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

[francisca]

I like RuneQuest 2e quite a bit as a change-up from D&D/D&-ish games. ( I never played the later versions). I also like the 1st edition of Stormbringer (1981), also from The Chaosium. And hey, since it is Chaosium's 50th anniversary, give them a look!

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Isn't Against the Darkmaster supposed to basically be the same game with the Tolkien stuff scrubbed off?

It is not a clone of MERP, but more a spiritual successor. And awesome.

 

[Aldarc]

So I bought two RPGs. One of them is Dragonbane Core Set, the other is Draw Steel Heroes. Yes I'm aware that DS isn't "old school," but I've had my eye on it for a while and figured that having an "old school" and "new school" fantasy RPG to peruse would make for a good balance.

Good choices. There is a Dragonbane thread here in General Discussion if you have any questions.

 

[Crusadius]

- I.C.E's Middle Earth RPG is a classic of the era published in 1984. It uses simplified version of Rolemaster as base system. A d100 roll over system.

Middle-earth Role Playing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have fond memories of MERP. I felt that it was a better game than Rolemaster (IIRC character creation was quite simple in comparison) and wished they had an expansion that carried on level progression past 10 rather than assuming people would pick up Rolemaster.

 

[Emerikol]

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."

I confess I do not like d100 games. Too much granularity for me. GURPS also falls in that category. It's been around since the 80's at least. GURPS 3e came out 1988.

 

[Libertad]

It's been over a month since I last posted here. Here's my update:

I finished reading Dragonbane. While it does look to have some neat stuff, it didn't overly wow me. The sample adventure seemed quite neat, although I'm not really feeling the idea of monster attacks being randomly-determined by die rolls, and I found some of the class choices to be a bit odd in terms of thematics if not necessarily by rules (the Mariner in particular). I would be interested in seeing how the rules work in actual play someday.

But! I picked up Tunnels & Trolls Deluxe 2015 Edition. Partly for its historical position in tabletop, partly because content is still being created for it by Ken St. Andre, and partly because it feels a bit on the lighter, wackier side in regards to themes from what I've seen out there for it.

 

[aramis erak]

Isn't Against the Darkmaster supposed to basically be the same game with the Tolkien stuff scrubbed off?

Not even scrubbed off; just given a fresh coat of paint. there are some mechanical changes, fairly minor.

It is not a clone of MERP, but more a spiritual successor. And awesome.

It's a clone, but it's not a strict retroclone, in that category of clones like DCC... the core is the same, the setting the same as far as mechanics go, but there are single edition level difference. I use Pseudoclone (a term I heard from others in the early 00's) for such.

Hell, it even clones the trade dress of MERP!!!

It doesn't keep the percentile values of the attributes - since MERP doesn't have the current/potential split of RM, the percentiles are there in MERP as vestige of RM. Going straight to the modifier value is a simplification. It uses the same method of each class has DP specified for each skill area, can transfer DP at 2:1, and how they're set is by class.
It has the same system of critical hits, but using names (Superficial, Light, Moderate, Greivous, and Lethal) instead of letters (A-E).
the General Resolution Table is slightly modified (75-99 instead of 74-90, and adjusting the adjacent).

It's far closer than a spiritual successor typically would be.

 

[Libertad]

I finished reading Tunnels & Trolls Deluxe Edition. Overall, I like it and would be open to playing it. I like how it has a less serious feel than D&D, but not outright parody like pre-4e HackMaster. The spell names are not entirely to my liking, though. I like the streamlining of combat into combining damage dice values where both sides roll off against each other, although I am concerned that rolling bucketfuls of dice can get cumbersome unless someone uses a VTT macro for calculating results. Given how important dice values are, to my initial reading it does look like it favors using bigger and bigger weapons like two-handed swords and such. I dunno if using smaller weapons such as daggers and shortbows would be suboptimal to continue using past low levels.

So with a little over a week left in October, the time is coming where I can afford to pick up another ttrpg. Here are the ones I'm gravitating to at the moment, in order:

1. Chivalry & Sorcery: I talked about it before, and as time goes on the more I want to check out how it handles "feudal simulation." One of my friends and frequent gaming buddies is a medieval history buff, so it could be fun to share my findings with her while reading.
2. Monsters! Monsters! The Tunnels & Trolls spin-off game where you play as monsters raiding human/goodkin settlements. I am a sucker for supplements that put you in more monstrous shoes, so it's a high choice for me.
3. RuneQuest: Chaosium's other long-running ttrpg! I have noticed that the DTRPG store page splits the books into RuneQuest Classic and the more recent RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. I also heard that Mythras uses the same system but stripped of world-specific lore. I may want to get the lore as well as the rules, as I imagine that d100 rules aren't too arduous to read up on. I see it has a lot of Editions. While I imagine that the most recent Roleplaying in Glorantha has the most drastic changes, how big are the differences between 1st thru 6th Editions? Are they as widely-differing as D&D Editions, or closer to Call of Cthulhu Editions that are mostly compatible with each other?
4. Arduin Trilogy: not solely fantasy in genre, but most of the content is geared towards that genre. Could be interesting to see how someone's set of D&D house rules developed into its own game. The most complete version looks to be this one in collecting all three books of the trilogy.
5. The Fantasy Trip: the fact that the game is split up into shorter, simpler rulesets before moving on to the fuller product should make for some speedy reading. I imagine it'll be easier to digest the rules than Chivalry & Sorcery or Arduin.

 

[overgeeked]

Monsters! Monsters! The Tunnels & Trolls spin-off game where you play as monsters raiding human/goodkin settlements. I am a sucker for supplements that put you in more monstrous shoes, so it's a high choice for me.

If you pick this one up and dig it, there's also another game that uses the same system called Lair of the Leopard Empresses. It's billed as a "superheroic sword & sorcery" RPG and it's by Sarah Newton of Mindjammer Press. There are some changes and updates to the mechanics. I'm not well-versed enough in both to go into detail. But it looks fantastic.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Just be aware that while technically none of the direct RQ derivatives are lightweight, you'd likely find Mythras the heavies of the three (Mythras, RQ Classic and RQ:AIG). It made some serious attempts at tactical engagement, and for better or worse that has a price.