Which game would you recommend?

[cobrazarro]

THE FACTS:

My group has been playing 4e dnd. It's too much like a skirmish game for us. It's like hero clix with too many rules. We like the character customization a whole bunch.

Which game would you recommend?

3.5 dnd, pathfinder, rogue trader, warhammer fantasy 2e, or that savage adventures thing...

Thank you everybody in advance.

We're basically looking for a game that's not based solely on combat (4e) and that's not looking up rules every five minutes (dnd 2e)

 

[bagger245]

Have you played Pathfinder or 3.5 before ?

 

[Aus_Snow]

Played any other RPGs before, and liked/disliked them?

 

[Wik]

2e is "looking up rules every five minutes"? have to say, I never had that problem with that edition of the game. It was more like "making up rules every ten minutes". But then, I guess that's semantics.

3.5 might be the answer, but my gut says no - while it has (even more) character customization, the fights can drag on just as long, especially at higher levels.

Out of the list you provided, even though I hate to say it, Savage Worlds might be your best bet. It's a fun enough game, with lots of customization options as well as frequent opportunities for GM home-brewing. I have a few beefs with the system myself, foremost being the damage and healing systems, but a lot of people absolutely love it.

Rogue Trader/WHFRP 2e lack real "character customization" options - 1st level PCs lack almost any customization options, though advancement is definitely much more organic than it is in other editions.

 

[cobrazarro]

to bagger: nope. do you like those better? which one and why?

to aus snow: one of us has played traveler, another shadowrun, another the savage adventure thing, another rifts and another some awesome sounding tmnt rpg.

We're trying to find a good, common ground game.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Hm. Yeah, maybe Savage Worlds then. It's pretty "generic", so you can do whatever with it. There are lots of commercial and fan-made supplements. I mean, really - heaps. There's some experience with it in your group, which is always a good start.

But I'm not all that familiar with it, so... I'll leave it to others to either tell me just *how* wrong I am, or explain just *how* right I am, and in what ways.

But certainly, a "universal" system might be the go.

edit: Oh - is Savage Adventures actually a separate RPG, and nothing to do with Savage Worlds?! Um. If so, ignore everything I've said. I have no idea what that game is.

 

[Bluenose]

From your list, I'd suggest Savage Adventures, though my own enthusiasm for it is limited. I'd avoid D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder, since they're rather more rules-heavy than 4e. I'd avoid Rogue Trader, customisation isn't a strength. WFRP 2e comes closer, but characters aren't as varied as in SA while the rules are not any simpler.

 

[Rel]

I just did a quick google of "Savage Adventures", which didn't turn up anything. I'm assuming Savage Worlds is what you mean. If so then I can't say enough good things about it. It's an extremely flexible system that falls just a bit on the more rules light side of the spectrum compared to recent editions of D&D. I'm actually kicking off a campaign using Savage Worlds for fantasy tonight and I'm really stoked about it.

From past experience I find that I rarely have to look up a rule (it's often the "usual suspects": Grappling or Catching Things on Fire or stuff like that). I also think it's a breeze to GM because it is very easy to eyeball where a monster or bad guy should fall on the scale of an ability due to the granularity of the system.

Of the other options presented however I've never played Pathfinder but obviously it has a lot of fans and I've never played Rogue Trader. But 3.5 D&D was always a lot of fun and Warhammer FRP 2e is a great game. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try out each of the systems for a session or two and see if anything grabs you.

 

[Falstaff]

HackMaster!

 

[scruffygrognard]

Castles & Crusades. D20 mechanics, relatively rules lite, and easy to modify to your tastes. On top of that, you can convert AD&D stuff on-the-fly without frying your brain.