Please help me find a new gaming system!

[pawsplay]

GURPS, True20 and Savage Worlds all offer some tactical options, without making the combat very meta. I'm a huge GURPS fan, and I dislike the SW bennie economy, so there's my bias, but I tend to suggest GURPS first when someone says they are tired of D&D. GURPS makes a credible attempt to address virtually everything arbitrary or annoying about D&D, everything artificial and nonsensical, boiling it down to a system focused on good resolution of PC actions based on many, many different areas of ability. If you are thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice to not deal with level drain, straightjacket alignments, square movement, insanely huge fireballs, and bloated hit point totals?" then GURPS starts to sound a lot like what the doctor ordered.

 

[kiznit]

Dunno if the OP is still looking around for a rules-lite D&D-ish-but-not-D&D, we're making a lot of progress on Old School Hack, which is a Red Box Hack take on old school D&D with a few new tricks thrown in there.

 

[Pain Noodle]

Try Risus. I believe they have a free download somewhere.

 

[alms66]

If by "typical fantasy setting" you meant "typical D&D setting" then no, ignore the posts suggesting GURPS and Dragon Warriors, those games aren't for you. If however you want a good game and can drop your #4, then yes, by all means check out those systems. Dragon Warriors is the more rules-lite of the two though.

 

[alms66]

I gather Banestorm is the old GURPS Fantasy? When I read it (3rd ed., some 20 years ago), it was rather uninspired and lacking details.

We called it GURPS Fantasy-like as you could describe most elements with a short sentence: "These people are like [such-and-such] from the movie/book [so-and-so]."

You are correct Banestorm=Fantasy 3E.

Personally though, I love the concept of the banestorm and the concept of the world it would create, I didn't like the actual execution of it though.

I think I'd have gone for more of a "New World" outcome where there were elves (or something) on the planet, Humans come in via banestorm, and wipe out the native populations. You are then left with a wide open world to explore with lots of old, unknown history and strange beasts a plenty - plus magic of course. But personally I like my fantasy worlds to be different, and there was a potential for so much more with Banestorm, but they tried to D&D it and, well, that's where most RPG's mess up.

 

[garrowolf]

Try my game. I could always use the playtesters!

 

[pming]

Hiya.

As someone already mentioned, AD&D 1e might do the trick. Just the PHB, DMG and MM1 is all you really need. If you want some more 'stuff', start to add in the other books (UA, MM2, FF, DDG, WSG, DSG, MoP). The beauty of 1e is that it's extremely modular, so you can nix any rules you don't like with little to no worry about your game suddenly imploding. Same goes for adding stuff.

But, honestly, if you really want "heroic" but with little calculation/recaculation, go with BECMI/RC (Basic Expert Companion Masters Immortals / Rules Cyclopedia) and use the Known World (aka, Mystara as it was later known) using the Gazateers. I'm gearing up for a game of that right now.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[suicidepuppet]

I haven't seen the Microlite systems mentioned and I have to say it has really hooked me. From bare essentials to full blown systems built on the engine it is great if you like a modular plug and play system. My favorite is a stacked out Microlite 20 with a lot of my own tinkering. The great thing is that it is compatible with most d20 material and so stripped that no conversion is even needed for monsters. Only 4 skills are left with an optional fifth and there is a page devoted to how to handle the skills not mentioned.

I am beat tired and I can't do it justice in this post tonite but download the Microlite RPG Collection Spring 2010 Revised (just google it). It has everything from the original rules (2 pages-now that is tight design) to games built around it. At over 600 pages it offers something for just about everyone and shows what is possible with M20.

Hope that helps

 

[Hjorimir]

As mentioned in that other thread just now (and as more or less suggested above). . .

Legends of Anglerre.

I couldn't agree more. LoA all the way.

 

[teach]

Fate fantasy is a fan conversion of fantasy tropes. I'm thinking about using it for a game based on discworld.