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

[Baumi]

Aberzanzorax you asked about the Savage Worlds Main Book... That would be the "Savage Worlds Explorers Edition", it contains all the rules, all the equipment and powers to play every genre out of the box.

The other Books are mostly Setting Books (most with a complete Sandbox Campaign .. the Plot-Point Campaigns). There are a few Genre Books which gives new feats and insight to several Genres like Fantasy or Supers. And there are also a few book that are stand-alone, like Salomon Kane which include the World, the Rules and Adventures.

If you are the GM I would recommend the Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition and one Plot-Point Campaign (like Slipstream or Sundered Skies). With just two book you have a full Campaign, World and all the Rules to last for years!

 

[Treebore]

Qin the Warring States

Starblazers (FATE based)

Judge Dredd by Mongoose

Lone Wolf by Mongoose

as for what has already been mentioned and that I will also support trying:

Paranoia (Mongoose version)

Traveller by Mongoose

Mutants and Masterminds

Shadowrun 4E

L5R 3E

Star Wars SAGA

Palladium Fantasy

RIFTS

Aces and Eights

Hackmaster Basic

Dragon Age

Twilight 2013

CORTEX (Savage Worlds system done right, IMO.)

If your going to try out Savage Worlds give the Soloman Kane book a try.

One I think hasn't been mentioned is Wild Talents.

 

[Bluenose]

One old: Traveller. Either the classic version with the Task system developed by DGP added on, or the Mongoose version. The grand-daddy of Science Fiction RPGs, able to cover most 'traditional' SF settings. Heavily influenced, imo, by Poul Anderson, Delaney, Asimov, Star Trek, Heinlein, and 1950s/1960s era sciencee fiction in general.

One new: Heroquest 2. If you don't know what set of rules you should use to run a particular setting, this would be one of my first choices. I'm currently running a Mass Effect game with it.

One other: Pendragon. Multi-generational pseudo-medieval shenanigans with knights, ladies, and sometimes enchantments. Romance, tournaments, hunting, running your manor, warfare, and if you have to hve it adventure as well.

 

[Talysian]

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'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.

Fading Suns has been taking over by Redbrick limited. RedBrick Limited • Raising Your Game

As for Rifts I think it's one of the gretest settings ever, but one of the worst... rule systems.

 

[amerigoV]

One old: Traveller.

Anecdotal heresay only, as I have nevered even cracked a book on Traveller:

It seems anytime I notice a discussion about Traveller, the conversation can be summed up as: "Its really interesting. We made up a bunch of characters, but we never played."

I am not sure why, but that is the pattern I notice. It makes me want to make a character and not play it as well, just to get more gamer street cred.

 

[Aus_Snow]

EABA provides a unique, very playable alternative to the other point-buy 'generic' systems out there. Worth a look. *PDF only*

Pendragon is glorious, though highly sensitive to GM and player suitability. I'm particularly fond of the fourth ed., by Green Knight.

Artesia: Adventures in the Known World might need a few system tweaks (IMO), but it's quite breathtaking, nonetheless.

In a Wicked Age is a curious mix of things, that can work superbly for zero-prep situations. Very unusual mechanics.

Legends of Anglerre, while not actually in print yet, shows great promise in its PDF form. Fancy FATE and fantasy? This is that.

Well, seems *I* favour fantasy anyway, speaking of such things. These moods come and go. . .

 

[Gimby]

Anecdotal heresay only, as I have nevered even cracked a book on Traveller:

It seems anytime I notice a discussion about Traveller, the conversation can be summed up as: "Its really interesting. We made up a bunch of characters, but we never played."

I am not sure why, but that is the pattern I notice. It makes me want to make a character and not play it as well, just to get more gamer street cred.

Here you go SignalGK: Online Traveller Resource

 

[Iron Sky]

1st Edition Exalted: one of my favorite settings + rule-sets combined. If you want an idea of what a game is kinda like, I've talked about it before here. 2nd Edition Exalted left our group cold...

Warhammer40K: Dark Heresy:I'm not as into the W40K universe as I used to be, but its a pretty solid, gritty set of rules with all the 40K "space church" dark future setting all over it.

W40K: Rogue Traderark Heresy amped up and divorced from the Inquisition. Roam around on a city-sized ship (that you own) for profit, power, prestige, and profit(profit is important).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 2E: We actually own 3E, but we've only played it once. 2E is fantasy roleplay about as gritty as it gets (setting and mechanics wise). 2E is simpler, grittier, and you can have more than 3 characters at once(ones that share the same "powers" too!) without paying more than the $100 you've already spent.

Alternity: Even though it's discontinued, it's still the first rule-set we talk about when thinking about homebrew sci-fi games. For some reason, sci-fi games tend to be wedded heavily to specific settings (W40K, Star Wars) and we haven't found another generic sci-fi rulebook we like as much.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Anecdotal heresay only, as I have nevered even cracked a book on Traveller:

It seems anytime I notice a discussion about Traveller, the conversation can be summed up as: "Its really interesting. We made up a bunch of characters, but we never played."

I am not sure why, but that is the pattern I notice. It makes me want to make a character and not play it as well, just to get more gamer street cred.

As making up a character was a mini-game in itself (and the PC could end up dead during chargen!) making up characters for the fun of it often happened IMX.

However, lots of traveller was actually played too - I've not come across the "made up lots of characters but never played it" vibe before.

Cheers

 

[jaerdaph]

Supernatural RPG from Margaret Weis Productions - it's beautifully put together and presented, captures the feel of the show, and the Cortex System (it's not groundbreaking or anything but it is fully functional) is starting to grow on me.

Colonial Gothic from Rogue Games. Horror roleplaying during the American Revolution. It's a great setting and the 12° System (uses 2d12) is very easy to learn and use, if not always clearly presented in the text. I like that *everything* is a Skill (from climbing a cliff, to riding a horse, to sneaking past a guard, to dodging, to shooting a musket) and you compare your role to a target number (like d20), but the Target Number is built into your Skill score (you have to roll that number or lower on 2d12 to succeed) like a percentage-based system. The additional supplements really add to the setting. Despite some editing flaws (bad at times), it remains one of my favorite games, and the people at the company that produce it are very helpful, customer oriented and a class act.

Star Trek Roleplaying Game from Decipher - I was a huge fan of Last Unicorn Games ICON System Star Trek roleplaying game for years, but last year I picked up the complete Decipher Trek catalog for a steal. I really like the system, which was clearly heavily influenced by the new (at the time) d20 System despite the fact it uses 2d6.