I need a good non-D&D fantasy campaign

[Jd Smith1]

So looking ahead, I'm thinking after my current campaign ends, I would run Hackmaster 5e again.

I'm looking for one of those products that takes players from level 1 to 10+. I don't want D&D because they are too commonly known, and the PCs in D&D are too overpowered. Pathfinder has great products, but they are too bound to their setting.

So a good old-school-style gaming product would be easiest to convert. System doesn't matter, although lower-magic systems would be best. I'm not familiar with OSR products or 3rd party material.

Any recommendations?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you can find them, the ancient Judge’s Guild products were somewhat system agnostic. Yes they had some stuff statted out for AD&D, but a lot of sections were left for the DMs to flesh out.

 

[Reynard]

This is a way out there suggestion, but what about Parlainth from Earthdawn? A city that Birgadooned itself in order to avoid a magical apocalypse (oops, it did not quite work) that has "returned" and is now a major adventure location.

 

[MGibster]

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game has The Enemy Within which is supposed to be pretty good. I haven't played it myself, so I can't attest to that personally. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. I'm interested in running a fantasy game but would rather avoid D&D.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game has The Enemy Within which is supposed to be pretty good. I haven't played it myself, so I can't attest to that personally. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. I'm interested in running a fantasy game but would rather avoid D&D.

I've used it. Its OK. But its been around since the late 80s, so its likely to be known to at least some of my players.

 

[Jd Smith1]

If you can find them, the ancient Judge’s Guild products were somewhat system agnostic. Yes they had some stuff started out for AD&D, but a lot of sections were left for the DMs to flesh out.

I treasure Dark Tower and CISO. But I used them in a previous campaign with this group. My entire inventory of fantasy material was expended on that campaign, leaving me ill-suited to a new one.

 

[thullgrim]

This is a way out there suggestion, but what about Parlainth from Earthdawn? A city that Birgadooned itself in order to avoid a magical apocalypse (oops, it did not quite work) that has "returned" and is now a major adventure location.

The OG Parlainth Boxed Set is a thing of beauty. Earthdawn 4e organized play scenarios are set in and around Parlainth for additional options.

 

[thullgrim]

Might also look at Symbaroum’s Throne of Thorns campaign though it too is tied to a setting pretty closely.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

AEG made some pretty good 3Ed & 3.X products, of which I have several sourcebooks. They happen to be having a sale on their PDFs. Considering your needs, Adventure 1, Adventure 2, The World’s Largest City & World’s Largest Dungeon books would be pretty handy, as would the Accordlands books.

DriveThruRPG

preview.drivethrurpg.com

 

[MNblockhead]

I second WFRP 4e. I played WFRP in the late 80s and just started a campaign that mixes the Enemy Within with the various Ubersreik adventures. But if you don't want to run it because you have players who may be familiar with it, how about:

Swords and Wizardry. OD&D Clone, cleaned up and somewhat modernized. Lots of setting an adventure material for it in FGG's Lost Lands series.

Dungeon Crawl Classic. Not really low magic, but magic is dangerous and unpredictable. Goes to 10th level. The system and adventures have an old school weird fantasy feel.

If you want a very rules light system, you might find Index Card RPG (ICRPG) interesting. But from your other threads, you seem to like more crunchy combat with VTT battlemaps. ICRPG isn't the game for that.

If you are going to be kit bashing anyway, check out Cortex Prime. You could build your own flavor of fantasy campaign. While cortex favors a more narrative style play, there is a rich tactical element through how your build your dice pools. With Cortex Prime you have a great deal of latitude on how crunchy you want to make it.