Do you/have you played any non-D&D/d20 Fantasy RPGs?

[RobNJ]

I really am not totally happy about having to play D&D pretty much exclusively. I much prefer other games. My current favorites are Aberrant and Trinity.

However, my friends pretty much only want to play D&D, so I play D&D. 3rd Edition at least made it palatable with all the new choices and options, though it's still too gameist for me to be completely happy with it.

 

[JeffB]

I'll take a couple and detail them too.

Earthdawn is what I would be playing if somehow DnD never existed but everything else did. To condense a long story, basicly a bunch of beings called The Horrors over the world of Earthdawn, forcing everyone into hiding. Time passes, people crawl out of hiding to try to rebuild the world. Most of the horrors are gone, but not all of them. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Windlings, Obsidmen, and a lizard race that I to this day can't remember. It's a cross between dark fantasy (The world still has Horrors, the people are on edge, some of the races suffered really heavily, etc) and high-fantasy hope-inspiring game. Got a very cool magic system, and it has lot of stuff dealing with the power of names... For example, all sentient races are refered to as "The Name Givers" or similar. Magic items that have lost pasts that unlock as you learn more about them, etc.

Talislanta: Talislanta is similar in many ways to Earthdawn, but also different in a number of ways. Alot of the general feel of the world is similar, though not quite so "dark"... tons of races (something like 30), but no elves, dwarves, or humans. A very cool freeform magic system, and the simplest dice mechanic I know of... everything, and I mean EVERYTHING mechanical in the game is done with a single d20, and the chart of rules in the game is about the size of a credit card.

Exalted rocks . Ok, more detail... Exalted uses White Wolf's "Storyteller" system, though its not quite the same system as in Vampire or Werewolf. It's hard to describe Exalted... I guess "semi-dark high fantasy anime-inspired asian-eurpean blend gaming in a time of change and turmoil, playing as chosen warriors of the Unconquered Sun with powers that make you a force of nature unto yourself, fighting against similarly empowered beings with the blood of the great Elemental Dragons flowing through their veins, while old allies and enimies form an uncertain web of trust and betrayal all around you". Except that in no way does justice to the sheer glory of the setting, nor does it go into the fact that you can actualy play the aformentioned dragon-blooded folks, or actualy several other types of powerful half-mortal humans. Rules for cinamatic fighting and stunts (doing really elaborate, out of this world, action-movie-impossible stunts is not only expected, it's encouraged and sometimes even needed), complex chains of magical abilities for even the burliest fighter, magic that at it's highest levels can bring life to a dead valley ala the Genesis Torpedo in Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, rules for magical suits of mecha-armour similar to those in the anime Escaflowne, your characters wielding weapons that no mortal could LIFT, much less fight with... It's all in there. It's not, of course, for the people who like doing anything subtle... You Harn folks would probably die from massive heart failure to even read the book ... but it's currently my favorite game in all creation.

The reptilefolk in ED are the T'Skrang

Yeah..Exalted has some really over the top anime type stuff..especially the "mecha" armour (an optional rule in the ST companion, IIRC)..I tone it down a bit..but it is a great premise...you are basically a demi-god, you are hunted, and the poulace thinks you are extremely evil ...

As I said I tone it down some because it can be a bit too over the top...But teh system si easy and fun (the only experience I have w/ WW games), and is adaptable..My first campaign I ran the PCs as Tomb Raiders...searching for lost artifacts from the first age...yeah kind of like dungeon crawls...but ther's lots of politics and intrigue in the world of Exalted....you are a few and many want to see you die...they don't want you to get those powerful artifacts...they believe you are evil incarnate...you have to prove them wrong (great opportunities for roleplay), and by trying to take down the resident oppressive government and state religion. It was really fun..we had a blast..and my group was a bunch of old fart geezers like me. I dind't hyp the anime, just the "epic-ness" (nothing wrong with anime, just noting that some folks thing Exalted is all about Anime stuff becuase of the art..I don't really see it that way...I see it as Glorantha, and our own real-world heroic mythic tales combined..You can do alot with the system...

OK..sorry for rambling..

 

[Deadguy]

I had to choose 'another way' since in fact I play more non-D&D fantasy than I do D&D at the moment. I have at least three distinct role-playing groups (well, there is some overlap, but the circumstances mean that the play is distinct). So in order of the number of hours spent gaming I would say:

Earthdawn
[D&D3e]
Mage: the Sorcerers Crusade
Ars Magica
Dragon Warriors
+ 2 homebrew fantasy systems from time-to-time

There are plenty of Fantasy games out there, but most can't draw the crowds the way D&D can. Which is a shame - there are a lot of clever ideas out there I wish people were exposed to. It would help them improve their D&D gaming.

