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

[yojimbouk]

There's been a few non-D&D/non-Pathfinder fantasy games that have come out in last few years and I'm the type whose keen to collect them. So I'm curious to know more about some of them and why others think so highly of them. I'm trying to steer away from universal systems (such as GURPS) and concentrate on those that are primarily rooted in being a fantasy game.

Here's a few I know of to get started. I own a few of these (those with a "*" beside them), but haven't really gotten to play them much. If folks could expound what the like from each, I'd appreciate it.

Castles & Crusades *
OSRIC *
Labyrinth Lord *
Dragon Age *
13th Age *
Conan RPG * (I think there's also another Conanesque game out...Hyboria something?)
Hackmaster, 4th edition
Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) Classics
Lamentations of the Flame Princess

D&D Retroclones:
OSRIC, a retroclone of AD&D1e.

Labyrinth Lord, a retronclone of B/X D&D.

Swords and Wizardry, a retroclone of original (0e) D&D. There is a swords and sorcery variant, Crypts and Things, which is supposed to be quite good.

Dark Dungeons, a retroclone of rules compendium BXCMI D&D (with some houserules).

d20 games:
Conan RPG. The Mongoose Conan RPG is out of print and now harder to find. Supposed to be an excellent treatment of the source material and a reasonable take on a d20 swords and sorcery game. The Hyperborea game is a old school style swords and sorcery game based on early edition D&D (0e).

Arcana Evolved. Monte Cook's revision of 3e. Reworks the spellcasting mechanics but also makes spellcasters even more awesome.

FantasyCraft. Excellent variant of Spycraft 2.0 for fantasy. Quite crunchy, the rulebook is quite dense but it manages to fix a number of problems with 3e.

Games similar to D&D:
Castles & Crusades is a d20-ised AD&D. The system has the attribute modifiers and DCs of d20 but different experience point tables for classes a la AD&D. The skill roll mechanic, the SIEGE engine, has been pinched for skills rolls in D&D Next.

13th Age. A 3e/4e hybrid with some storygame mechanics thrown in as well. Looks good from the previews.

Hackmaster. 4e was a houseruled AD&D1e written up as a parody of AD&D. 5e has the same system as Kenzer's Aces and Eights wild west game. It's a crunchy system but good. The 5e Hacklopedia of Beasts is supposed to be a thing of beauty.

Dungeon Crawl Classics. Think Basic D&D with a bigger dose of swords and sorcery. The spell system is excellent. Spellcasting involves a skill role wirh a chance of mishap and corruption as the result of a badly failed roll as well as extraordinary result for a good roll. Also, incredibly cheap for a 500 page hardback. Goodman seems to be the Milo Minderbinder of RPGs.

Lamentation of the Flame Princess. A 0e derived weird fantasy game.

Non-D&D Fantasy:
Dragon Age: based on the video game. Has a simple and elegant rules system, AGE. It seems to be quite popular although releases have been thin on the ground. Kobold Quarterly regularly support the AGE system.

Exalted: a game of magical Kung Fu demigods. The Exalted setting, Creation, is equal parts Greek and Chinese/Japanese myth. The setting is excellent. However, the system is regarded as problematic. However, it's one of the few crunchy games to feature characters of this level of power.

HARP Fantasy. Based on the classic Rolemaster system but with some refinements for speed.

Rolemaster Classic. A remastered version of Rolemaster 2e.

Iron Kingdoms 2e. The setting is well liked. Can't say anything about the system, though.

Earthdawn. Excellent game that takes the conceits of D&D (dungeon bashing, classes, levels) and provides an in world rationale for them.

Magic World. A generic non-Moorcock version of the great Elric!/Stormbringer 5e d100 system.

Legend. Mongoose's d100 fantasy system (exactly the same sytem as their RuneQuest II). Can get the pdf for 1$. Has a gritty but exciting combat system.

RuneQuest 6e. A refinement and expansion of RQII/Legend (very similar). Probably the best version of RuneQuest produced. The book is Pathfinder-like in its size and completeness.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e. This one has a lot of nostalgia for me as WFRP1e was one of my favourite games when I was a lad. The system is d100 roll under. Some highlights are the brutal critical hits, the career system, the prosaic character types (rat catcher and labourer) and the risky spellcasting system. The primary setting is a late medieval/early Renaissance fantasy analogue of the Holy Roman Empire (medieval Germany).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3e. A completely different system from 1e/2e. However, it is supposed to be very good. As a warning this game is heavily dependent on components with rules appearing on power cards and cardboard tokens. I'm guessing that this makes play a lot easier as it avoids continually referencing the rulebook but does require quite a bit of space at the table.

