angelfromanotherpin wrote:Mouse Guard is basically functional
Last edited by FatR on Wed Oct 28, 2015 8:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I always like to suggest Earthdawn. 3e is solid and has a lot of books, 4e is pretty cool but only the PHB is out. There's lots of premade adventures for 1e through 3e, all of which are compatible enough with each other (the rules change across editions but the numbers don't really, so stat blocks are compatible).
I like ACKS quite a bit, but any recommendation of it is very much a "Yes, but" type situation. If you have any experience with any D&Dlike, it's pretty easy to pick up.
Last edited by Blicero on Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Out beyond the hull, mucoid strings of non-baryonic matter streamed past like Christ's blood in the firmament.
- OgreBattle
- King
- Posts: 6820
- Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:33 am
Re: Fantasy RPG recommendations
ACKS is more rules lite than D&D3.PF but requires more DM arbitration. Some of TGD's Tome and other classes are actually simpler to put together than their WotC/Paizo counterparts while still being interesting and effective, like...
-Hicks Mage, you select a sphere and are good to go (http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=52837)
-Dungeonomicon Monk, building your own fighting style is fun and straightforward to grasp.
-Races of War Samurai, Barbarian are "hit things and watch them die"
-Races of War Knight has a functional defender mechanic and still contributes to dropping foes
(http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=33310)
-Tome of Virtue Totemist is a good 'nature caster'/'shapeshifter'
(http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50483)
-Tome of Virtue Soulborn is a good 'Paladin' or 'Warlock' depending on if you choose shiny or spooky FX
(http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50472)
-The SRD Rogue as is seems fine, though maybe it could pick up some abilities from the Thief Acrobat.
Tome [Combat] feats add a lot of customization to characters thematically and mechanically.
You might want to do some slight adjustments for versatility, like letting Monk use WIS in place of Dex OR Str, having the Samurai's Kiai be a flat bonus to damage instead of criticals so they don't all run around with picks.
---
I've heard good things about Fate.
Tenra Bansho Zero has a rules lite system for getting the narrative going in its specific setting but its combat system is kinda messy.
-Hicks Mage, you select a sphere and are good to go (http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=52837)
-Dungeonomicon Monk, building your own fighting style is fun and straightforward to grasp.
-Races of War Samurai, Barbarian are "hit things and watch them die"
-Races of War Knight has a functional defender mechanic and still contributes to dropping foes
(http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=33310)
-Tome of Virtue Totemist is a good 'nature caster'/'shapeshifter'
(http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50483)
-Tome of Virtue Soulborn is a good 'Paladin' or 'Warlock' depending on if you choose shiny or spooky FX
(http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50472)
-The SRD Rogue as is seems fine, though maybe it could pick up some abilities from the Thief Acrobat.
Tome [Combat] feats add a lot of customization to characters thematically and mechanically.
You might want to do some slight adjustments for versatility, like letting Monk use WIS in place of Dex OR Str, having the Samurai's Kiai be a flat bonus to damage instead of criticals so they don't all run around with picks.
---
I've heard good things about Fate.
Tenra Bansho Zero has a rules lite system for getting the narrative going in its specific setting but its combat system is kinda messy.
Last edited by OgreBattle on Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Duke
- Posts: 1725
- Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:18 pm
@Blicero -- I just went back and read your ACKS review this morning. The economic aspects sound like they'll appeal to the board gamers I mentioned earlier. The really dumb grognardy bits aren't too difficult to excise? Like, getting rid of that THAC0-esque system isn't going to cause a lot of problems/make a lot of work later on?
@Lokathor -- What do you like about Earthdawn? I only had one experience with it way back when it first came out, and it didn't gain any traction with my group then. I haven't looked at it since and remember almost nothing about it.
I'm in sort of an unusual situation in that I've got a group of people that want to try TTRPGs, but most have never really played any before and are unsure of how into it they're going to be. However, they're open to trying just about anything, provided they can understand the game and whip up characters in about an hour at the table prior to diving immediately into playing. They definitely want to be able to make their own characters though, which is why I figured 3.5/PF probably wouldn't work. Given the goal of "make characters, play one-session adventure in one sitting."
