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@Retreater I've read through this thread a couple of times, and it really does sound like CRPGs are the answer for this group. Their preferences all seem to point significantly away from what tabletop RPGs offer as their core value proposition. The whole point of a human GM is to create those...

A) That sounds like my own personal RPG hell. I don't think I'd last more than 2 sessions trying to run a game for a group with that particular set of preferences. If there's a far opposite end of the spectrum for what I want from RPGs, that bullet list is pretty much it. B) You already tried...

This is such a good question! So, I found with Ironsworn that it was still okay to do some prep. I had no issue prepping maps, names of places/locales, NPC names, things to find (weapons, artifacts, etc.). The thing I had to keep reminding myself was that I needed to keep some options /...

Ironsworn is also 4 years younger than DW. But just in the last 2 years, Ironsworn had a $347k Kickstarter in 2023 for Starforged, and a $200k Kickstarter for Sundered Isles this year. Dungeon World's kickstarter didn't even crack 6 figures ($82k). Sundered Isles by itself is nearly 3x the...

All true; can't disagree with this general sentiment. Having more, improved choices for RPG is certainly preferable to the alternative. I guess I'm just skeptical that there's really any significant latent audience just waiting in the wings for DW 2.0. But I suppose even it's just say, 1,000...

This is sort of a head scratcher, to be honest. It's now 10+ years since initial release. It's been saddled with a massive black eye from one of its original creators. There's now a long line of successors / add ons in the same creative space (Stonetop, Perilous Wilds, Freebooters on the...

The answer to the question of "The Most Useful Spell" is now, and always will be, Fireball. Don't argue with me, just accept it. :) "Hey, we need to get through this locked door in the 4th level apartment building--" "I cast Fireball." "No wait---!!" ** BOOM ** "Hey, we need to convince...

The real standout for me would have been Fantasy Craft. If the crunchy goodness of 3.x is your thing, FC was/is bar none the absolute best reincarnation of the 3.x chassis, completely broken down to its foundation and rebuilt from the ground up. It is objectively a better system in terms of...

First non-D&D game I actively played, rather than just read or brainstormed content for, was GURPS in 2011.

Based on these requirements, I think the top 3 or 4 most likely candidates have already been brought up. If it were me, I'd rank possibilities in this order: Savage Worlds --- I love Savage Worlds to death. From the player perspective, it fits your requirements nearly perfectly. From the GM...

There are outliers, obviously, but I think spending years, possibly even decades safely ensconced in the d20 / D&D cocoon is pretty normal. I played BECMI / Rules Cyclopedia as a kid in the late '80s through early teen-ager-hood in the mid-'90s. Then took a long break, then picked up playing...

So I'm going to plug Ironsworn one more time as a better gateway to PbtA-style fantasy gaming than Dungeon World for a few reasons. The two games are very much kith-and-kin in terms of the type/style of gameplay they're trying to emulate, but Ironsworn just does it better. The explanations of...

Delve is excellent for those times when you want to do a "dungeon crawl" like area in Ironsworn. It adds some additional moves for dungeon / site exploration, some new Oracles for twists and unique discoveries while staying true to the core game. Edit: it also has an excellent set of rules for...

My overall experience in a limited run (6 sessions) with Dungeon World was positive, but I later discovered Ironsworn, and Ironsworn was everything I had hoped Dungeon World to be and more. Ironsworn plus the Delve supplement is all I would ever need for awesome narrative fantasy gaming. If you...

It's nice to see someone else recognizes the potential of Ironsworn to do ASOIAF / GoT style gaming.

ASOIAF is exactly the type of thing I'd use Ironsworn for, especially if you have a small group (2-3 or players), and really want to lean in on the intrigue / relationship side of things. Using the base Ironsworn rules with the campaign guide you just picked up sounds pretty sweet, actually.

Radiance RPG is a steampunk love child of D&D 4e and 3e. Core rules PDF can be had for the price of free. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/105102/Radiance-Players-Guide-A-Complete-Roleplaying-Game-in-the-Age-of-Electrotech

From our FFG Star Wars - Edge of the Empire campaign in 2022 --- PCs get hired to go into a communications center in a backwater, outer rim planet to basically shut off / jam a spectrum of frequencies that allow their patron to complete some other objective that the PCs aren't directly...

There are all kinds of things we can rationally/intelligently determine or surmise in context that we are not even remotely prepared, educated, or trained to address. Nearly anyone with basic knowledge of electrical wiring can walk through a house and figure out how wire in an additional outlet...

One alternative I tried once with decent success was to create color printouts of monster pictures in 1-inch circles on a page, then use a 1-inch circle craft punch to carefully punch them out. Once punched out, get a bottle of clear craft glue finish and then glue the circular prints face up...