Darrin Drader
Explorer
Dungeons and Dragons. It has so much potential, but I only ever hear people talking trash about it.
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Favorite System that Never Caught On
- Thread starter Fishbone
- Start date
Pozatronic
First Post
I'd like to say Cyberpunk 2020. I seriously have no idea how good it did. Hands down my favorite rules system (be kind, I really haven't played that many rule systems). I also really really liked Fading Suns. It always felt like something White Wolf would have done for a Space Opera setting. I never got to play it, but the rules looked pretty decent and I really like the setting.
oh, and Torg. Haha. No.
oh, and Torg. Haha. No.
Garnfellow
Explorer
Two come to mind:
- The Fantasy Trip from Metagaming. Revolutionary design by Steve Jackson, the ur-text for GURPS.
- The SAGA system from TSR. Used briefly for Marvel Superheroes and Dragonlance. I thought this engine had a lot of promise, and even considered porting over my 2e campaign.
I also wish The Fantasy Trip was more popular, but it's so good, there's still a fair number of people who play it. It was my first RPG twenty-six years ago, and I've been playing it off and on either tabletop or pbp all this time. I squeeze in at least a one-shot every year.
There are so many deserving RPGs that get squeezed out by D&D, it's hard to just name one. I've played over sixty systems and half of them I enjoy as much or more than D&D. I love D&D, but there are just so many genres and kinds of role-playing it does not do well even with some fairly extreme rules drift.
I wish Feng Shui, FATE, Cinematic Unisystem, to name just a few favorites had caught on better than they had (to this point anyway). There's a revolution in indie rpgs that's been going on for a few years now that is redefining what role-playing can be. We'll see how far it goes, but half my favorite games have come out in that last three years.
Also, I'm sure it varies by region, but I believe Cyberpunk 2020 was fairly popular - its success got a few other companies to put similarly themed games out on the market. I ran a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign for 3 and half years back in college and had about fifteen players over the course of it, many of whom started their own campaigns when I capped participation at eight players.
On the d20 front, I hope A Game of Thrones, Iron Heroes, and True20 all get more support/popularity. They're all brilliant.
There are so many deserving RPGs that get squeezed out by D&D, it's hard to just name one. I've played over sixty systems and half of them I enjoy as much or more than D&D. I love D&D, but there are just so many genres and kinds of role-playing it does not do well even with some fairly extreme rules drift.
I wish Feng Shui, FATE, Cinematic Unisystem, to name just a few favorites had caught on better than they had (to this point anyway). There's a revolution in indie rpgs that's been going on for a few years now that is redefining what role-playing can be. We'll see how far it goes, but half my favorite games have come out in that last three years.
Also, I'm sure it varies by region, but I believe Cyberpunk 2020 was fairly popular - its success got a few other companies to put similarly themed games out on the market. I ran a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign for 3 and half years back in college and had about fifteen players over the course of it, many of whom started their own campaigns when I capped participation at eight players.
On the d20 front, I hope A Game of Thrones, Iron Heroes, and True20 all get more support/popularity. They're all brilliant.
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Olaf the Stout
Hero
Feng Shui.
I like the cinematic combat that the game has that encourages players to try over the top moves like those that you would see in most action movies. Sure it's not suitable for all games but a lot of fun can be had with it.
Feng Shui isn't quite what I would call "dead" but it definitely isn't a growing RPG. I think Atlas plan to release one more book and then that will be it for the series.
Olaf the Stout
I like the cinematic combat that the game has that encourages players to try over the top moves like those that you would see in most action movies. Sure it's not suitable for all games but a lot of fun can be had with it.
Feng Shui isn't quite what I would call "dead" but it definitely isn't a growing RPG. I think Atlas plan to release one more book and then that will be it for the series.
Olaf the Stout
