Most influential RPG

[MGibster]

By that logic, so did Draempark

Did it have a bad reputation? This is a game I remember seeing at the game store but my friends and I never really gave it more than a cursory glance.

 

[dbolack]

Dream Park had a solid reception

Mayhap. But is a big pile of what not to do.

 

[dbolack]

Did it have a bad reputation? This is a game I remember seeing at the game store but my friends and I never really gave it more than a cursory glance.

Lessons learned from a product aren't always about the words. It was a layout nightmare.

 

[TheSword]

I’m going to throw Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay into the mix. It has gone through 4 popular editions and spawned a host of spin offs and copy’s. Probably for thr tone as much as anything. Low magic, gritty, Grimdark, with a British sense of humour.

 

[Staffan]

I’m going to throw Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay into the mix. It has gone through 4 popular editions and spawned a host of spin offs and copy’s. Probably for thr tone as much as anything. Low magic, gritty, Grimdark, with a British sense of humour.

Sure, Warhammer has been successful. But influential? I guess you could make the case that Warhammer 3e inspired Star Wars/Genesys via weird dice, but that's within the same company so I'm not sure that counts.

 

[John R Davis]

Out of interest

Which game had the first 'active defence'?

Which game had the first ' unsafe' spell casting?

( I like one of these, but not the other).

 

[Staffan]

Out of interest

Which game had the first 'active defence'?

Which game had the first ' unsafe' spell casting?

( I like one of these, but not the other;.

I don't know if it was first, but Runequest was certainly early on the first point at least. My understanding is that the mechanics of the system to a large degree was a reaction of Steve Perrin's to D&D's passive AC defense, and how that didn't at all match his experience from the SCA where he had learned that parrying is how you make sure you don't get hit.

I'm also not sure if Runequest had fumbles for its magic back then.

 

[RolRàpid]

I am curious about your rationale for including some of them. What did this section of your list lead to?

Ars Magica
Sorcerer
Burning Wheel
Savage Worlds
Fate

ArsMagica: Magic system, troupe style game, between adventure actions.
Sorcerer: spawned the indie era.
Burning wheel: warped-up the indie era.
Savage Worlds: definitively out of the list.
Fate: It boosted the whole "aspect" influence in the games.

 

[RolRàpid]

All things considered, to resume it all, my new list is like this:

1. D&D: the first. the one that started it all. Class system with level progression.
2. Gurps: Generic point buy system, classless.
3. Traveller: Career paths, nre atribute aprox. so many innovations.
4. Runequest: Skill system, D100, cults tied to magic.
5. CoC: Sanity rules. Investigation adventure approach, and, of course, mythos!
6. Ghostbusters: First ever dice pool game, metacurrency.
7. Vampire: New way of roleplay.
8. Ars Magica: Versatile magic, troupe stype.
9. Pendragon: Precursor for structure of the play loops, personality traits
10. Sorcerer: first in the indie games era and a new approach in the way of RPG design thinking tied to the players goals.
11. Fate: It came after Fudge (the original system) but it implemented the aspects systems that many games took after it.
12. Apocalypse World: Power by the Apocalypse. 'nough said!
13. D&D 3rd ed.: Introduced the SDR concept that allowed the OSR.
14. Castle and crusades: First hit in the OSR movement.
15. D&D 5th ed: Not the first, but Roll with Advantage/Disadvantage spreading. RPG popularity boost.
16. Mork Borg. OSR next level.

Honorable mentions:
Champions
Dogs in the Vineyard
Into the Odd
Mothership
Shadowdark