Fantasy RPGs that do things... different?

[M.L. Martin]

Otherwise, I would suggest FATE. Of the few indie RPGs I could get my D&D group to try, it was FATE they had the most fun with. You can check out the main FATE site: FateRPG.Com: Fate: Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment (TM)

There are currently three RPGs in print based on FATE:

Spirit of the Century
Starblazer Adventures
Diaspora

The upcoming Dresden Files RPG will also use FATE.

A fantasy version of FATE spun off of Starblazer Adventures--Legends of Anglarre--is also set for release late this year or early next.

Personally, I've got a soft spot for the HERO System (at least as an armchair system for reading and fiddling with), but it's decidedly on the crunchy side. For lighter stuff, I'd probably go with BESM or Dragonlance: Fifth Age, but they're both out of print. I should give FATE a closer look, though.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Hm, World of Darkness actually fulfills all three categories. To get it to do fantasy, you could use Second Sight for spells. If you wanted to give your heroes a little oomph, you could open up Hunters as, essentially, paladins. It's less fiddly than Exalted, for the most part. Willpower and Morality are important traits, and your Vice, Virtue, and other aspects are important to characterization. The use of background dots empowers players, tied them to your world, and gives characters areas of vulnerability (so-and-so is attacking your castle, and so forth). I haven't used this idea myself, but I have heard of it being done for a swords-and-sorcery campaign.

I had thought about using oWoD Sorcerer (for magic) revised along with the Inquisition sourcebook (for faith), throw in the virtues from Exalted, use Humanity (Humanity = Conviction + Compassion and Willpower = Temperance + Valor), and then use the Changeling Kiths as races. Nonspellcasters would be built on the higher points that Vampires/Werewolves/Mages get just the balance things.

Alternatively, I had thought about a nWoD game using Mage the Awakening and then make the nonspellcasters akin to the Daredevils/Stalwarts from Adventure!

 

[darjr]

Exile Game Studios HEX

It isn't a fantasy game per-se, but it could be. The second book in the line has rules for sorcery and magic.

The latest book has more monsters and such, but really it's a snap to create them for the game.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Forgot one. Artesia: Adventures in the Known World.

Artesia also comes with a lifepath system, so you automatically come from somewhere in particular, and have a bit of history behind you - like a real person!

Then there are Bindings, which essentially are mutable ratings that connect you to people, things or whatever, in a variety of ways (e.g., Love, Fear, Doubt, Promise. . .) A very neat system, where your character's connections in the world really matter in terms of mechanics. Also, Social Level is a stat; pretty self-explanatory, I imagine. And the Relations Table covers just about every kind of relation you could have with another person, and how various checks are affected by each kind.

Be warned though, the setting is very much part of it all. I'm sure you *could* use the system with another setting, but some bits and bobs would probably need to be modified along the way, in order to do so.

Anyway, it's a gloriously written (and illustrated!) book. I recommend checking it out if you get the chance to.