What to run when you are done with D&D?

[S'mon]

WEG d6 Fantasy (borrowing as needed from Mini Six and other compatible games) worked pretty well, and to this day, the d6 System is one of the few games I'll gladly run other than OD&D or AD&D.

Yes, D6 System is definitely my go-to system for completely-not-D&D, and it can sustain campaigns of decent length. As I said above, it can do 'dungeon fantasy' very well. PCs go from Luke in ANH to Luke in RoTJ sort of power level, so not exactly 'zero to demigod' as in D&D but definitely solid progression.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I went all in on the Kickstarter for the nostalgia factor, though I still have the original Melee/Wizard Micro-games from my high school days. Not a lot of changes in the new edition (called the Legacy Edition), and there's been a ton of support for it.

Thanks for the update!

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

How about Against the Darkmaster? I think it checks on all parameters, plus it looks just amazing for the nostalgic factor alone.

 

[Reynard]

How about Against the Darkmaster? I think it checks on all parameters, plus it looks just amazing for the nostalgic factor alone.

That's the Rolemasyer retroclone?

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

That's the Rolemasyer retroclone?

Yes, though I'd say it's more of a MERP retroclone, without being a 1:1.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Incidentally, the main piece of baggage that had me abandoning D&D at the time was the quadratic magic-user. What drew me back into the D&D fold was the more linear magic system from Beyond the Wall (and now Through Sunken Lands). Brilliant piece of game-design, that (even if I've mostly learned to stop worrying and love spell levels again).

Have you looked at 5E? IMO, they addressed many spellcaster issues. For example, instead of a fireball automatically increasing damage based on the caster level, you need to spend a higher level spell slot to get more damage. This feature was then leveraged to good effect across many spells for all classes. (e.g., there's only one Cure Wounds spell... you just cure more damage by spending higher level slots.)

Thanks to a core concept of "bounded accuracy", things like bloated spell DCs were also reigned in.

 

[Voadam]

Have you looked at 5E? IMO, they addressed many spellcaster issues. For example, instead of a fireball automatically increasing damage based on the caster level, you need to spend a higher level spell slot to get more damage. This feature was then leveraged to good effect across many spells for all classes. (e.g., there's only one Cure Wounds spell... you just cure more damage by spending higher level slots.)

Thanks to a core concept of "bounded accuracy", things like bloated spell DCs were also reigned in.

Ubiquitous concentration requirements so most spells can't be used with others at the same time is also a big 5e magic constraint.

 

[Voadam]

God damn it, why didn't I think of that? Earthdawn very much hits the same buttons as D&D, though in a somewhat different order.

The game has classes (disciplines), levels (circles), different types of magic, characters getting seriously more powerful as they get experience, and amazing loot. The setting is sort of post-post-apocalyptic, much like many D&D settings (there has been an apocalypse, but it was a while ago and things are rebuilding). Basically, when the magic level in the world gets too high really nasty things start showing up, so lots of people hid in underground complexes for a few generations to wait it out, and about a hundred years ago things started getting more or less safe again. But a lot of those underground complexes failed, and have turned into death traps filled with amazing loot.

The class/level/powers system works in reverse to D&D. In D&D, you get XP, which makes you level up, which makes you more powerful. In Earthdawn, you use XP to improve your abilities and when you have improved them enough you can level up which unlocks new abilities.

There are 4-5 different editions of Earthdawn, depending on how you count (basically, there are two different second editions). There's more support material for the older editions, but I think the 4th (most recent) is probably the strongest mechanically.

Oh, and the original version was designed by one of the best game designers I know, Greg Gorden, who designed the James Bond RPG, DC Heroes, TORG, and co-designed WEG's D6 version of Star Wars.

Earthdawn is a fantastic setting and has really cool concept magic and classes and class powers and a natural setup for dungeon exploration with their newly opened Kaers and the Horrors.

I used a bunch of concepts from Earthdawn in my D&D games.

I bounced pretty hard off the d6s and step DCs rules mechanics though but others might not.

 

[Staffan]

Earthdawn is a fantastic setting and has really cool concept magic and classes and class powers and a natural setup for dungeon exploration with their newly opened Kaers and the Horrors.

Another really cool thing about Earthdawn are its magic items. Any magic item worth a damn has a Name and a history. In order to use the item well, you need to "weave threads" to it to align its magic with yours (in game terms, spend XP). And in order to do that, you need to learn its history and in some cases repeat some of the deeds done with it in the past.

 

[Voadam]

Another really cool thing about Earthdawn are its magic items. Any magic item worth a damn has a Name and a history. In order to use the item well, you need to "weave threads" to it to align its magic with yours (in game terms, spend XP). And in order to do that, you need to learn its history and in some cases repeat some of the deeds done with it in the past.

Agreed. Also most had multiple levels of power that could be successively unlocked with more uncovered lore/mythic recreations/rituals and xp/weaves so they could grow as you leveled and adventured.