Let's Talk About Fantasy heartbreaks and other FRPGs

[Jack Daniel]

@Reynard : Ooh, I just remembered another game that I haven't played yet, but which has always intrigued me: Dungeonslayers. It seems to aim for a vibe somewhere between "old-school" and "dungeon-punk," and the mechanics look fairly traditional, but (despite the fact that single d20 rolls are involved) they appear to be totally unrelated to any edition of D&D mechanics. Maybe worth a look!

 

[Blue]

Since were also talking about interesting fantasy RPGs that we never got a chance, the concept of the X-Crawl RPG, which was basically Reality TV Death-sport dungeon crawling, seemed like it would be fun for a more light-hearted limited campaign.

 

[Reynard]

Since were also talking about interesting fantasy RPGs that we never got a chance, the concept of the X-Crawl RPG, which was basically Reality TV Death-sport dungeon crawling, seemed like it would be fun for a more light-hearted limited campaign.

If I recall that was more of a campaign settings for 3.x rather than a distinct game. It's a fun idea inspired by The Running Man style sci fi. I played in a Starfineer campaign that felt like a more modern version of this, where we were "influencers" streaming our adventures with rivals doing to same in a war for followers.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I am running a Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign that I anticipate will last through the end of this year. Probably 50 sessions. We just finished our 10th session yesterday. The campaign has unexpectedly been roleplaying heavy because the players are afraid their characters will die if they engage in combat. So I don't have a strong opinion yet on the system.

Next year I'm planning to run a 13th Age version of Red Hand of Doom.

Together, this gives me a nice sample of the fantasy heartbreakers that I'm interested in. I'm lucky that my players are willing to follow me through different systems.

 

[Aldarc]

I am running a Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign that I anticipate will last through the end of this year. Probably 50 sessions. We just finished our 10th session yesterday. The campaign has unexpectedly been roleplaying heavy because the players are afraid their characters will die if they engage in combat. So I don't have a strong opinion yet on the system.

I would potentially run a one-shot that throws their characters into the meat grinder, either using the pre-existing characters or making new ones. Show them what intense combat and death looks like in the game. Then go back to the original campaign.

 

[MNblockhead]

Warhammer Fantasy in '88...(can't remember the exact date, but end of the 80s. Fell in love with it and it replaced D&D for Fantasy RPG for the next couple years until I stopped playing TTRPGs for a long time.

Now, I only run 5e for Fantasy. The only other system I see myself running for Fantasy is the DCC Lankhmar campaign. But, for the most part, non-D&D stuff I buy are for completely different types of systems and tropes.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I would potentially run a one-shot that throws their characters into the meat grinder, either using the pre-existing characters or making new ones. Show them what intense combat and death looks like in the game. Then go back to the original campaign.

Interesting idea.

Thing is, I have no idea what intense combat looks like in the game! I don't really understand the monster math, which character levels are interesting and capable, etc.

It took me a full 1-20 level campaign to truly understand the above about 5E, and I suspect it's going to take a full campaign for me to get SotDL.

Good news is that there's an unavoidable big brawl coming in 1 or 2 sessions that marks the climax of Act I in the campaign. Should be a good time.

 

[GreyLord]

I think my first fantasy RPG outside of D&D was Runequest. It was a LONG time ago, so not positive, but I think that's what it was (looked up covers on Google and such and I think the cover that we played the game of looked like the early Runequest cover).

Edit: I didn't play it all that heavily, it was just the first one. I didn't play other RPGs outside of D&D for a while after I started.

Not Fantasy, but one of the first RPGs I got heavily into was Star Frontiers and later I dabbled a little in Gamma World.
The First Fantasy RPG that I actually got really heavy into so much that I played it as the main RPG was MERPS/Rolemaster.
Sometime later it was Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Cyberpunk.

 

[Parmandur]

I think my first fantasy RPG outside of D&D was Runequest. It was a LONG time ago, so not positive, but I think that's what it was (looked up covers on Google and such and I think the cover that we played the game of looked like the early Runequest cover).

Edit: I didn't play it all that heavily, it was just the first one. I didn't play other RPGs outside of D&D for a while after I started.

Not Fantasy, but one of the first RPGs I got heavily into was Star Frontiers and later I dabbled a little in Gamma World.
The First Fantasy RPG that I actually got really heavy into so much that I played it as the main RPG was MERPS/Rolemaster.
Sometime later it was Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Cyberpunk.

I think Runequest was the first actual "heartbreaker," starting life as OD&D houserules.

 

[aramis erak]

But with an extra opposed roll from the target so it takes longer to resolve each attack than D&D's generally one roll and done for whether an attack hits.

two rolls isn't that big a deal, and parries in Palladium run out.

I had the statless World Atlas which was fantastic for a fantasy mythic earth counterpart setting.

The class books looked awesome but I never got my hands on them at the time.

There are three in the original.
The Arcanum is the rules. there are two editions, essentially 1E and 1.1
The Lexicon is the second, and is the setting book. The edition I have isn't statless, but doesn't have many - Price lists, all.
The Bestiary is the monster book. Art's good, not great, but evocative.

Only the Arcanum is available on Drive Thru... and only in a new edition. (Due to a creator's rights issue, the Druas are removed.) It's essentially 1.2...