sword and sorcery genre rpg

[bagger245]

hi guys, was wondering what game system are available to run a sword and
sorcery genre game. Most fantasy rpgs cater to high fantasy with demihumans and all.
I know there is d20 conan, but I am trying to stay away from that system.

 

[Aus_Snow]

S&S Saga, BRP, Savage Worlds, IAWA, GURPS, HERO, True20, M&M, Fate, EABA, Runeslayer, ZEFRS. . .

 

[jdrakeh]

There are lots of generic systems that can do S&S without much work (many of them such as True 20, Savage Worlds, and GURPS mentioned by Aus Snow above), though actual genre RPGs tailored specifically to Howard-esque Swords & Sorcery are pretty rare. I can think of. . .

Conan (GURPS): Out of Print
Conan Role-Playing Game (TSR): Out of Print, but cloned
Conan (Mongoose): In Print
Iron Heroes (White Wolf): In Print
The Riddle of Steel: Out of Print

All of these games specifically focus on sorcery as a tool of Evil, champion physical prowess over magic, and provide sketchy, sparingly detailed, settings ready for you to explore.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Basic Roleplaying (or Stormbringer).
Conan / ZeFRS
The Black Company (d20 variant)

(I also think TSR D&D can do a good swords-n-sorcery game, but you'd probably want to tweak the races and maybe the magic system, so that may not be what you're looking for. Nevertheless, the 1st edition AD&D Lankhmar supplement has some cool variant rules for swords-n-sorcery, and is worth checking out.)

I've heard lots of positive things about In a Wicked Age, but I've never played and don't really know much about it.

 

[Imaro]

If you don't believe Howard is the be all and end all of S&S fiction let me recommend Runequest. It has a setting book for Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar and Nehwon as well as Moorcock's Hawkmoon setting. There is also the Elric rpg (standalone) that uses a slightly modifed version of the Runequest rules.

I guess my second recommendation would be Greg Stolze's Reign. It's humanocentric races, gritty combat, company rules and weird magic fit easily into a S&S setting

 

[bagger245]

Thanks for the replies. I am leaning towards the old TSR Conan Box Set clones as
ZeFRS, but a little confused about the magic system. Anyone care to explain?
Btw, is Runequest crunchy?

 

[jdrakeh]

Thanks for the replies. I am leaning towards the old TSR Conan Box Set clones as
ZeFRS, but a little confused about the magic system. Anyone care to explain?
Btw, is Runequest crunchy?

Magic is essentially skill-based (i.e., uses Talents), but it is specifically set up to be hard for PCs to access (i.e., lots of Talent prerequisites), as in most traditional Swords & Sorcery fiction, magic is quite rare and those who do understand it are out to exploit it for personal gain (sorcerers are typically villians). The actual information about spell effects is covered here under "spell" (basically, players and GMs agree upon a spell effect and then makes a Talent check to see if the effect manifests).

 

[Derro]

Btw, is Runequest crunchy?

It's pretty crunchy. Here's the SRD.

You could also have a look at Sorcerer which has two S&S specific expansions Sorcerer & Sword and the Dictionary of Mu. There's also Barbarians of Lemuria. I recently picked up In A Wicked Age and although I haven't played it yet it looks pretty interesting. These are all pretty rules-lite or story-based games which may or may not be to your taste.

If you are interested in adapting D&D to S&S check out this article.

 

[jensun]

The Shadow of Yesterday has a very strong Sword and Sorcery vibe as well as being pretty rules light and decent for longer term play.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

D&D 4E with martial classes only, no magic items (just give bonuses) and maybe, just maybe allow multiclassing into warlock or use something a la spellscarred.

Better than Iron Heroes, IMO.