Fantasy RPGs that do things... different?

[Sir Robilar]

So I was thinking about what system our next campaign should use. It has to be fantasy, we're grognards in that. We have experiences with 2e, 3e, 4e and True20. Now I'm looking for a game that does things... I dunno... different.

I know that's terribly vague but I can't narrow it down yet. Maybe a game that has a tighter focus and mechanics for the narrative instead of being centered on dungeon-bashing? Or on politics? A rules-light game? Genre-mix? Or a system using a campaign world that has a very unique spin?

Maybe we yould use this thread to make a list of Fantasy RPGs that in some way do things a little different. I'd really be thankful for your recommendations.

 

[pawsplay]

GURPS Fantasy II ("The Madlands") is about as different as you can get.

 

[amerigoV]

Go Savage!

Pinnacle Entertainment Group Downloads

It is a universal system (can do more than fanatsy). I just ran my group (D&D 3.5 veterans) through the Test Drive stuff. They loved it. So, we are going to use Savage Worlds to run the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft in a Steampunk era (1880s).


The Test Drive rules in the downloads section has the key parts of the system. This PDF has the development of the system (this is what really got me to try the system).

Its catch phrase is Fast! Furious! and Fun! It has a nice blend of building interesting characters but it does not bog the GM down in a ton of detail on the monster side. Combat resolution is quick with very little book-keeping (no more 3 hp of damage type results)

The best part? The core ruleset is $10. Yes, $10 contains the character development, rules, DM section, and selection of monsters.

 

[Smeelbo]

Legends of Anglierre

Legends of Anglerre will be releasing soon from Cubicle 7, and will be essentially FUDGE/FATE, Spirit of the Century and especially Starblazer Adventures mechanics, but in a fantasy setting. Very different from earlier fantasy games, emphasizing fast, on-the-fly, collaborative role-playing with enough mechanics to really work. For me it may be the D&D-killer, in that it will allow me to do what I long to do, that is create action packed stories with everything I need in one book, free from dependence on the whims and capabilities of a specific publisher.

Grittier, and with more emphasis on drama and character development is Burning Wheel, and its various offspring, including The Blossoms Are Falling and Mouse Guard. In D&D-type games, the rules provide you not really with a character so much as a mechanically defined avatar, like a puppet, acting however the player wishes. A D&D character is, at least game mechanicly, not even really a character. Roleplaying exists only in so far as each player acts upon it, and the rules do not support character in any way (especially since 4E, where alignment and diety are practically without consequence). In contrast, about half the mechanics in Burning Wheel are the usual combat, skills, and conflict resolution, while the other half are character definition: what does the character believe, how do they act, what are their relationships to the world. Indeed, you cannot succeed in Burning Wheel without having an interesting character and acting on it. As a wise Mouse Guard once said, "It's not what you fight, it's what you fight for."

Lastly, one of the oldest, most complete, bizarre, non-western fantasy settings would be the various incarnations of Tekumel, aka The Empire of the Petal Throne. Imagine if Tolkein had been South East Asian instead of European, and had been a Dungeon Master. Sadly, every rules incarnation has been nigh unplayable, but it is a fantasticly deep setting.

So those are different.

Smeelbo

 

[maddman75]

RPGs that fall into fantasy.

- Exalted. This is a fantasy supers game, essentially. Creation is a grim, dark, honestly terrible brutal place. Millions live in bondage while the aristrocrats lay in luxuries from the First Age. War tears apart the countryside, and all manner of unnatural beings plague the wilderness. The PCs are Solar Exalted, chosen of the gods. After being betrayed by their servants and advisors, they were locked out of creation for ages. But now they've returned. Creation stands on the brink of annihalation, and they are the lost champions of a forgotten age.

PCs in this game are powerful. Its best to not have any kind of predetermined plot, they'll just laugh at it. And its not much for dungeon-crawling and fighting weird mosnters all the time. The normal antagonists are other Exalted. The weaker but numerous Dragon-blooded, who think the Solars demons and seek to exterminate them. The Sidereals, masters of fate who engineered the coup long ago. The Lunars, one time companions of the Solars, hide in the wyld with their own plans for Creation. Finally the Abyssals, corrupted versions of the Solars and slaves of the Deathlords. They seek nothing less than to drive all of Creation into the Abyss.

If they are built that way, a starting PC can defeat an army of mortals. They can walk past the most secured locations as if they were nothing. They can learn to parry any blow with their golden swords. They can sweet talk a king into handing over his daughter's hand in marriage, or make people worship them as gods. And with the problems facing them, they're going to need to be able to do these things. And more.

Mouse Guard
If you don't want high power, you can go for the humble Guard Mouse. Mouse Guard takes place in the Territories, where some anthropomorphic mice have set up a Feudal society. Led by their queen, the Mouse Guard are protectors and defenders of civilization. But being a mouse, everything is an epic challenge. A spring rain is an unstoppable torrent. A turtle or snake is a dragon. And if something truly fearsome should enter the territory like a Black Bear or Wolf, you're really in for a treat.

The game has some novel mechanics. All conflicts use the same rules, where the mice form teams and determine their strategy. This works whether you're going on a journey or fighting a snake. There's no magic, no clerics, no monsters. But again, when you're three inches tall, normal animals and nature are downright horrifying.

 

[Crothian]

The people who support Savage Worlds remind me more and more of a used car sales men then gamers.

There are plenty of fantasy games out there that are different then D&D. There are some great modern fantasy games like Changeling, faerie tale fantasy games like Grim, anime fantasy games like Exalted, historical fantasy like Ars Magica. I think the first thing to do is answer "Different how?" as detailed as you can.

 

[Baz King]

Just off the top of my head I can think of 20 systems and a lot more settings than that! Seriously, you're going to have to narrow your search terms a bit.

I'll still have a stab at answering your question though. Try Warhammer FRP. Any edition, it will all be a change for you.

 

[Scribble]

Is GURPS Fantasy still around?

 

[pawsplay]

Is GURPS Fantasy still around?

There is a fourth edition of GURPS, which is, incidentally, great, plus a revised GURPS Fantasy and a new GURPS Banestorm (the latest version of the Yth setting). So yes, very much so.

 

[Herobizkit]

So, we are going to use Savage Worlds to run the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft in a Steampunk era (1880s).

AHHHH can I come? I know I can't, really, but I wish I had a GM that would run things less traditional like this.