Help, give some recomendations of Dark Fantasy TTRPG

[aramis erak]

Setting-wise, Midnight, WFRP (any edition), and Zweihänder are all such.

With the right approach, LotR RPG (One Ring 2E) can easily be such... shadow gains and the Eye score can be worked to drive it into dark fantasy... on the other hand, NPCs have a hell of a time hitting... (Which is the flaw I quit over; it's fixable - drop the Players' armor by 5 points if you want goblins to be a threat...)

 

[Jd Smith1]

How about we wait and see the final result before judging?

Don't be silly.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Setting-wise, Midnight, WFRP (any edition), and Zweihänder are all such.

With the right approach, LotR RPG (One Ring 2E) can easily be such... shadow gains and the Eye score can be worked to drive it into dark fantasy... on the other hand, NPCs have a hell of a time hitting... (Which is the flaw I quit over; it's fixable - drop the Players' armor by 5 points if you want goblins to be a threat...)

Very true. For Midnight to work, the Dark's main forces have to remain viable, so you need a combat system such as Zweihander, where the ability to take damage is not based on PC level.

 

[aramis erak]

Very true. For Midnight to work, the Dark's main forces have to remain viable, so you need a combat system such as Zweihander, where the ability to take damage is not based on PC level.

This is true for all dark fantasy games...
The badguys need to be and remain a threat.
Which is easy with WFRP 1e, 2e, and 3e... and Zweihänder.

The Arcanum, as a ruleset, isn't dark fantasy, but it can be used that way.
Rolemaster can do it quite well, with the right options selected, despite the increasing HP... because the crits are so deadly.
Against the Darkmaster is a MERP pseudoclone... it can work as well as MERP (WHich is Rolemaster Light)...
Combine any of those engines with the Midnight setting....

 

[CubicsRube]

Anybody have any experience to share on Shadow of the Demon Lord? I've always thought it looks cool, but I haven't been able to find a "quick start" kit or anything to give me a sense of the rules, and I don't like to shell out for RPGs without knowing something about a game.

I've been running it for about 2 years. It's not perfect, and not as well balanced as 5e at higher levels, but everything else about it I love.

When I think about house ruling D&D to my preferences, I usually start getting something similar to Shadow of the Demon Lord anyway!

Not sure what you want to know. It plays very similarly to D&D but a few things are noticeable:

1. If you want to deal damage, pick a martial class. Magical classes are more for control or versatility
2. Many monsters have defenses against magic. Few have defenses against mundane attacks.
3. Not every ancestry has a soul, if they die, they die for good.
4. Spell schools are extremely modular and will define your magic user. Want to be a bard, pick the song school. Want to be an abjurer? Protection. What about a time wizard? Technomancer? Rune wizard? There's tons of cool opportunities.
5. I love the spell schools as a GM, because I can give NPCs spells on the fly. I simply decide what school of spells they would have and what their power level is and I'm good to go.
6. PCs at the end will have chosen 3 different classes. I've had fun creating sample characters and my players have enjoyed creating them too.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Aldarc]

Anybody have any experience to share on Shadow of the Demon Lord? I've always thought it looks cool, but I haven't been able to find a "quick start" kit or anything to give me a sense of the rules, and I don't like to shell out for RPGs without knowing something about a game.

Here is a link that covers some of the basics.

Rob Schwalb was on the development team for D&D Next. You can tell because of a number of design elements in SotDL seem to address much of the same things as D&D 5e. Bounded accuracy? d20 + Attribute vs. 10 TN for challenges, and ability score modifiers are the digits above 10 (e.g., 8/-2; 9/-1; 10/+0; 11/+1; 12/+2). Advantage/Disadvantage? Boons (+1d6) and Banes (-1d6).

In addition to their ancestry traits, characters have three tiers of paths, which they get across 10 levels: Novice, Expert, and Master. Novice paths are the classic, basic four: Magician, Priest, Rogue, and Warrior. Expert paths are the more advanced, specialized, and varied: e.g., Paladin, Druid, Wizard, Elementalist, Shaman, Ranger, etc. Master paths are yet more advanced, specialized, and varied: e.g., Cavalier, Geomancer, Executioner, Monster Hunter, Runesmith, etc. This can be mixed and matched at one's leisure - e.g., Priest/Psychic/Runesmith, Magician/Berserker/Gunslinger, etc. Obviously some combinations build upon each other better than others.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Cool, good info. Thanks.

 

[AtomicPope]

Most dark fantasy I can think of is modern or futuristic. I'm assuming you mean medieval dark fantasy. Along those lines, I would place Dark Sun as a dark fantasy setting. The classic 2e Dark Sun was not a heroic setting or system. Something a bit more accessible is Conan - The Roleplaying Game, which could easily to dropped right into Dark Sun. It splits from 3e D&D and Pathfinder in that the system is geared towards classic swords & sorcery, where fighting styles and weapon choices are designed to exploit weaknesses or overcome strengths. Magic in the Conan setting isn't heroic either, often calling for unwilling sacrifices. I prefer the Conan d20 system over Warhammer.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Most dark fantasy I can think of is modern or futuristic. I'm assuming you mean medieval dark fantasy. Along those lines, I would place Dark Sun as a dark fantasy setting. The classic 2e Dark Sun was not a heroic setting or system. Something a bit more accessible is Conan - The Roleplaying Game, which could easily to dropped right into Dark Sun. It splits from 3e D&D and Pathfinder in that the system is geared towards classic swords & sorcery, where fighting styles and weapon choices are designed to exploit weaknesses or overcome strengths. Magic in the Conan setting isn't heroic either, often calling for unwilling sacrifices. I prefer the Conan d20 system over Warhammer.

Dark Sun was definitely not medieval.

We've already listed several dark medieval fantasy settings in the posts above.

 

[AtomicPope]

Dark Sun was definitely not medieval.

Dark Sun is a dystopian medieval fantasy setting.