What are you favorite RPG genres?

[Reynard]

What genres get you excited, TTRPG wise?

For me:
1. Post Apocalyptic: from Gamma World to Fallout and more, the PA genre is one I always gravitate toward.

2. Superheroes: In addition to all the gonzo fun of "anything goes" inherent in superheroes, I really love the real person behind the domino mask aspect.

3. Science Fantasy: This is a lot like #1 and #2, and sometimes the lines are super blurry, but there is something about being able to embrace any genre trope you have ever seen in a single game. I love putting Gamma World mutants in D&D games or D&D style fantasy in technothriller heists.

4. D&D fantasy: this is a genre of its own that extends well beyond the D&D game systems. It is full of great tropes that I grew up with.

5. Space Opera: if I am making this a "top 5" for myself, space opera just edges out Epic Fantasy. I think it is just a scope difference because the two genres share a lot of non aesthetic aspects. As much as I love ancient collapsed empires and re-emergence of ancient threats in a medieval world, I'll always pick that plus the huge scope of interplanetary adventure.

What are your favorite genres for TTRPGs? Why?

 

[John Dallman]

Secret history. The real world has so much wild and strange stuff lying around in the corners of history that I find it far more fun than invented worlds in the usual RPG genres.

 

[payn]

I dont care much for high level fantasy elements even in my fantasy RPGs. I prefer the normal Joes doing extraordinary things than super beings doing Taco Tuesday. I like a consistent tone, meaning no blending comedy with seriousness. I dont mind a toe dip like the Iron Gods AP for PF1, but I prefer a general genre state over a collage or multiverse shenanigans. Favorite systems are things like Traveller, level 1-10 D&D, 3E/PF1 E6, Call of Cthulhu, etc...

• Hard Sci-fi
• Cyberpunk-noir
• Sword and Sorcery Fantasy
• Cthulhu mythos

 

[grimmgoose]

Secret history. The real world has so much wild and strange stuff lying around in the corners of history that I find it far more fun than invented worlds in the usual RPG genres.

Totally the same - I always called it "Weird History".

1. Weird History. Maybe it comes with the territory with a history degree, but stuff like: Call of Cthulhu, Deadlands, Delta Green. It's so easy to plop down a map of 1920s Peru and go, "this is where we are. Let's play."

2. Horror. I think I just "get" how to run horror more than any other type of genre. I find it easier to control the tension of a session, at least.

3. Post-Apocalyptic. Kinda ties into Weird History, but I remember playing Fallout 3 and thinking how F&*^*ing cool it was to walk around the ruins of Washington D.C.

4. Sci-Fi. There's something about a dude with a laser pistol on his hip flying a starship. Maybe I like how malleable the setting is - it's easy to go from western sci-fi to sci-fi horror to post apocalyptic sci-fi.

5. Fantasy. I like fantasy fine, but it's hard for me to get "excited" about the genre. I dunno why. Maybe the ubiquitousness of magic? Still, when most people think of TTRPGs, they think "fantasy", so I've had to come to grips with that.

 

[Committed Hero]

Secret/Weird History for me as well. Second would be Action Horror - I have difficulty striking the tone for straight horror.

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

1. Swashbuckling fantasy.
2. Medievaloid fantasy of either the High Fantasy or Swords and Sorcery style.
3. Superheroes. Was #2 in the past but has moved down a step over the years.
4. Space Opera

I'm not a fan of Secret History stuff, and I really don't care for horror of any variety, or for post-apocalyptic. Or really for anything played in a "grim and gritty" style. I get enough horrible ugliness from Real World current events and history, and I don't need to have even more added to my life through my entertainment as well.

I don't receive catharsis from horror or grimdark, or if what I'm receiving is catharsis, then I don't want it. I'm frankly in it for the escapism with a side order of power fantasies.

 

[The Soloist]

Hard science-fiction. Hard to GM for me because two of your players are MIT graduates and the other two are computer engineers.

Fantasy second. Followed by Urban Arcana and Post-Apocalyptic.

 

[overgeeked]

That’s a hard list to make. Especially the ranking. It changes by the day. Top five would be…

Science Fantasy. This is almost always my top choice. Sometimes others eclipse it, but it always comes back. It’s the anything goes, unlimited potential of the genre that makes me love it. Anything from Star Wars to Doctor Who, from Thundarr the Barbarian to Sectaurs.

Weird Mystery Action. For me, this is the normal world with a twist genre. What if aliens are real and they’re in the here and now? What if all those alien, illuminati, reptile, etc conspiracy theories are true? X-Files, Millennium, and Fringe. Unknown Armies, Conspiracy X, Delta Green, and especially Over the Edge.

Mystery Horror. Similar to the above but the action is replaced with horror. The PCs can be just as capable, but the threats are dramatically more powerful in comparison. Supernatural. Lovecraftian is a big plus. Call of Cthulhu, Vaesen, and Candela Obscura.

Space Opera. I grew up watching all the sci-fi I could and have always loved space opera in particular. Star Trek and Traveller.

Superheroes/Pulp. I absolutely love superheroes. Maybe because it is almost always a goofy mix (or can be a goofy mix of all of the above). Again it’s the anything goes aspect that makes it fun. I include pulp with this because it’s a continuum from one end of the power and morality scale to the other. Pulp heroes are generally low-powered and low-morality whereas the best superhero stuff is both high-powered and high-morality.

 

[Muso]

Low fantasy, but also gothic fantasy.

 

[Aldarc]

The initial question is "What genres get me excited?"

I tend to get excited by fantasy sub-genres that lie outside of the sort of bog standard D&D TTRPG fantasy or the grim dark edgy version of that. Instead, give me science fantasy, iron/bronze/stone age fantasy, hearth & fairy tale fantasy, natural fantasy, romantic fantasy, etc. This is what excites me. Show me that fantasy in TTRPG can be more than D&D-esque fantasy.