So why do you play games other than D&D? What is it that your game of choice does that makes it the best fit for the stories and genres you're playing with?
Interesting choice of phrasing. It seems like the answer should be obvious: I play other games because they're
not D&D. But, by the same token, I would also play D&D because it is
D&D. And that itself is a testament to the greater significance and importance of D&D to the hobby in general. We're either playing D&D, or we're playing something else. Because you won't get many responses to "Why do you play games other than Call of Cthulhu?", or "Mutants & Masterminds", or "any other game besides D&D".
As for me, I play a lot of different kinds of game these days. I have gravitated more towards board and card games that can be played in one session, or in a campaign-style progression over many sessions. Games like
Star Wars: Imperial Assault provides a satisfying mix of tactical strategy, stimulating visuals, character building, and campaign-style progression, while the
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game offers an experience closer to a full RPG campaign without the stacks of books, rules, and options to learn.
When it comes to full on storytelling and roleplaying, however, I prefer the
Star Wars RPG for a number of reasons. Obviously, it is very setting specific even though the themes and timelines can vary the experience greatly. Using
Edge of the Empire, for example, focuses on the seedy underbelly of the galaxy where explorers, smugglers, and bounty hunters try to make a living under the growing tyranny of Imperial power. But a
Force and Destiny game shows the moral struggles of force-sensitive beings hunted and persecuted by a government that betrayed and eliminated the Jedi order once charged to protect it.
But aside from the
Star Wars setting (which I truly love), it is the mechanics of this system that have made it my favorite system of all time. The core mechanics are elegant, intuitive, and simple. But at the same time, there is a depth of complexity and nuance that cannot be seen by a cursory glance. There is no power-level structure, but you will see the incremental changes in your character's abilities, which are just as meaningful and influential to the story outside of combat.
The dice pools and symbols replace hard-coded numbers to present a greater degree of ingenuity beyond the simple pass/fail binary of many skill- or level-based RPGs. Even the assembling of the dice feels more like a part of the storytelling experience because each die is justified in the narrative and accounted for before they are thrown. Even so, the outcome is as unpredictable and imaginative as you want it to be because the symbols won't dictate the exact results for you. You, as a group, will decide what the dice only suggest. Everything in this system is designed to let your group tell your story together the way you want to do it. You can roll the same dice showing the same symbols using the same skill, but get a dozen different outcomes depending on how you interpret it.
The other great thing is how much the game allows a greater level of improvisation and collaborative storytelling as a group. Destiny Points are a shared resource for both GMs and players to introduce new elements and complications into the narrative, as well as to tap into specific abilities and Force powers. There is always a finite number of Destiny available during a session, and it is filled with both Dark and Light points that constantly flip back and forth much like the Force itself. Generally speaking, Light side points help the players while the Dark side is used by the GM to hinder them.
I could go on (and I have gone on in a number of other threads). There is one other factor I should mention that is not specific to
Star Wars or the Roleplaying game itself. I have played D&D for about thirty years before. At times, almost exclusively. Most often it was because it was the only game where I could find other people interested in playing. That is a huge factor for anyone who doesn't have access to a large pool of people to meet. Granted, it was a bigger factor before the internet was around, but it is still a factor. Regardless, I feel that I did miss out on a greater experience back when
West End Games had the license and published some incredible stuff for their system.
My point is don't limit yourself to just one game. D&D does some things very well, but it is just one game. Every fantasy has a game by now. Not every game needs to be Fantasy. Go play!
