Best GAMES AROUND! (NOT D20/4e, White Wolf or Cthulhu)

[Odhanan]

RuneQuest II (Mongoose's) and RuneQuest 3 (Avalon Hill's)
Stormbringer
Hawkmoon
Lejendary Adventures
Dangerous Journeys
In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas
Nephilim 2nd edition
Pendragon
Cyberpunk 2020
Traveller (Classic and Mongoose's)
The Savage World of Solomon Kane
Das Schwarze Auge (the original, from the 80s)
Légendes Celtiques and Légendes de la Table Ronde
RoleMaster, MERP and HARP

Among others.

 

[Mallus]

You know, I could go for a little classic Traveller. Maybe over the summer, when it's harder to get everyone together for our main D&D 4e campaign...

 

[Stormonu]

I don't think its in print any more, but I did like Fading Suns by Holistic Games (a spin-off of some White Wolf developers). Very much like Dune, before Paul Atrades.

I've also heard good things (& read the books) about Twilight 2000 and Space 1889, though I haven't been able to play. They have been in and out of print, and you can at least get them via PDF. Twilight 2000 has been recently updated to Twilight 2013, I believe.

Also, as others have mentioned:

7th Sea, L5R (and Burning Sands), Savage Worlds (esp. Deadlands), Shadowrun, Pendragon, Alternity (I hated WotC didn't continue to support that system), Cortex system (Serenity and BSG), and Star Wars (d6 & SAGA preferred).

I'd also add Palladium's Rifts, but you'd have to throw out the existing ruleset and just use the world fiction for a decent game.

 

[coyote6]

Pinnacle has Space 1889: Red Sands (I think that's the title) coming out -- it's a licensed Savage Worlds version of Space 1889. I think it's due out at Gen Con, IIRC.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I can't say I'm a fan of Savage Worlds, but I'd love to see that adaptation of Space:1889. It may be a good fit.

 

[scourger]

Savage Worlds. I really like it. You can try it free here:

http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/SWEX/TD06.pdf

And, you can read about its making (mentioned above) here:

http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/SWEX/MakingofSW.pdf

RIFTS is the only other, non-d20 game that is on my radar right now; and really only because I have the very cool graphic novel & sourcebook Macinations of Doom from which to draw ready-made characters and a story.

 

[Henry]

I'll throw in another Dread:

Dread - First Book of Pandemonium

You play a Damned Soul trying to win redemption by taking as many of the bastards with you as you can, using their own diabolic powers against them. It's like mixing Law and Order, Saving Private Ryan, and Milton's Paradise Lost.

System uses a d12 dice pool type system that's obscenely easy to grok and play quickly, and it's always fun to get to play a soldier on the front lines of Heaven and Hell: Special Victims Unit.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Rolemaster Classic: I know it gets a lot of flak for its high leathality and charts but it can be a very fun system and if the players actually know what they're doing and how leathal combat is, it can be very role playing intensive.

Hero: I started with 1st but didn't 'gork' it until 4th and enjoyed 5th. Splitting the books up in 6th lost me. Shame as I've heard good things about it but the buy in cost for a game I may play (as my playing time has been cut dramatically) is very low.

Good Reads:

Burning Empires: I've read the two graphic novels that the game is based on and have the game but it's suffered the 'shelf' syndrome where too many games, not enough time and not enough players who are willing to break out of the D&D mindset. Uses the Burning Wheel engine modified as does Mouseguard, another game I own, and have enjoyed the graphic novels, but the shelf syndrome struck again.

 

[Cerulean_Wings]

Here's mah list:

Burning Wheel
Fate
Spirit of the Century
Truth & Justice (recent addition)

Indie games for the win

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

If I wasn't running D&D or Cthulhu, I'd go for one of the following:

Main Game Choices - these are all systems I'm familiar with and would be comfortable running as a main campaign game

• Basic Roleplaying/Stormbringer 1e/Hawkmoon/Runequest 2e
• Lejendary Adventure
• Rolemaster 2e

Other Games I'd Play - these are systems that I like or am drawn to, but probably wouldn't run as my main game (either because of preference or because I'm not very familiar with them)

• Amber
• Ars Magica
• Dangerous Journeys/Mythus
• Dying Earth
• Gamma World (1e, probably)
• Pendragon
• The Pool
• Prince Valiant
• Traveller (Classic or Mongoose)

I probably left something off…