Ideas for a new game in the D&D genre

[SteveC]

I find myself in the need for a new RPG for players that hits the same general beats as D&D or Pathfinder but ... isn't them.

The ideas I have so far are: Shadow of the Weird Wizard, Worlds Without Number, 13th Age 2E, or Mythcraft.

We're going to be playing via VTT, so I'll need support for that. I use Foundry, but I have also played with Fantasy Grounds and Roll20.

I'm not particularly interested in strong OSR games or super light games either (it's the "just right" amount of crunch I seek). I think I'd be very interested in Draw Steel, but that one's not coming for a while now. Of course, you could say the same thing about 13th Age 2E.

So any thoughts on game ideas I might be forgetting at the moment?

 

[loverdrive]

I've heard a lot of good things about Daggerheart specifically for this usecase.

 

[SteveC]

I've heard a lot of good things about Daggerheart specifically for this usecase.

It's funny that you say that. I have played Daggerheart and ruled it out, but that was for an entirely different group of players. I'll definitely consider it.

 

[overgeeked]

Have a look at Dragonbane. It's a modern game with modern design that evokes an old-school feel in play. It's d20, roll low, and skill based instead of class based. It's got a solid core with lots of optional rules to add crunch, if you want it. It's a dream to run and provides a lot of tables and charts to help run things smoother. It's a bit more lethal than 5E, that's part of the old-school feel. Monsters automatically hit and have a 1d6 table of attacks. You can choose or roll. Lightens the cognitive load a bit.

There's a free Quickstart on DriveThruRPG.

I know the have Foundry and Roll20 support. Not sure about Fantasy Grounds.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Have a look at Dragonbane. It's a modern game with modern design that evokes an old-school feel in play. It's d20, roll low, and skill based instead of class based. It's got a solid core with lots of optional rules to add crunch, if you want it. It's a dream to run and provides a lot of tables and charts to help run things smoother. It's a bit more lethal than 5E, that's part of the old-school feel. Monsters automatically hit and have a 1d6 table of attacks. You can choose or roll. Lightens the cognitive load a bit.

There's a free Quickstart on DriveThruRPG.

I know the have Foundry and Roll20 support. Not sure about Fantasy Grounds.

I think the most important thing to know about Dragonbane...before diving into more specific rules and playstyle differences...is that it has level-less, a la carte character development with a rather flat power curve.

I suspect that's an immediate no-go for a lot of people, so worth getting that out of the way first.

 

[Juxtapozbliss]

I like the Soulbound system and the lore is WH40k Age of Sigmar so it’s kind of refreshing. Very epic. I also like Shadow of the Demonlord which has a ton of content and support—more than Weird Wizard. Both are D&D adjacent while being different enough that it feels like a totally different game.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Just curious, but if you want a game like 5e or PF, why not use one of them?

 

[Joshua Randall]

13th Age — like 4e and 3e had a baby and then sent it to live with their gonzo Gygaxian relatives to be raised. I like it a lot and it definitely hits the D&D beats. 2nd edition of 13th Age is in production now so you should be able to get the older stuff cheaply, if not right now, then soon.

Shadow of the (Demon Lord / Weird Wizard) — the core mechanic isn’t quite as clever as it thinks it is, and the world is a little eye-rolling-ly grimdark-plus-poop-jokes, but there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Tons and tons of class combinations to make, tons and tons of spells. Downside is that it hearkens back to the style where every monster requires tons of extra prep to run at the table (especially the spellcasting monsters, which is most of the interesting ones). The content is also wildly variable in quality from great to really really bad.

 

[mamba]

The ideas I have so far are: Shadow of the Weird Wizard, Worlds Without Number, 13th Age 2E, or Mythcraft.

Mythcraft is kickstarting a new version right now, so you might want to get in on that / wait

Apart from the above you could try Savage Worlds or even SW for Pathfinder to stay even closer

 

[Black Dougal]

I love Shadow of the Demon Lord and Shadow of the Weird Wizard. I think both do a good job of the character class/sub class thing as you level up. I feel if characters like the character development process of D&D/PF both games offer that in spades. I'm also a huge Schwalb fan so I am biased.