When I got ahold of that book, I made character after character, progressing through the careers. I don't think we ever ended up actually playing it.
Let's Talk About Fantasy heartbreaks and other FRPGs
innerdude
Legend
I had to think for a minute.
My first non-D&D "brand" fantasy game was Pathfinder in 2010. But since it's really just "D&D", I don't think it counts.
My D&D chronology goes something like:
BECMI ('86-'91) >> 10 year gap >> 3/3.5 (2001-2008) >> 3 year gap >> PF1 (2010-2011)
Between all of that, I did play a tiny, tiny bit of Top Secret S.I. in the early '90s, and 6 months of Star Wars SAGA in 2010. So D&D wasn't the only game I had ever played in my life, but it was the only fantasy game I had ever played until 2011.
It's a little fuzzy, because I was playing a GURPS fantasy game right around the same time I started GM-ing Savage Worlds in late 2011 / early 2012, and I can't remember which came first, the GURPS game or Savage Worlds.
It might have been GURPS, because I ran a really simple sci-fi one-shot in Savage Worlds before I started GM-ing Savage Worlds fantasy using a homebrew setting. But even if technically GURPS might have been the first fantasy game I tried other than D&D, emotionally I still consider Savage Worlds to be my first "real" fantasy game other than D&D. I ran Savage Worlds almost exclusively from 2012-2021.
My first non-D&D "brand" fantasy game was Pathfinder in 2010. But since it's really just "D&D", I don't think it counts.
My D&D chronology goes something like:
BECMI ('86-'91) >> 10 year gap >> 3/3.5 (2001-2008) >> 3 year gap >> PF1 (2010-2011)
Between all of that, I did play a tiny, tiny bit of Top Secret S.I. in the early '90s, and 6 months of Star Wars SAGA in 2010. So D&D wasn't the only game I had ever played in my life, but it was the only fantasy game I had ever played until 2011.
It's a little fuzzy, because I was playing a GURPS fantasy game right around the same time I started GM-ing Savage Worlds in late 2011 / early 2012, and I can't remember which came first, the GURPS game or Savage Worlds.
It might have been GURPS, because I ran a really simple sci-fi one-shot in Savage Worlds before I started GM-ing Savage Worlds fantasy using a homebrew setting. But even if technically GURPS might have been the first fantasy game I tried other than D&D, emotionally I still consider Savage Worlds to be my first "real" fantasy game other than D&D. I ran Savage Worlds almost exclusively from 2012-2021.
innerdude
Legend
And as far has heartbreakers, it might sound weird to say, but Pathfinder 1e might actually be it.
Mostly because by the time I was done with it, I fully recognized that my "D&D" heart was, in fact, broken.
I was in a full and complete and total reevaluation of everything I thought I wanted from roleplaying, and all signs were pointing to the fact that, "Whatever it is Innerdude wants from roleplaying, D&D/PF isn't it."
Mostly because by the time I was done with it, I fully recognized that my "D&D" heart was, in fact, broken.
I was in a full and complete and total reevaluation of everything I thought I wanted from roleplaying, and all signs were pointing to the fact that, "Whatever it is Innerdude wants from roleplaying, D&D/PF isn't it."
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
I had a dwarven witch-hunter that became an alcoholic in the course of play. I don't even recall if it there was a valid career path for a dwarf to become one. The GM mostly just stole ideas from other works for his adventures (we've all done it, but this was blatant - he didn't even file the serial numbers off), but we still had a blast.
My One Ring 2E books should be arriving soon and I have to decide whether I want to make a pitch to my IRL group to play it. All are Tolkien fans, but we always end up just "playing D&D" instead of trying something new. I have a wider circle of players online, but I would really like to do TOR2 at the table.
Voadam
Legend
Original non-D&D fantasy RPG was a while ago for me so the exact timeline is a bit hazy. It was either an early edition of GURPS (1e?), Warhammer FRP 1e, or Palladium 1e (before revised). Rolemaster (no idea which edition) came later.
I have pulled a bunch of inspiration for my D&D games from GURPS, WFRP, Palladium, MERP, Shadowrun, Earthdawn, World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and others. I always run a version of D&D (counting Pathfinder as D&D here).
I have pulled a bunch of inspiration for my D&D games from GURPS, WFRP, Palladium, MERP, Shadowrun, Earthdawn, World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and others. I always run a version of D&D (counting Pathfinder as D&D here).
Being Swedish, D&D wasn't my first RPG to begin with – that was Drakar och Demoner, which started out as a translation of Basic Roleplaying + Magic World (so basically a cousin of Runequest) but was remade and mutated quite a few times.
As for my favorite non-D&D fantasy game, that's hard, because I've been playing so much D&D and offshoots the last few years that I've almost lost track of other fantasy stuff. Having pre-made campaigns makes things so much easier, and other games generally don't have that sort of support. We did give the Swedish game Hjältarnas Tid a try a while back (playing a demo adventure) and I liked that, but I don't know if it has the mechanical heft for my crew. Another player in my group has been running yet another Swedish game, Eon, for a while and that's OK but not really something I'd like to run myself. I'd also love to give Earthdawn or TORG (which is at least partially fantasy) a go.
As for my favorite non-D&D fantasy game, that's hard, because I've been playing so much D&D and offshoots the last few years that I've almost lost track of other fantasy stuff. Having pre-made campaigns makes things so much easier, and other games generally don't have that sort of support. We did give the Swedish game Hjältarnas Tid a try a while back (playing a demo adventure) and I liked that, but I don't know if it has the mechanical heft for my crew. Another player in my group has been running yet another Swedish game, Eon, for a while and that's OK but not really something I'd like to run myself. I'd also love to give Earthdawn or TORG (which is at least partially fantasy) a go.
Professor Murder
Hero
Warhammer Fantasy. I liked the career system. But like many, DnD has always done the job fine to great for me, so really I only explored other RPGs when they dealt with other genres.
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