 

[Tsyr]

For the heck if it, thought I might post an excerpt from the Combat Simulator program for Riddle of Steel... gives an example of what fights in riddle of steel are normaly like.... quick and deadly. Though this one was over faster than normal, to avoid the log being too long.

Valraven opts for a Neutral stance

Shen'Lu opts for an Aggressive stance
----
Shen'Lu rushes in to attack, while Valraven tries to hold him off...
----
At the start of the round, we refresh both combat pools
----
First engagement...

Shen'Lu gains +2CP for his aggressive stance
Shen'Lu thrusts at Valraven's chest with 7 dice...
Valraven parries the attack with 7 dice...

Shen'Lu rolls and gets 1 successes.
Valraven rolls and gets 2 successes.

Valraven therefore successfully parries the attack and steals initiative!
----
Second engagement...

Valraven takes a swing at Shen'Lu's arms/hands with 7 dice...
Shen'Lu parries the attack with 6 dice...

Valraven rolls and gets 1 successes.
Shen'Lu rolls and gets 2 successes.

Shen'Lu therefore successfully parries the attack and steals initiative!
----
At the start of the round, we refresh both combat pools
----
First engagement...

Shen'Lu takes a swing at Valraven's midsection with 6 dice...
Valraven attempts to counter Shen'Lu's attack with 6 dice...
Shen'Lu's attack was a feint, and he instead thrusts at Valraven's chest with 9 dice...

Shen'Lu rolls and gets 2 successes.
Valraven rolls and gets 4 successes.

Valraven successfully counters the attack, and gains 2 dice on his next attack.
----
Second engagement...
Valraven gains 2 dice for his counter attack...
It's a slash at Shen'Lu's head. How many dice do you wish to assign?
Valraven assigns 8 dice to the counter attack.
Shen'Lu doesn't have enough dice left to defend with...

Valraven rolls and gets 5 successes.
Shen'Lu rolls and gets 0 successes.

Valraven hits Shen'Lu with a total damage rating of 5... (Weapon goes in throat and out top of head...)
----
Combat over!

For the record, Valraven was wearing a chain tunic and leather arm and leg guards, Shen'Lu was wearing full leather with a pot helmet. Valraven had a longsword in a two-handed grip, Shen'Lu had a longsword in a one-handed grip and a poingard dagger in his off hand. Valraven was weaker than Shen'Lu, but quicker and had 1 more dice in his pool because Shen'Lu lost one due to wearing a helmet.

 

[Psion]

Other fantasy RPGs I have played:

Ars Magica - based on dark ages Europe with a mythical twist, mages are intentionally more powerful, flexible magic system, proposed a "troupe" style of play that never took off in any groups I played with.

Elfquest - BRP based game based on the Elfquest comics. A little limited, but was fun to play a few times.

Stormbringer/Elric - BRP based games based on Moorcock's Elric novels. Stormbringer was more munchky; Elric was more balanced.

Warhammer FRP - Gritty RPG. Combat is pretty gory. World is sort of cool, but a bit close to Earth. Really do not like the system.

Harnmaster - Low fantasy RPG with some neat cultural religion notes and an interesting damage system. I really don't like the skills and resolution system, and the anal feel of the world is not for me.

Fantasy Hero - Based on the Hero system, had a stand alone version and a sourcebook version for Hero 4e. The sourcebook makes a great general sourcebook for fantasy. As a game, Hero is unmatched in its flexibility, but the power system frightened away some players from playing mages.

Palladium Fantasy - Weak D&D knock-off with a few stealable ideas. The "old ones" book is a great resource for quick towns & cities for D&D, but I would never play it as a game.

Fifth Cycle - Game has an interesting "spell tree" magic system, but the rest of the game left a lot to be desired.

Rolemaster - Nice game on paper, IME unplayable in actuality. Extremely tedious to make and advance characters.

Arcanum - D&D knock-off (a much better one that PFRPG), precursor to Talislanta. Had some interesting aspects and also served well as a D&D sourcebook.

Those are the big diversions; there are others that I owned but never played or only played once or twice. Of those, I liked fantasy hero the best, but it was above some players. After 3e hit, I have not seen a reason to play other fantasy games.

