Which edition would best fit my playing style?

[Shades of Green]

There have been a number of threads about Savage Worlds in the past... all of them had mostly positive comments.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/244892-savage-worlds.html

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-rules-discussion/242613-looking-new-system.html

Bye
Thanee

Thanks for the links! I'll definitely read through these threads...

 

[Shades of Green]

Another question: What are the main differences between BFRPG, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord? Which of the three would best fit my playing style?

 

[Korgoth]

Another question: What are the main differences between BFRPG, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord? Which of the three would best fit my playing style?

OSRIC is a clone of AD&D 1E. It fits some points (low prep time, plays fast) on your playing style, but is the most "rulesy" of the Old School games (might have to refer to the manual a fair amount).

BFRPG I'm not too familiar with. I think it's D20-related?

Labyrinth Lord is a clone of Classic D&D, which means of the Moldvay/Cook or Mentzer versions of "Basic & Expert" D&D... in this case I believe the game sticks closer to the Moldvay version. It fits your play style to a tee except for allowing strange race/class mixtures (though that's not hard to add, but it would require say an hour or so of writing up rules for it).

My own suggestion would either be Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Wizardry (Classic D&D or OD&D, essentially). They both play very fast, the rules fade almost entirely into the background and prep time is at the absolute minimum. With both the one bit of work you'd have to do for your play style is to allow Demihumans to take a variety of classes... perhaps.

What I'd suggest even more than those would be to go to RPGNow and buy the $6 PDF of the OD&D core books. The rules are fast and loose and open to your interpretation. There is no Thief class... and there doesn't need to be! You find things by looking in the right place. Do you see the button in the sarcophagus? Yes, if you climb into it and search it carefully... otherwise no. Can you disarm the trap? Well, I'll tell you how it appears to function and you tell me what you're doing. "Class" doesn't need to define everything about a character.

What I like about OD&D is the simplicity of the stat block:
Pyro-Rodent: AC 7, HD 1, Move 8", spit fire for 1d3 in 10' cone

Or for a more basic monster:
Dire Stoat: AC 6, HD 2, Move 15"

Simple, eh? You've got a few basic mechanics, and the freedom to build your game around that in whatever way you choose. Your Kung Fu will be strong!

 

[Remathilis]

What I find funny is that this thread has kinda been a Rorschach Test for everyone's favorite edition/version/offshoot of D&D. Most people have described their favorite edition(s) as being the best to fix the OP's problems. Some have even suggested 3e, which the OP is trying to get away from.

In the end, you gotta play what your comfortable with. Everyone's suggested every edition and version, so check a few out, talk with your players, and go from there.

 

[JDJblatherings]

Another question: What are the main differences between BFRPG, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord? Which of the three would best fit my playing style?

BFRPG- is dressed up like basic/expert D&D but curiously enough plays more like original D&D in action. Races and classes. AC starts at 11 and goes up. No alignments. No cleric spells at level 1. Not all races can be all classes, there are no level limits. Optional rules provide a level scaled method of ability rolls that works nicely in play.

OSRIC- is AD&D written to be played more like a lot of people actually played it. AC's start at 10 and go down. Races and classes. Alignments are LG, NG, CG, CN, N, LN, LE, NE, CE.
Clerics have spells at level 1. Demihumans have level limits.

Labyinth Lord - basic/expert D&D with a few minor tweaks. ACs start at 9 and go down. Race and class are the same (F,MU,C,T, ELf, Halfling Dwarf). Demi human races all have limited levels. Alignments are L,N & C. clerics have spells at level.

 

[Shades of Green]

So, if I understand correcty, BFRPG uses a D20-like attack roll while OSRIC an Labyrinth Lord use THAC0. Am I correct?

 

[Thanee]

Most people have described their favorite edition(s) as being the best to fix the OP's problems.

Was that your impression? I found most posts, that I have read here (not all), mostly trying to actually answer the question not just "vote" for your favorite system.

I, for example, didn't even mention my favorite system in any of my posts here.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Remathilis]

Was that your impression? I found most posts, that I have read here (not all), mostly trying to actually answer the question not just "vote" for your favorite system.

I, for example, didn't even mention my favorite system in any of my posts here.

Bye
Thanee

Its that I think the answers are bias, but I just found it interesting how people mold there conceptions of their favorite edition to fit the OPs criteria (IE: can do low magic, variety of classes, rules light, etc).

Just saying its not very objective, but we all knew that, right?

 

[Shades of Green]

I'm currently leaning towards BFRPG, as it combines a little bit of 3E streamlining with a lot of 1E/2E simplicity and flavor. All I'll have to do is house-rule some of the restrictions and I'll all be set.

Additional possibilities I'm considering are FUDGE, AD&D 2E or Savage Worlds.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

So, if I understand correcty, BFRPG uses a D20-like attack roll while OSRIC an Labyrinth Lord use THAC0. Am I correct?

Yes.