Non-D&D Fantasy Games - the best and why?

[Ravenheart87]

The new HackMaster. A bit complex, but character creation is deep, combat is intense and quite realistic, the writing is good, the books look awesome. Not running it at the moment, but once the GMG is out, I'm going to start one in Frandor's Keep.

Dungeon Crawl Classics is cool too, it's like Basic D&D on d20 base with lots of gonzo elements. I love the 0-level funnel, the crazy magic rules, the brutal criticals, the random charts and (again) the writing: lots of good advice about running the game and making it your own by Goodman.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You might want to check this out: http://www.darkcitygames.com/display.php?series=law&id=19

From what I understand, this is to The Fantasy Trip: In the Labyrinth what Hackmaster is to AD&D.

 

[Wombat]

I personally love Ars Magica for non-D&D fantasy. I know some people see it more as historical, but I find it easily adapts to a "pure" fantasy setting as well, such as resetting it in Harn.

 

[BronzeDragon]

I'll take this to mean non-D20, otherwise Conan D20 would be right up there in the list.

Here is my list, in order of Awesome as All Hell (#1 ) to Still Freaking Awesome, But Not as Much as the Other Ones (#4 ):

#1 Warhammer FRP - Gritty, evocative, sometimes downright scary, with deadly mechanics that make you feel sorry for your character in much the same way Call of Cthulhu does.

The background world is just amazing...in a nutshell, WAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH!!!

#2 Earthdawn - Another one that can be scary, due to the Horrors being, well, horrific. But here you truly have a mix between CoC and D&D. Super tough monsters (not just horrors) and environment meet truly capable characters, and the combination is enough to excite even the dullest person.

The world of Earthdawn also has an incredible backstory and it actually allows you to set the game in very, VERY different situations. I particularly enjoy putting my group in the position of being some of the first to leave the Kaers. The wonders of Rediscovery abound.

#3 Runequest - Rules that make sense (it's based on BRP, just like CoC) and are super easy to handle. Several options of campaign settings to choose from (Glorantha, Hawkmoon, Elric, Lankhmar, Slaine) that can get you vastly different ways to enjoy the game.

Also, it's got an incredible number of supplements detailing Glorantha, and even a bunch for the other settings as well, and they can be had really cheap on Ebay, something which does NOT hold true for the other two options.

#4 Ars Magica - The most creative game sessions I've ever seen were likely Ars Magica ones. The freedom of the magical system, together with the obviously appealing setting of Magical Europe (everything present in history, with the added caveat that all magical tales/superstitions/etc are TRUE) make this a true gem.

The game is as political as it can get, and RPing is vastly more important than stats on a sheet of paper.

 

[Lwaxy]

Talislanta. It's so different.

And no elves

 

[IronWolf]

I have been a big fan of DCC RPG recently. The funky dice it brings to the table, the randomness while seeming a little crazy at first plays really well. It sort of brings a freshness to the table in my opinion when some random effect makes your character roll with it and adapt. I also really like the Might Deed at Arms mechanic for warriors and dwarves. Really opens up some options for creative play for the players.

We've been having a great time playing the game.

I recently picked up the most recent Castle and Crusades PHB. I am planning on taking another look at it as well.

 

[Water Bob]

I think the Conan RPG (2E) is an amazing game. I'm a huge fan of the Conan stories, and I think the authors of this d20 version did a spectacular job of capturing the gritty, swords & sorcery feel of the Hyborian Age. Fantastic book. Many agree that it's one of the best versions of d20 to ever see the light of day.

What else do I like about it?

Combat. It's a warrior centric game. There's a ton of options (and the options aren't all generalized as they are in Pathfinder) for combat, including a lot of combat maneuvers. The Con here is that all these options take time to learn and master. So, it's not a game to pick up and learn in a night. I always suggest learning the game slowly, starting with the vanilla d20 parts and adding on other rule sections as you become familiar with the game.

Multi-Classing. It's so easy to multi-class in this game that it's almost a classless game. True, interesting, unique characters can be constructed using this sytem.

Armor. It absorbs damage instead of making the character harder to hit!

There's a ton of other things I like about it. You can see my various posts about it here on enworld (usually in the Legacy forum).

Of late, I've been writing down random thoughts for a Conan GM. You might want to take a look at that thread. You'll find alot about my opinions on the game there.

 

[innerdude]

The One Ring.

Does it really need an explanation of why it's awesome?

 

[Bluenose]

The One Ring.

Does it really need an explanation of why it's awesome?

Actually, yes. At least for some people it might be interesting to say something about the system, and why it works so well for a Middle Earth game, but might not be so good for a different sort of fantasy. It's certainly my best Tolkein game, but I'm sure there are people who'd be horrified by the mechanics and who'd like to know that before trying it.

 

[griffonwing]

The new Hackmaster also has a new FREE updated Basic pdf so you can check out the games combat and skill/magic system before you opt to put down 60 bucks per book.

However, the money is totally worth the investment for the game/media that you receive.