Ideas for a new game in the D&D genre

Do you have any specifics about what it is with D&D or Pathfinder that's not working for you or what you're looking for that they don't have? Or is it more just that you feel like you've played them out and just want a new way to approach the same kind of game?

One game that might be worth looking into is Sword World 2.5. It's Japan's biggest fantasy TTRPG, and it's what I've been using for my fantasy fix lately. It's got your familiar things like dwarves and elves and fighters and mages, but also has a lot of it's own weird ideas, like a race of muscular people who are solar powered or an alchemist class that can use remains of defeated monsters for strong spell-like effects. And the "class" system is interesting, where the "classes" might be better thought of as skill packages, and you're supposed to take at least 2. Combat is also adjustable in such a way that you could have a simple front line/back line setup that feels like an old JRPG or use a map and have the more granular positioning you'd expect out of D&D.

A couple things that may or may not make you decide it wouldn't be for you before you look into it:
1. There's no official English release. There's extensive fan translations, but if you want physical books in English, you're going to have to get them custom printed.
2. Like most Japanese TTRPGs, it's designed for episodic play. In Japan, the way they usually organize games means they don't know who's going to be at the table on a given day or if any of them will ever come back, so it's normal to assume that every session has a clear beginning, middle, and end. You can easily make a traditional Western style campaign and run it with this, but it'll be best if you can divide it into digestible chunks when you're at the table. Like the big dungeons that exist for this system are designed under the assumption that each floor is a session, and that you're giving out XP and everything every time you run one of them.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

FWIW, I will not be offended if you choose none of the games that I propose. I hope you find a game that works for you and your group. That's what matters most.
Oh my. I hope that I'm not coming off as dismissive in any way. When I ask for advice or options, I'm really looking for them. Everyone has been helpful (as they usually are!) so I really appreciate the time and effort all of you are putting in to help me and my group out.

A couple people have asked what my issues are with the existing systems. Honestly, there aren't any. The reasons the group wants to do things differently are what I'd call "meta issues" that don't have a fix. I think we're looking for something new without the baggage from issues outside the game itself. I don't want to talk about it because I think it would derail a useful discussion that might also be helpful for other people who want to try something new.
 

You mentioned 13th Age 2nd edition among your short list, and I really have to recommend it. I was on playtest for both the original and 2nd edition, and I quite like where it's gone. And that's after running a four year campaign with the original rules. Plus the new edition is intentionally math-neutral in regards to the original, so all of the excellent additional books are still in play, from the fantastic Bestiaries to adventures like Eyes of the Stone Thief.
 

You mentioned 13th Age 2nd edition among your short list, and I really have to recommend it. I was on playtest for both the original and 2nd edition, and I quite like where it's gone. And that's after running a four year campaign with the original rules. Plus the new edition is intentionally math-neutral in regards to the original, so all of the excellent additional books are still in play, from the fantastic Bestiaries to adventures like Eyes of the Stone Thief.
I love 13th Age. I was fortunate enough to play games with both Jonathan and Rob when they came out to Gamehole Con in years back, and this is a fantastic game. I'm just thinking it may take it a while to actually deliver version 2.0, and the VTT options aren't the best. In-person, I'd say that this would be what I would run.

And man, Eyes of the Stone Thief is awesome.
 

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy.

There's really no comparison between what D&D offers and what GURPS delivers. The former is so limited in character creation, magic, social interaction and combat. GURPS allows a group to create the exact characters and stories they want. Plus resolving actions is as easy as rolling 3d6 - no need to remember modifiers from abilities, skills and feats.
 

Oh my. I hope that I'm not coming off as dismissive in any way. When I ask for advice or options, I'm really looking for them. Everyone has been helpful (as they usually are!) so I really appreciate the time and effort all of you are putting in to help me and my group out.
You are not even remotely coming across as dismissive. I just wanted to communicate that I won't somehow be offended by you saying "no" to suggestions. I'm not invested in you picking my suggestions. There are others that in this thread that I think are good options, and I would have recommended them had they not been done so already: SotWW, 13th Age 2e, WWN, etc.

A couple people have asked what my issues are with the existing systems. Honestly, there aren't any. The reasons the group wants to do things differently are what I'd call "meta issues" that don't have a fix. I think we're looking for something new without the baggage from issues outside the game itself. I don't want to talk about it because I think it would derail a useful discussion that might also be helpful for other people who want to try something new.
That's fair.
 

I've heard a lot of good things about Daggerheart specifically for this usecase.
Seconded - Daggerheart seems different enough in design to offer a distinct experience from D&D while occupying the same general genre space. As a rule, I tend to pick an RPG per genre and stick with it, as I'm more there for the genre than the game. But Daggerheart has my interest piqued.

And also, Daggerheart will be supported on Demiplane.
 

I love 13th Age. I was fortunate enough to play games with both Jonathan and Rob when they came out to Gamehole Con in years back, and this is a fantastic game. I'm just thinking it may take it a while to actually deliver version 2.0, and the VTT options aren't the best. In-person, I'd say that this would be what I would run.

And man, Eyes of the Stone Thief is awesome.
Have you checked out the 13th Age support on Foundry? It has been official and supported by Pelgrane since 1.25.0 (it's up to 1.32.2).

Plus, to be serious, since it's designed as theater-of-the-mind you can run just fine with Discord + a die roller bot like Avrae and a shared Google Draw for images/handouts if you want. That would have people maintaining their own sheets like in a in-person game, which is a nice benefit of the VTT but not necessary to play.

 

Trending content

Remove ads

Top