@Lokathor -- What do you like about Earthdawn? I only had one experience with it way back when it first came out, and it didn't gain any traction with my group then. I haven't looked at it since and remember almost nothing about it.
I'm in sort of an unusual situation in that I've got a group of people that want to try TTRPGs, but most have never really played any before and are unsure of how into it they're going to be. However, they're open to trying just about anything, provided they can understand the game and whip up characters in about an hour at the table prior to diving immediately into playing. They definitely want to be able to make their own characters though, which is why I figured 3.5/PF probably wouldn't work. Given the goal of "make characters, play one-session adventure in one sitting."
Fixing the alternate universe THAC0 that ACKS favors is not too difficult. You just need to convert everyone's throw progression into an attack bonus progression and add 10 to all the ACs. 30 minutes of work tops, including making a cheat sheet and printing it out.
The other major grognardy bit is race as class, but if you get the Player's Companion there are enough elf and dwarf classes to fit most archetypes. You should also check out OgreBattle's rebalancing of the classes to fit the same XP chart. <http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50472>
The other major grognardy bit is race as class, but if you get the Player's Companion there are enough elf and dwarf classes to fit most archetypes. You should also check out OgreBattle's rebalancing of the classes to fit the same XP chart. <http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50472>
-
- Duke
- Posts: 2073
- Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:20 pm
That's a link to Frank's Soulborn.ETortoise wrote:You should also check out OgreBattle's rebalancing of the classes to fit the same XP chart. <http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50472>
Here: http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=56161
Last edited by radthemad4 on Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-
- Knight-Baron
- Posts: 913
- Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:24 am
Why don't you try Warhammer Fantasy RP?
Kaelik wrote:Fuck you Haruhi is clearly the best moe anime, and we will argue about how Haruhi and Nagato are OP and um... that girl with blond hair? is for shitters.darkmaster wrote:Tgdmb.moe, like the gaming den, but we all yell at eachother about wich lucky star character is the cutest.
If you like Lucky Star then I will explain in great detail why Lucky Star is the a shitty shitty anime for shitty shitty people, and how the characters have no interesting abilities at all, and everything is poorly designed especially the skill challenges.
*Why* don't you want to use D&D 3.5? There are lots of perfectly good reasons, I'm not trying to argue with your decision not to use it, but your specific motivation is important in recommending what other games/systems you might want to try.
https://www.burningwheel.com/?page_id=2
Although the basic rules used to be free (which was a good price point) and are no longer?
Anyway, BW is far from perfect but it has stealth rules and basically uses Shadowrun 3rd edition combat, so if your wargamers find the extreme-HP swings of D&D objectionable, that would solve your problems. The game engine does produce absurd outputs in various places outside of combat and stealth, IIRC; and you might have to mind-caulk over some stuff assuming it works like Shadowrun does.
https://www.burningwheel.com/?page_id=2
Although the basic rules used to be free (which was a good price point) and are no longer?
Anyway, BW is far from perfect but it has stealth rules and basically uses Shadowrun 3rd edition combat, so if your wargamers find the extreme-HP swings of D&D objectionable, that would solve your problems. The game engine does produce absurd outputs in various places outside of combat and stealth, IIRC; and you might have to mind-caulk over some stuff assuming it works like Shadowrun does.
Chaosium rules are made of unicorn pubic hair and cancer. --AncientH
When you talk, all I can hear is "DunningKruger" over and over again like you were a god damn Pokemon. --Username17
Fuck off with the pony murder shit. --Grek
When you talk, all I can hear is "DunningKruger" over and over again like you were a god damn Pokemon. --Username17
Fuck off with the pony murder shit. --Grek
@Violence in the Media:
If creating characters under an hour is a priority then I suggest low-to-mid crunch games like Barbarians of Lemuria, Chronica Feudalis, or King Arthur Pendragon. These have nice mechanics which are flavorful yet simple enough to not halt the game to crawl, be it on creation or during combats.