Legend of the Five Rings 4e. A fantasy game inspired by medieval Japanese and Chinese legend and history but with as much relation to it as D&D has to medieval Europe. A well developed Asian fantasy setting that is easy to get into.

The One Ring is regarded as a great RPG for Middle Earth. Again, I can't offer an opinion.

Ars Magica. Excellent freeform spellcasting system (based on combining a verb and a noun to produce an effect).

For modern urban fantasy you have Dresden Files and the new World of Darkness systems.

 

[Balesir]

I'll echo Ars Magica - brilliant setting and concept, rules work OK for it.

HârnMaster is my love for sim games - it's the one system I know that departs from hit points entirely.

Burning Wheel looks very nice, but I haven't go to play or run anything above a one-shot with it so far.

Bushido, if you can find a copy, is very fine for fantasy Japan - and Pendragon does a similar job in a very different way for Arthurian tales.

RuneQuest - especially set in Glorantha - is excellent. I once did a "fantasy earth" campaign for it, creating middle-eastern backgrounds and doing a sort-of "gritty Arabian Nights" feel. It worked really well - all the way from gritty origins to gonzo finale (confrontation with a mighty demon, Abd al Sitahn in a bizarre split world based on an Esher painting). Easy system to mod and play with.

Finally, it's old and hard to find, but DragonQuest is a fine system, way ahead of its time.

 

[Stormonu]

Bushido, if you can find a copy, is very fine for fantasy Japan - and Pendragon does a similar job in a very different way for Arthurian tales.

A somewhat comical antecdote: Back in the early 90's we tried Pendragon. It had a great character creation system. Unfortunately, I tried to run it in the same vein O ran my D&D game, with a heavy emphasis on combat. After my brother's beautifully detailed character first falied "the leap" and then died horribly when the party was beset by picts, he declared "I will never. play. this. game. again." - he hasn't and laughs about it now, but we use this epitaph whenever we find a game we just absolutely abhor - not because of mechanics, but because of how poorly someone runs the demo.

 

[rogueattorney]

My tastes run to the rules-lite and slightly goofy. Two of my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet:

Tunnels & Trolls was probably the first non-D&D fantasy rpg to hit the shelves. It's now in its 7th (?) edition, although I believe the classic "5.5" edition is still being printed, too. It doesn't really matter as it's all pretty much the same.

It has a cool strength-weapon use system, really basic, simple combat, and a great universal task resolution system. Some of the materials are pretty tongue in cheek and it's definitely veered towards beer-n-pretzels type games.

Kind of similar in spirit is Encounter Critical and gonzo mish-mash of a game that came out about 7 or 8 years ago. It's presented as a faux-lost game from the '70s, complete with typos and sub-Arduin production values. It throws every 70s sci-fi/fantasy touchstone (Star Wars, Star Trek, Tolkien, Godzilla, etc.) into a big heap in about 30 pages. But buried in the silliness, is actually a really cool little game with some interesting concepts. I especially like the fact that the player has to contribute something creatively to the campaign world in order to advance each level. It also has one of my favorite hand-drawn campaign maps. It's free. Google it and download.

 

[steenan]

I'm not sure if anybody mentioned them here already, so I'd add two more games to the list.

Mouse Guard is non-magical fantasy where PCs are mice. It may seem funny at first and intended for children only, but it is not; the setting that makes nearly everything you encounter bigger and more dangerous than you helps focus play on heroism (in the sense of "doing what you feel is right no matter the danger") and wilderness survival. It uses simplified Burning Wheel system.

Nobilis gives each character control of an aspect of reality (like "wrath" or "dreams" or "butterflies") and pits them against Excrucians, alien beings that want our reality destroyed. The system is diceless, bid-based; gameplay often becomes very philosophical. I love this game for describing extremely powerful and flexible characters with a simple system that works well.

 

[NotZenon]

I am going to list Radiance RPG as another good d20 variant, and it is available for free at Radiance RPG so you can't beat the price.

As for non d20 fantasy I love Legend of the Five Rings 4e, great quality books and the setting of Rokugan is fantastic. A game not focused on material gain but Honor and Intrigue and Status and Glory. A game of Samurai and shugenja and courtly intrigue in a land with powerful spirits that are never really fully understood. I love it.

I will mention Dresden Files for a modern day fantasy, which I think. If run in likeep an ancient Rome or Greek setting would make for one really cool alternate setting.

thanks for that link, what a great reference and resource for free no less!!