How Complex Do You Prefer Your TTRPG Systems In General

[Deset Gled]

My original thought was 8. Back in the 90s I would probably have called the same thing a 7.

But then I read that 5e was a 6. Back in this poll, I voted that 5e was a 4: D&D 5E (2014) - How crunchy is D&D 5E

Accordingly, I moved my vote up to a 9. Which feels like inflation, but I can live with that. It seems the market is generally shifted towards less crunchy, narrative games these days. Which is ironic, given the popularity of VTTs. But watcha gonna do?

 

[Reynard]

Somewhere between 1 and 3, so I voted 2.

That is a pretty low level for even most modern indie games. What games do you think hit that spot?

 

[DammitVictor]

I don't know, somewhere in the 6-7 range. D&D 5e is too simple, but 3.5 and PF1 are too complex and I've heard PF2 is worse.

You can use optional rules to sand PF1 down into the sweet spot. HARP is perfect. (On this point.) Palladium, not including RIFTS, is just about right. Alternity.

 

[CommodoreKong]

As above gotten older and my job has gotten more stressful I’ve found myself enjoying complex RPGs less and less. Our groups primarily system since the OGL situation has been Pathfinder 2 and I’m glad we use Foundry for that because I would never play that in person. In general I’ve found myself enjoying the system less and less as time goes on. We are truly Starfinder 2e now but I doubt my thoughts will change.

Our groups did enjoy Draw Steel quite a bit, it was crunchy but streamlined. We were getting tired of 5e before the OGL - too many issues with the system and honestly 2024 doesn’t look like that much of a change.

Daggerheart looks interesting and I would love to try it but I got a feeling it works best in person which is impossible for our group. One of our players has run a few Call of Cthulhu games which is interesting- not a game probably want to play every week but it’s a nice pallet cleaner type game to do some different.

I have been potentially looking at Shadowdark, Mothership or Pirate Borg to run as our second game before the Draw Steel Crack the Sun comes out (I plan on running that and everyone in my group wants to play it)- all seem to be pretty rules light and have starter adventures. Does anyone who has played those 3 games have any recommendations/thoughts on them?

For sure. I really WANT to learn and like Draw Steel!, but I don't think I have the bandwidth...

I finished up running the Delian Tomb module and everyone in my group was impressed with how streamlined and easy to understand it was. We did use the Codex though which helped automate a lot of things, which I would recommend in general. Draw Steel while crunchy is still very streamlined compared to 5e and especially Pathfinder 2 in my experience.

 

[overgeeked]

6-7

Dammit, Victor.

 

[DammitVictor]

Dammit, Victor.

Wrong generation. But when I tell people I'm five-foot-nine, I always follow it up with "niiice".

 

[dbm]

If the gap between a 6 and a 7.5 is bigger than between a 7.5 and an 8, then I think we've done a poor job assigning numbers to systems.

That’s an amusing typo or brain fart

SWADE hits my sweet spot so an easy 6 on the scale for me. But the most important thing is that a game uses its complexity well. D&D 5e might be a similar complexity to SWADE but I find that SWADE gives me more useful tools for gaming over what 5e delivers.

 

[pete284]

I like less complexity as I get older. I have now moved to an FKR style where characters are made freeform using Cliche's or Tags and all rolls are resolved using a simple dice mechanic which can be changed up depending on style or genre. I have found it freeing for players to design any character they would like and for the GM it means prep is super easy. I was inspired playing games such as Cthulhu Dark and 2400.