In Print Fantasy Games

[JoeGKushner]

Artesia is indeed another one I've got that I STILL need to review. Wanted to give it some playtest but players were scarred off by the numerous stats and Fuzion system. (They hate Fuzion for the whole Hero/Cyberpunk thing and blame the system for that New Millenium crap.)

Harp is okay but I've played it and found I enjoyed Rolemaster more. So I'd probably do RM Classic or RMSS before doing Harp. But the players enjoyed it to a point so that might be something to consider.

Shadow of Yesterday... did that have a second printing as well? I'm getting senile. One of the great things about the small press publishers is that they're not afraid of doing a new printing relatively quickly. The bad thing is that in print form at least, there are no 'instant' updates.

Runequest I never really liked. I figured if I was going to go that route, might as well just stick with Stormbringer, which I have like three editions of (well, two editions of Stormbringer and one edition of Elric.)

Exalted 2nd ed: I know this is going to sound strange, but this is a game I want to play and not GM. Looks like a lot of work and if I'm going to put that much into it, I'd rather do it with a game I'm very familiar with, such as Hero, Rolemaster, or of course, D&D.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Anima: Beyond Fantasy is not *quite* in print yet in the US, but will be in April. I've heard wildly conflicting things about the system, but the miniatures game gives me great hope for it - the minis game is very fast, deep and clearly presented. If the RPG rules follow suit, it should be a very playable system.
(fantasyflightgames.com/anima.html)

 

[buzz]

(They hate Fuzion for the whole Hero/Cyberpunk thing and blame the system for that New Millenium crap.)

Smylie has done great things with Fuzion for Artesia, so don't let that put you off.

Shadow of Yesterday... did that have a second printing as well?

It did have a revision, yes. You get the rules online for free here: http://files.crngames.com/cc/tsoy/book1--rulebook.html

Anima: Beyond Fantasy is not *quite* in print yet in the US, but will be in April.

The previews make it look like a serious fantasy hearbreaker. Nice art, though.

 

[meomwt]

FWIW, I quite enjoyed using the Earthdawn systemwhen we played it a few years ago.

The magic system takes some getting used to (but works quite effectively), and the martial types can get fairly tough as they get higher in level.

A battle against a Horror generally becomes a pants-wetting experience.

 

[HellHound]

I'm also a big fan of RoleMaster, but settled on WHFRP2 as my primary fantasy RPG of late.

I like low-level D&D play, and this is what WHFRP handles best.

 

[sjmiller]

There's also Legends of the Ancient World from Dark City Games. It is sort of a recreation/extention of the classic game The Fantasy Trip. The best thing is, the rules are free from their website.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I'm also a big fan of RoleMaster, but settled on WHFRP2 as my primary fantasy RPG of late.

I like low-level D&D play, and this is what WHFRP handles best.

I keep meaning to pick that up. We played the first iteration in college, and there were somethings I really like, but there was some goofiness to the setting that really turned me off. I do like the grim and gritty, though.

At this point, though, I'd be happy with a rousing game of 'Rock/Paper/Scissors'.

 

[Stormborn]

Believe it or not, Unknown Armies + Ascension of the Magdeline puts the Postmodern Magick RPG back into 1610 Prague with notes for making it an equivalent fantasy city. The perfect start to a campaign centered around the secret wars of ascenscion amongst would be members of the Invisible Clergy.

 

[Wombat]

Burning Wheel: Own the revised edition. Did they ever revise the Monster Burner? I wouldn't mind giving it a go just to see what type of characters the players would make.

As pointed out by many, the MB has no revision, but it does have an erratta -- it also is beginning to look like the Magic Burner is going to be vapourwar, due to their current emphasis on Burning Empires.

BW is a fascinating game system -- your players have to know their characters going in, as the only way to advance is to play to your character's personality (or polar opposite from it). What ultimately intrigues me about the game is the fact that the players have at least as much power as the GM in the game -- they determine for themselves just how fast they will advance, as it is up to them to determine whether to play it safe or push their limits.

OTOH, the combat system is really hinky, and this is coming from someone who is not all that wild about detailed combat.

 

[noffham]

I'm going to suggest Arrowflight from Deep7. Mechanics are okay but the setting is terrific, IMHO.