Is there a game like...

[Phototoxin]

Is there a game like D&D (ie high fantasy, magic, etc but with options to change this things a little) that is more 'zoomed out'.

In the way that things like vampire the masquerade is more story based and while you can focus on the minutia (and indeed at many times do) you can also focus on the overall metaplot/arc (such as building a network of contacts or trying to gain some influence or some other overall goal) .

D&D in any edition doesn't really handle this well, it's inferred that you'll get some followers possibly a base/lair/castle/jumping off point it doesn't really deal with 'I want to research the spell that awakens the mountains' outside of GM fiat and maybe the odd skill roll.

I don't know if I'm describing this properly but basically a more fantasy based less scary WoD/vampire type thing?

 

[Nagol]

Ars Magica may fit if I'm understanding your point. Particularly if you include the church and noble supplements of previous editions. (I'm not sure they survived past 3rd edition).

 

[Bagpuss]

Birthright - for 2nd Ed AD&D is probably worth looking at, it has a domain ruling system, and you could play it as the PC are nobles running a kingdom.

I think one of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths tried to do the same sort of thing, (goes to Google) ah here we go, Rivers Run Red part of the Kingmaker Adventure path covers it.

 

[innerdude]

Is there a game like D&D (ie high fantasy, magic, etc but with options to change this things a little) that is more 'zoomed out'.

In the way that things like vampire the masquerade is more story based and while you can focus on the minutia (and indeed at many times do) you can also focus on the overall metaplot/arc (such as building a network of contacts or trying to gain some influence or some other overall goal) .

D&D in any edition doesn't really handle this well, it's inferred that you'll get some followers possibly a base/lair/castle/jumping off point it doesn't really deal with 'I want to research the spell that awakens the mountains' outside of GM fiat and maybe the odd skill roll.

I don't know if I'm describing this properly but basically a more fantasy based less scary WoD/vampire type thing?

I think 13th Age is very specifically trying to accomplish something along these lines with its use of "icons," figures tied to the game world that your character is essentially required in writing to have some kind of relationship with (either friendly or adversarial).

That, plus the fact that 13th Age goes out of its way to promote gridless combat, it's definitely aiming at a more "theater of the mind," less tactical vibe where a character's place in the world is important.

Warhammer Fantasy might also be something to consider.

 

[Herobizkit]

Dragon Age RPG takes a lot of the "crunch" out of the recent editions of D&D by simplifying the rules and switching to a 2d6 + bonus die mechanic (the bonus die determines if you activate a special combat ability or abilities). This leaves the DM with the responsibility of creating the world outside the game mechanics. It has a pre-established setting that is dark-ish and low-ish magic, but I'm sure it can be tweaked as more material is released.

 

[Phototoxin]

To elaborate more and doing my research it would potentially be to run a Menzobezzarin type of game with grow on drow intrigue with an overall goal. A lot of stuff would have to happen out of table and potentially would involve player on player 'rivalries' but not actually violence (hopefully!)

 

[am181d]

I'm pretty sure 2nd edition had rules in the base game for spell research. (Unless that was in the Complete book.)

 

[Ratskinner]

Is there a game like D&D (ie high fantasy, magic, etc but with options to change this things a little) that is more 'zoomed out'.

In the way that things like vampire the masquerade is more story based and while you can focus on the minutia (and indeed at many times do) you can also focus on the overall metaplot/arc (such as building a network of contacts or trying to gain some influence or some other overall goal) .

D&D in any edition doesn't really handle this well, it's inferred that you'll get some followers possibly a base/lair/castle/jumping off point it doesn't really deal with 'I want to research the spell that awakens the mountains' outside of GM fiat and maybe the odd skill roll.

I don't know if I'm describing this properly but basically a more fantasy based less scary WoD/vampire type thing?

If I understand you correctly, it sounds like The Shadow of Yesterday (although its not real close to D&D, mechanics-wise.) You could run FATE that way (in fact some people do), the buzzword there is "FATE fractal". Although I will say that IME, that isn't FATE's natural stomping grounds. You'd have to do some construction on special stunts and skills for the organizations. (If you're talking about Old-School like advancement into organization-running, FATE Core would call that an extra.)

Doesn't White Wolf have a fantasy-type setting using the Storyteller system? I thought that's what Exalted was? I don't know much more about it.

 

[RobShanti]

Yes, Exalted was White Wolf's fantasy game.

Anyway, you ninja'd me, Ratskinner! I was going to recommend FATE as well. You could use FATE Core or Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE), which are basically the new, fourth edition of the game.

There are also a few third edition sword-and-sorcery hacks of the game, including:

Age of Arthur by Graham Spearing and powered by Skein, a variant of the popular Fate engine. The setting is Dark Ages Britannia, two generations after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire, a time of fading magic, desperate heroism, and the memory of Rome against an ever growing invading power when all is crumbling into barbarism.

Chronica Feudalis by Jeremy Keller, set in historical middle-age (12th century) Europe.

Houses of the Blooded by John Wick (of Legend of the Five Rings and Seven Seas fame), a game of ambition, lust and revenge where passionate nobles, tragically obsessed with romance, vendetta, opera, theater, and all the forbidden delights their decadent culture included, provided the key to their own destruction.

Legends of Anglerre by Chris Birch and Sarah Newton, a FATE-based fantasy/sword-and-sorcery setting.

Malmsturm by Dominik Dießlin. The rough translation if the game's title is "Grindstorm," and it's a German FATE based Fantasy game set in a world with a dramatic reality where feelings, thoughts, will and imagination influence the world directly. It is a game of dark clouds over a battlefield covered in blood shed by the fury of a barbaric warrior who can literally break swords and shields of the enemy, and where even the spirits of the earth can become slaves to lust and passion.

 

[Argyle King]

A Song of Fire and Ice by Green Ronin Publishing