 

[KChagga]

I've played quite a bit of Palladium fantasy. Even though most people on these boards seem to hate the palladium system
I also have played
Elric!
CoC
and not a roleplaying system but Lone Wolf choose your own adventure type books.

 

[Fenes 2]

I play Shadowrun once a week and D&D twice a week, though the timne spent is the same for both systems.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

i voted 'significant phases' in the poll

IMHO, anything with magic in it is fantasy, no matter the setting. so i'd have to include:

rifts
deadlands
White Wolf (when there's a 'combined' setting - Vampire with Mage, etc.)
star wars
villains and vigilantes
champions
and several homebrew game systems

 

[HellHound]

Non-d20 fantasy games I play or have played (for more than one session at least).

Palladium RPG - probably my favourite, and one of the closest to "core" D&D in its time. Excellent ideas and various ways of handling spellcasting (diabolists & summoners use special symbols for their magic instead of spell slots...) and a HUGE pile of races and classes to choose from. I only have the original edition, I understand a lot of the material has changed in the latest edition, making the rules run better and the classes more balanced. Regardless, one of my faves.

K.A.B.A.L. - Knights And Barbarians And Legerdemain. This crazy D&D-esque game doesn't come with a game world (run it in whatever game world you want) and is effectively "just" a set of rules for running fantasy RPGs in. A set of INSANE rules. Don't even consider combat without having a scientific calculator for EACH player at the table. Combat involves calculating square roots and ratio fractions to determine hit rolls. Nuts.

Arcanum - this D&D-based RPG was very detailed in its magic-using classes and used some very interesting advancement charts for the characters, much along the lines of the way a lot of the newer classes in D&D work - special abilities at various levels. Skills and Feats (not under those names, mind you) are purchased with XP, so if you pick up a bunch of them, you go up levels slower - a nice trade-off and one I've been looking at for a d20-based game. Lots of character classes once again, and very detailed sections on alchemy, making homonculi and so on.

Talislanta - I never ran this, so don't know the actual system that well. I played about five games of this, and it reminded me distinctly of Arcanum, but was far more about stereotypes... but the rest of the system was similar. I *believe* they are by the same company.

Earthdawn - a FASA fantasy game set after a huge apocalypse. I didn't play much, but it was fun. We were a group of dwarves just returning to the surface after millennia underground hiding from the disaster. Some neat armors in the book - stuff that binds to the user's skin and absorbs 1 hp / day in exchange for providing a natural armor class.

Pendragon - Arthurian RolePlaying. Loved this game. Only payed 3 sessions, but had a blast. The ethics are a lot of fun (pagan vs christian sets your status on something like 10 different "alignments" such as Lusty vs Chaste and so on). And just the fact that you are playing an Arthurian RPG sets the tone for everyone and gets the juices flowing, IMO.

GURPS - Unfortunately, I've never played this ever since I got burned. I bought discworld as a long time Pratchett fan. I believed the hype... here, straight from the website: "this is a complete roleplaying game. You need no other books to play.". The problem is that's not true. Throughout the entire book, references are made to rules that are NOT included in GURPS lite. You CAN play the game as it stands, as long as you don't even LOOK at a magic-using character since all the rules for that are in the GURPS basic manual. I complained to the company and got a "tough luck" response. BASTARDS. I bought the books I needed in the end, but am so angry at them (ruined a birthday present for my wife... she's the real Pratchett fan in the house) that I have never been in the right mood to play the game... (ie: I get pissed off whenever I look at the books).

Edit: removed sig

 

[HellHound]

Gah... the whole GURPS thing gets me so ticked off that I had to stop posting there. Sorry.

More:

RoleMaster - Still one of my staple resources for RPGs. I love their detailed magic system, combat, etc... In fact, I find that a LOT of D&D3e is based strongly on RoleMaster, but is simpler. I've run two quite successful campaigns of RoleMaster. The big trick is to handle leveling up individually with the players between game sessions, and to make sure everyone has a photocopy of their appropriate weapons tables.

Warhamster - While I love the gritty feel of Warhammer, I really disliked the system. It broke down QUICKLY as the players increased in level. But we did have a fun campaign, and a friend of mine ran the official coampaing they published and it was a lot of fun railroading.

Stormbringer - Love the setting. Love the rules. But character generation produces two types of characters - beginning adventurers and EPIC HEROES. The two do not mix well. Ran a great one-on-one campaign of this game for a few months.