Interested in checking out non-D&D fantasy "old school" ttrpgs

[Koloth]

Melee is available as a free download from Warehouse23, the Steve Jackson Games online store. As mentioned above, it is a subset of Fantasy Trip but for the price, a good way to give it a try. If nothing else, you wind up with a free quick to play combat game.

 

[Voadam]

As for Tunnels & Trolls I quite like the Japanese rules, a slightly lighter version released in Japan (and not, to be clear, rules for playing samurai and ninja). It’s a fascinating historical artifact if nothing else.

How is it lighter? A shorter spell list?

 

[jian]

How is it lighter? A shorter spell list?

More streamlined and very few spells. Also it’s got lots of manga illustration and several simple adventures.

 

[darjr]

The original white box Warhammer box was neat and eclectic. It was both a wargame and an rpg. Think along the lines of OD&D with more complete less rambling rule but somehow with lesser layout. Even more like a set of typed up pages.

The photo of my copy was THE photo on line for a while, in the earlier years.

I think GW shared pdfs of it during one of their big anniversaries.

The last photo I took before I gifted it to a friend.

 

[darjr]

Wait?!

No Arduin or Warlock?

 

[GM Lent]

Talislanta advertised itself as being distinctly and deliberately different from D&D and "typical" Western fantasy, and all editions of the game except the 6th are available free on their website.

Talislanta – Still No Elves!

 

[Sir Brennen]

Another vote for The Fantasy Trip. The recent edition is pretty much the same as the game from the 70s with a little house cleaning, but is getting a decent amount of support from Steve Jackson Games with new material and support for the game.

And another vote for Dragonbane, which was originally based on Chaosium’s BRP system in the early 80’s. The current edition streamlines it quite a bit, using a d20 roll-under system instead of a percentile mechanic, plus a few other modern touches like Advantage/Disadvantage instead of a bunch of modifiers to you die rolls.

Both definitely have a much different fantasy feel than D&D.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Talislanta advertised itself as being distinctly and deliberately different from D&D and "typical" Western fantasy, and all editions of the game except the 6th are available free on their website.

Talislanta – Still No Elves!

View attachment 414006

Would second Talislanta. At a time when most of the fantasy RPGs were either solidly in the Tolkien or Arthurian mode (though the aforementioned Runequest also bucked the trend), Talislanta was gleefully not, gleefully strange.

 

[John Dallman]

No Arduin ...

The original Arduin Grimoire volumes aren't a game in their own right. They don't say what they are, but they're a load of add-ons for early versions of D&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

When I say "old school," I'm mostly thinking of the 70s to 80s, but at its broadest I can extend this to pre-2000s games.

While D&D is the top dog of fantasy ttrpgs, I've been more interested in checking out alternatives after getting more into Pathfinder. While there's quite a bit of newish games out there, I'm interested in older, well-established games that have been around the block. I'm also interested in the more recent Editions of said games if those are better-designed than the original versions.

Offhand, I'm aware of and am interested in Chivalry & Sorcery, RuneQuest/Glorantha, Tunnels & Trolls, the Fantasy Trip, and Ars Magica. Chivalry & Sorcery and Ars Magica are appealing for being closer to an "historical feudal fantasy" vibe, and RuneQuest/Glorantha has a very long-running community and I am already semi-familiar with the d100 BRP system. Tunnels & Trolls sounds appealing, both for its historical value as the 2nd ttrpg ever published, plus sounding like a rules-liter version of D&D. I admit to knowing the least about the Fantasy Trip besides it being Steve Jackson's take on "D&D-style fantasy."

One ttrpg I considered is Warhammer Fantasy, but from what I know of the franchise it's heavier on the wargame side than the RPG side, and I'm not that into wargames.

Fans of 'old-school' non-D&D fantasy, sell me on your favorite systems! What does it offer that D&D and other RPGs don't have? What's the coolest stuff from their lore?

I just picked up Rolemaster at Gencon, so give me a bit and I'll be happy to sell you on that!