If creating characters under an hour is a priority then I suggest low-to-mid crunch games like Barbarians of Lemuria, Chronica Feudalis, or King Arthur Pendragon. These have nice mechanics which are flavorful yet simple enough to not halt the game to crawl, be it on creation or during combats.
The traditional playstyle is, above all else, the style of playing all games the same way, supported by the ambiguity and lack of procedure in the traditional game text. - Eero Tuovinen
I think 5e D&D is a good fit for your needs in spite of the fairly well deserved hate it receives here. It has rules holes you can drive a truck through (especially stealth), and the power level of the players has been lowered throughout (especially at high level). However, character creation is quite quick and the characters don't have too many moving parts for first few levels of their careers. Further, free basic rules mean that the rules obsessed among your friends can come to the table fairly well prepared. Just run a session which is fairly fast past and which allows them to be reactive rather than proactive until they have their feet wet.violence in the media wrote:I've got a group of people that want to try TTRPGs, but most have never really played any before and are unsure of how into it they're going to be. However, they're open to trying just about anything, provided they can understand the game and whip up characters in about an hour at the table prior to diving immediately into playing. They definitely want to be able to make their own characters though, which is why I figured 3.5/PF probably wouldn't work. Given the goal of "make characters, play one-session adventure in one sitting."
Last edited by pragma on Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yeah, you shift the formulas for attack bonus and saving throws to get sane 3E ish outputs without too much issue. If you're mildly conversant in both system's numbers, you can go back and forth pretty much on the fly.violence in the media wrote:@Blicero -- I just went back and read your ACKS review this morning. The economic aspects sound like they'll appeal to the board gamers I mentioned earlier. The really dumb grognardy bits aren't too difficult to excise? Like, getting rid of that THAC0-esque system isn't going to cause a lot of problems/make a lot of work later on?
Time-wise,you can easily make a first level (or second or third level, really) character in less than an hour. The main area that can suck up character creation time is probably equipment selection, since that sort of thing can actually matter in a low-power game like ACKS. The Player's Companion book has a number of premade equipment kits, but I am sure you can find dozens more for free online if you want to.
For what it's worth, the main ACKS writer dude is kind of a terrible person, politics-wise. I'm not sure if that matters to you.
Ethics aside, other than rules-accessibility and name recognition (neither of which are necessarily nontrivial issues), I do not know a reason you would pick 5E over ACKS. There's actually an ACKS srd here: https://github.com/capheind/ACKS_SRD The formatting is kind of rough, but it is totally usable.
Last edited by Blicero on Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Out beyond the hull, mucoid strings of non-baryonic matter streamed past like Christ's blood in the firmament.
I'd honestly suggest Shadow of the Demon Lord, that Dark Fantasy RPG made by Robert J Schwalb. Right now not really physical copies that are going to be available yet, so if that's a dealbreaker I can understand that. Merits to that is it can be kinda done with miniatures like D&D, the classes are mostly simple enough doing step by step instructions what to modify basically. Since supposed to level up per session, can get a campaign finished, options come in quicker which I imagine they would like that?
I was going to suggest 4e, but instead how about 13th Age? Never really played it myself, but since 4e is like a boardgame, and 13th age is supposed to be "simpler & streamline" I imagine that might be good for them? (even got a free SRD)
I was going to suggest 4e, but instead how about 13th Age? Never really played it myself, but since 4e is like a boardgame, and 13th age is supposed to be "simpler & streamline" I imagine that might be good for them? (even got a free SRD)
What I find wrong w/ 4th edition: "I want to stab dragons the size of a small keep with skin like supple adamantine and command over time and space to death with my longsword in head to head combat, but I want to be totally within realistic capabilities of a real human being!" --Caedrus mocking 4rries
"the thing about being Mister Cavern [DM], you don't blame players for how they play. That's like blaming the weather. Weather just is. You adapt to it. -Ancient History
"the thing about being Mister Cavern [DM], you don't blame players for how they play. That's like blaming the weather. Weather just is. You adapt to it. -Ancient History