Most influential RPG

[dbolack]

I think we all know it is Og and Land of Og

Those did cause me some thinking. As did Whispering Vault. Nexus. Dream Park. 4C.

 

[Piperken]

Looking into it, I don't think it's accurate to say "about as much". Definitely Odd-likes exist and are cool and there are a number of them (Electric Bastionland, Cairn and Mausritter probably being the "big names"), but the total numbers appear to be pretty small next to PtbA or FitD, even if you're looking at hacks rather than published works...

...Of course maybe ask again in 5 years or w/e! Things might look different.

I can see this! It's footprint is smaller; perhaps too soon to say with consensus.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Whispering Vault

Man that was such a cool game, and kind of before its time rules-wise (very 1990s subject matter of course).

 

[MGibster]

There have been thousands of other games in the genre, many of the best cited in this thread, yet none have approached D&D. Even collectively, I doubt they approach it. It’s really singular.

There have been a few that approached D&D but certainly never became as successful. Vampire the Masquerade in the 1990s was never a household name, but it did become famous/infamous enough it appeared in an episode of Real Stories of the Highway Patrol (A COPS knockoff), the hit television series Kindred: The Embraced, and I'm pretty sure it made the rounds in various religious tracts about the dangers of RPGs. Pathfinder was successful enough to make WotC blink at least.

I'd have to argue that Call of Cthulhu and Vampire likely had the most impact on the wider culture outside of D&D, but even then it's not even close. In reality, I'm just being a bit pedantic here in trying to nitpick your statement when in my heart I know you're right. It's pretty much always D&D first and everything else a distant second.

 

[Kannik]

Hmm, wonder if Heavy Gear by DP9 would have a place on this list, for it's graphic layout, styling, and artwork. At a time when "two column with an image here or there" was the norm, it came out of the gate with not only a plethora of art but also with strong graphic design where every element was supporting the look/feel of the game/universe. Which shook what was possible in terms of RPG book layout and purpose and opened the field for other games to follow suit. (Subsequent DP9 games also continued in this vein.)

It also was an RPG with a fully integrated tactical wargame for mechanized action built in by default/in the same book; though that I'd say remained a niche want so it might not rise to the level of being considered "influential."

 

[Clint_L]

There have been a few that approached D&D but certainly never became as successful. Vampire the Masquerade in the 1990s was never a household name, but it did become famous/infamous enough it appeared in an episode of Real Stories of the Highway Patrol (A COPS knockoff), the hit television series Kindred: The Embraced, and I'm pretty sure it made the rounds in various religious tracts about the dangers of RPGs. Pathfinder was successful enough to make WotC blink at least.

I'd have to argue that Call of Cthulhu and Vampire likely had the most impact on the wider culture outside of D&D, but even then it's not even close. In reality, I'm just being a bit pedantic here in trying to nitpick your statement when in my heart I know you're right. It's pretty much always D&D first and everything else a distant second.

Yeah, it's kinda weird. Talk about the power of branding, I guess? I don't get it.

Because, as this thread attests, it's not really a qualitative thing. Don't get me wrong, I really like D&D. I still play it all the time! But it's not incredibly superior to the competition; I bet everyone in this thread has TTRPGs that they prefer (Dread!!!).

So it does make me very curious as to what makes D&D's influence so perennial, given that its most compelling ideas are decades old.

Speaking of Dread, that is a game that, for me, distills what I want in a shared storytelling TTRPG, which is increasingly my preference. I think it is rules-lite in the best way, in that the focus stays on its one core mechanism (Jenga), which directly and actively contributes to the narrative tension that is at the heart of the game. I think it opened up a lot of eyes to how you could look for new ways to match a TTRPG's core mechanics to its narrative content. Ten Candles also comes to mind.