E6

[Layander]

Just found out about this thing called E6 for 3.5. Something about this hit me. I want to play a roleplaying game similar to this. Its very very interesting. I like the heroic fantasy where you play mortal men and women doing heroic things. I dont like super hero D&D as it has come to be today. Please do not start a flame war here. I am just trying to ask something. Back in 1st edition eventually everything evened out and the curve slowed down. You evolved but more and more you had to rely on wits and intelegence to win the day instead of huge numbers. Hundreds of hitpoints ect. Heroes got better but didn't become gods. (unless thats what the GM wanted.)
I am not on an edition rant I have a question. That rule system created one type of fantasy, a conan fantasy. Where the modern rules create more of a, comic book fantasy. To each his own but, I would like to play a game like E6 something modern with custom characters, and options other than just swing again, but where the growth of the game balances out and orcs can always be a menace, even if the PCs are getting better and better at killing them. The fellowship of the ring was a party filled with expert adventurers, but one still died to orcs. Something where the game will always seem based in a world where real physics exist.
This is a very long winded post, one I am worried will be misunderstood or flamed, but anyone there who can understand the ramblings of a very old roleplayer please try to help. What I need is your suggestions of the system I should try. One that has the elements of a heroic fantasy game without Wuxia or Super Heroic stunts. Thank you for your time.
Layander

 

[Aus_Snow]

Something where the game will always seem based in a world where real physics exist.

Not D&D then.

Well, actually, not most RPGs then.

What I need is your suggestions of the system I should try. One that has the elements of a heroic fantasy game without Wuxia or Super Heroic stunts.

Cue recommendations of everyone's favourite systems, regardless of appropriateness.

You might like Pendragon. Or Dragon Warriors. Maybe Warhammer, but probably not. HarnMaster, perhaps. RuneQuest? Yeah, give that a look too. Or even the new BRP (Basic Role Playing) core book. Bizarrely, Dragon Age could work out fine as well -- it's based on a CRPG, is the funny thing!

Then again, if you interpret older D&D warrior-types as unable to do much except swing each round, a couple of the above might not be any more appealing to you.

 

[Layander]

No I understand what you are saying, so far my favorite games are probably 1st edition and if I dont get any good ideas here I may stick with that. I Like 1st, WFRP, and GURPS. Gurps has alot of what I like but its hard to convince players to play. I dont know why. But something about E6 where everyone stays in a heroic place but still improves impressed me alot.

 

[juboke]

In case you haven't seen this already, and you are interested in E6 then check out the links below to get you started.

i. E6 Rules
ii. Raising the Stakes
iii. EN World

 

[Umbran]

Gurps has alot of what I like but its hard to convince players to play. I dont know why.

Well, GURPS, with all the combat options in use, gets pretty clumsy and long. And without them, it isn't very interesting.

GURPS is supposed to be Generic - that's a strength, and a weakness. By trying to be generic they made it... generic. As in "not unique". It lacks coherent individual flavor. Whle you can play a satisfying campaign with the system, the system itself doesn't actually add much to be satisfying.

 

[xechnao]

I think for what exists right now Fantasycraft and Dragonage are the most appropriate fantasy games you should be checking out.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think you would probably really enjoy RuneQuest 2, and it's latest incarnation is Chaosium's Basic RolePlaying as Aus_Snow mentions.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Roleplaying-Chaosium-d100-system/dp/1568821891]Amazon.com: Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium d100 system (Basic Roleplaying) (9781568821894): Jason Durall, Sam Johnson: Books[/ame]

It is certainly my go-to system when I have an urge for gritty realism, where PCs can become experts but other creatures always remain threats. Much more so than any edition of D&D in fact!

Cheers

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Just found out about this thing called E6 for 3.5. Something about this hit me. I want to play a roleplaying game similar to this. Its very very interesting. I like the heroic fantasy where you play mortal men and women doing heroic things. I dont like super hero D&D as it has come to be today. Please do not start a flame war here. I am just trying to ask something. Back in 1st edition eventually everything evened out and the curve slowed down. You evolved but more and more you had to rely on wits and intelegence to win the day instead of huge numbers. Hundreds of hitpoints ect. Heroes got better but didn't become gods. (unless thats what the GM wanted.)

I am not on an edition rant I have a question. That rule system created one type of fantasy, a conan fantasy. Where the modern rules create more of a, comic book fantasy. To each his own but, I would like to play a game like E6 something modern with custom characters, and options other than just swing again, but where the growth of the game balances out and orcs can always be a menace, even if the PCs are getting better and better at killing them. The fellowship of the ring was a party filled with expert adventurers, but one still died to orcs. Something where the game will always seem based in a world where real physics exist.

This is a very long winded post, one I am worried will be misunderstood or flamed, but anyone there who can understand the ramblings of a very old roleplayer please try to help. What I need is your suggestions of the system I should try. One that has the elements of a heroic fantasy game without Wuxia or Super Heroic stunts. Thank you for your time.
Layander

It seems you are looking for a game that tends to have a very slow power curve. D&D has its advances coming in big packages - levels. Each typically gives a lot of benefits (like extra attack bonus, hit points, feats, spells, powers, talents, saving throw increases, skill points) which ends up as a big increase.

There are games that have a slower advancement. In many games, an "advance" is typically more along the lines of raising one skill by a small amount, instead of raising multiple things at once. These advances might happen more often than levels, but still are overall slower.

Another aspect you might want is a more "gritty" system, where the PCs just have less resources at their disposal to avoid injury and lasting penalties. D&D has its hit points, armor class and saves/defenses that all provide a big "harm buffer".

Warhammer 2E for example might be closer to your ideal.

Advancement comes in small steps. Each so-and-so-many XP, you can afford to raise a characteristic (ability score) by 5 % or a skill by 10 %. Which ones you can raise depends on your "career". Your first career consists of about 20 such increases you have to take before you can pick a new one, and the first career allows you to increase characteristics only by up to 10 %. (And only some of them). Before you can advance in a particular career, you need to acquire its trappings (equipment associated with a career, be it a spellbook, a horse or two pistols), too. Advanced Careers (the only that can bring you characteristic increases above 10 %) typically hahve more expensive trappings.

During combat, you can try up to one parry and one dodge (but you might not have even these, depending on weapon choice and what skills you are trained on). So even if you at some point would have a 100 % chance to parry one attack and to dodge one attack (which is almost imposible to achieve and will take probably years of weekly games), you still wouldn't able to avoid the third succesful attack against you.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm not sure I'm following you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems you said, if you'll allow me to rephrase what I got out of that, "I like E6. It's perfect for my tastes. It's exactly what I want. Can someone please recommend to me another game system that's just like E6, but is, in fact, not E6?"

 

[Layander]

I am basically saying E6 fixes alot of problems I have with 3.5 its not perfect but, its closer than base 3.5 is, so what can you recomend that goes further in that direction. Some of the things you have recomended are a big help I have considered WFRP for my game for a while and I am going to look at that basic roleplay and see what its like.