How do you feel about learning new rule systems?

[schneeland]

I don't necessarily enjoy learning new systems, but I enjoy playing them, i.e. if someone runs a new game, I will happily play, especially if there's pre-gen characters and a quick start available. Really getting a firm grasp on a system takes longer, though, and feels like some work (especially if I am also the GM and prepare the adventure/campaign). And at least for me, it can easily take a couple of month until I really feel comfortable with a system. It's still worth it in many cases, it's just effort that becomes harder to justify as I grow older.
Also, echoing what @hawkeyefan said above: I prefer new systems to be notably distinct from what I know. So my desire to learn a new d20-based fantasy system is quite low, as is - to pick a more recent example - my desire to pick up another Year Zero or PbtA game.
I also noticed that, although I enjoy well-designed rules, I'm not really the type for really crunchy systems; so these days, bulky rule books are less of a promise and more of a threat to me.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Definitively agree here. I mean with I don't know how many different versions of D20/storyteller-system etc I have played, all with subtle differences on how certain mechanics work, my group always have to look up how did that specific thing work in THIS version. And that would be for some common things. Like grappling, conditions, initiative, saves.

Games that went out of their way to be complicated, just because they could (and it did NOT serve a purpose): Exalted 2e, Eclipse Phase 1e, Shadowrun 5e (all Shadowrun-versions have been complicated).

I mean, I know there's a place for a game with a ton of crunchy rules and different sub-systems for everything....but I struggle to imagine such a system appealing to me at this point. As the industry standard, D&D kind of establishes precedent in a lot of ways, and I think many designers follow suit and create very complex games, while others go out of their way to avoid that. I prefer the latter.

 

[payn]

I'll one shot just about anything with anybody. Though, I've definitely settled on a few favored systems for longer running games.

Fantasy - Pathfinder 1st edition
Sci-Fi - Traveller
Horror - Call of Cthulhu

There are GMs where I'll play anything they want to run. There are also GMs where I wont go anywhere near their games if its not one of the few above.

It also depends on how crunchtastic the game is. Rules lite systems can be fun to learn, though I have trouble staying interested. Rules heavy games obviously take more effort for the entire group.

So I feel pretty good about learning new systems depending on the situation, the group, and the level of complexity.

 

[willrali]

It’ll really need to be an interesting genre and contain plenty of opportunities for power fantasies and wish fulfillment. I have zero interest in learning a system where I’m a bottom feeder scrabbling under the heels of the powerful because of Challenge and Role Play. Hard pass.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I haven't seen a 'new' system in years, just endless minor variations on the systems of the 80s.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I haven't seen a 'new' system in years, just endless minor variations on the systems of the 80s.

There have been a lot of new rules systems over the past several years that are nothing like those from the early days of RPGing. Obviously, to any specific person or group, some may appeal and some may not, but I’m sure there’s something new for just about anyone.

 

[Jd Smith1]

There have been a lot of new rules systems over the past several years that are nothing like those from the early days of RPGing. Obviously, to any specific person or group, some may appeal and some may not, but I’m sure there’s something new for just about anyone.

Can you name a few? Because all I've seen is the usual d20, d10 pool, d6 pool, FATE/Fudge, d100, etc, that all date back to the 80s. Even diceless. Using cards.

Some call hit points something different, some have 0 as perfectly healthy, some use crit hit charts, penetrating dice, exploding dice...but none of that is remotely new.

WHFRP 3rd edition and a Star Wars variant went with unique dice, is the last ones I can think of. That's the closest thing to 'new' I've seen since the 90s.

 

[prabe]

@Jd Smith1 They're probably not up your alley--they're not really up mine, either--but Blades in the Dark and Apocalypse World (and their Forged in the Dark and Powered by the Apocalypse spawn, respectively) do not particularly feel like older TRPGs. For that matter, neither does Icons, IIRC, but I only ever played it one time and didn't much care for it. There's not a lot of material for it, but Stolze's One Roll Engine looks in many ways like a d10 pool but works much differently. My point is intended gently and is merely that there are both TRPG rulesets that are actually different and others that are more different than they might seem at first glance; there's nothing to say that you should try any of them.

 

[Jd Smith1]

@Jd Smith1 They're probably not up your alley--they're not really up mine, either--but Blades in the Dark and Apocalypse World (and their Forged in the Dark and Powered by the Apocalypse spawn, respectively) do not particularly feel like older TRPGs. For that matter, neither does Icons, IIRC, but I only ever played it one time and didn't much care for it. There's not a lot of material for it, but Stolze's One Roll Engine looks in many ways like a d10 pool but works much differently. My point is intended gently and is merely that there are both TRPG rulesets that are actually different and others that are more different than they might seem at first glance; there's nothing to say that you should try any of them.

I've read both Blades and Apoc World. Nothing new in either, just a few half-hearted tweaks to concepts long since hammered out.

There's a few new dynamic settings (not many, but some), but neither of those are included. But rules sets haven't pushed the envelope in years. I can't think of more than four rules systems which really broke free of the mold since the 90s. Five if you count Swedish systems.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Can you name a few? Because all I've seen is the usual d20, d10 pool, d6 pool, FATE/Fudge, d100, etc, that all date back to the 80s. Even diceless.

Some call hit points something different, some have 0 as perfectly healthy, some use crit hit charts, penetrating dice, exploding dice...but none of that is remotely new.

WHFRP 3rd edition and a Star Wars variant went with unique dice, is the last ones I can think of. That's the closest thing to 'new' I've seen since the 90s.

Some of these games may have some of those elements you've mentioned, but I don't think they focus on them to the extent that D&D and other longstanding games do. I mean, I don't know if I'd say that any game that has a dice pool in some way is retreading what's come before....but maybe that's just me.

Here's a few I can think of off the top of my head.

• Apocalypse World (and the Powered by the Apocalypse ruleset, for which there are a ton of games)
• Modiphius's 2d20 system (used for several settings)
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Blades in the Dark (and the Forged in the Dark system, for which there are a few official games and several hacks)
• Free League's Mutant Year Zero and Tales From the Loop
• Fiasco
• Microscope and other fiction creation games
• Free League's Alien RPG
• The Gumshoe system- notably Trail of Cthulhu and Swords of the Serpentine
• Misspent Youth (inspired by the recent article about the author stepping away from the industry)

I mean, that's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head that I've recently played or read through. None of them, in my opinion, play like D&D. Some have elements that come from D&D and other similar games, but the play experience is still very different. Collectively, these games offer a pretty wide variety of play styles and play expectations.

This list is by no means exhaustive. My knowledge of the industry and the games that are out there is pretty minimal. Others can offer many more than these.