I find Savage Worlds to be the kind of game you're seeking. It really is fast, furious & fun. I've run it a few times, and it is very minimal prep time & effort, especially as compared to d20 (I agree with the idea above about the magic being the complicating factor in d20). I read the articles at the old peg inc. site about the design goals. When someone reposted them, I grabbed them for my virtual SW folder. Here they are.
As a Game Master:
1) I want a game that it's easy to make up monsters, NPCs, magic items, weapons, etc. on the fly. If I have to look up lots of charts and tables, add up points (as a GM, not a player), and so on, it's too complicated.
2) I want a game where "mooks" are either up, down, or off the table. I don't want to keep track of wounds for lesser NPCs--only important bad guys, villains, dragons, and so on.
3) I want a game that easily handles vehicles. The vehicle rules in many games require a PHD to decipher.
4) I want a game a non-gamer friend of mine can look at and understand *at a glance.* The basic rules for Savage Worlds can be described in one sentence.
5) I want a game that has a "spine" capable of gaming any genre, but allows me to insert special rules to tailor specific genres. Horror needs detailed fright tables, for instance, and a pulp heroes game needs to be less gritty and deadly than World War II.
7) As a GM, I want to roll *one* attack die for my bad guys to see if they hit, and I don't want to do any math to it. If three orcs gang up on a hero, I want to roll 3 dice, look for hits, and be done.
As a player I want:
1) I want a game that provides real depth for characters. I want to see my character grow, gain new special abilities, and even increase my skills and attributes.
2) I want a game that handles large battles fast. If my sergeant in World War II persuades the villagers to fight beside him, I want them on the table-top, not glossed over.
Update: After going round and round on this one a bit, what I was really after was reasonable speed--but more importantly--ease. I just don't want to do a lot of bookeeping during a fight.
3) I want my NPC allies to have names and at least a "personality" trait for each. If my Lt. in Vietnam needs to send someone to scout a hill, I want to know who's "Gung Ho," "Reliable," "Shifty," "Lazy," and so on.
4) I want a little control over the dice--like Fate Chips or bennies--so the hero I've been working on for a year doesn't drop dead because of one bad die roll. Two or three I can handle, but not one.
5) "Open ended die rolls." If I get lucky and roll that high number, I want to keep rolling and feel like I just conquered the world.
I would love to try more settings for SW, but there just isn't enough time right now (although I will get Deadlands: Reloaded!). I've got 3 d20 games and 1 SW game on hold, and there are at least 2 more d20 mini-campaings that I would like to run.
You can check out a free Test Drive of SW here:
http://www.peginc.com/Games/Savage Worlds/Savage Worlds.htm#Savage Worlds Downloads
Another great lite system is presented in ORK!
http://www.greenronin.com/catalog/grr1001
I would love to use it for a game with a more serious tone. I had designs on doing ORK! of the Rings as a reverse-side of the story, but my players were done with ORK! after 1 bout. Open-ended rolls against fixed target numbers would probably help give the game more longevity. But it's still on my shelf, whereas many other products are not.
I bought WFRP for a friend as a birthday present hoping that he will try something other than D&D for a change. Sadly, I doubt it will happen. I would love to pick it up if just to read it. The reviews were good for the core book, and I played a prior version in years past.
Another thing I'm investigating is HARP. You can download a free lite version of the rules and ICE even has a d20 for HARP trade-in program (if you're like me, you can find the extra d20 books lying around to trade-in!). Here's another link.
http://www.harphq.com/
As a Game Master:
1) I want a game that it's easy to make up monsters, NPCs, magic items, weapons, etc. on the fly. If I have to look up lots of charts and tables, add up points (as a GM, not a player), and so on, it's too complicated.
2) I want a game where "mooks" are either up, down, or off the table. I don't want to keep track of wounds for lesser NPCs--only important bad guys, villains, dragons, and so on.
3) I want a game that easily handles vehicles. The vehicle rules in many games require a PHD to decipher.
4) I want a game a non-gamer friend of mine can look at and understand *at a glance.* The basic rules for Savage Worlds can be described in one sentence.
5) I want a game that has a "spine" capable of gaming any genre, but allows me to insert special rules to tailor specific genres. Horror needs detailed fright tables, for instance, and a pulp heroes game needs to be less gritty and deadly than World War II.
7) As a GM, I want to roll *one* attack die for my bad guys to see if they hit, and I don't want to do any math to it. If three orcs gang up on a hero, I want to roll 3 dice, look for hits, and be done.
As a player I want:
1) I want a game that provides real depth for characters. I want to see my character grow, gain new special abilities, and even increase my skills and attributes.
2) I want a game that handles large battles fast. If my sergeant in World War II persuades the villagers to fight beside him, I want them on the table-top, not glossed over.
Update: After going round and round on this one a bit, what I was really after was reasonable speed--but more importantly--ease. I just don't want to do a lot of bookeeping during a fight.
3) I want my NPC allies to have names and at least a "personality" trait for each. If my Lt. in Vietnam needs to send someone to scout a hill, I want to know who's "Gung Ho," "Reliable," "Shifty," "Lazy," and so on.
4) I want a little control over the dice--like Fate Chips or bennies--so the hero I've been working on for a year doesn't drop dead because of one bad die roll. Two or three I can handle, but not one.
5) "Open ended die rolls." If I get lucky and roll that high number, I want to keep rolling and feel like I just conquered the world.
I would love to try more settings for SW, but there just isn't enough time right now (although I will get Deadlands: Reloaded!). I've got 3 d20 games and 1 SW game on hold, and there are at least 2 more d20 mini-campaings that I would like to run.
You can check out a free Test Drive of SW here:
http://www.peginc.com/Games/Savage Worlds/Savage Worlds.htm#Savage Worlds Downloads
Another great lite system is presented in ORK!
http://www.greenronin.com/catalog/grr1001
I would love to use it for a game with a more serious tone. I had designs on doing ORK! of the Rings as a reverse-side of the story, but my players were done with ORK! after 1 bout. Open-ended rolls against fixed target numbers would probably help give the game more longevity. But it's still on my shelf, whereas many other products are not.
I bought WFRP for a friend as a birthday present hoping that he will try something other than D&D for a change. Sadly, I doubt it will happen. I would love to pick it up if just to read it. The reviews were good for the core book, and I played a prior version in years past.
Another thing I'm investigating is HARP. You can download a free lite version of the rules and ICE even has a d20 for HARP trade-in program (if you're like me, you can find the extra d20 books lying around to trade-in!). Here's another link.
http://www.harphq.com/
