GlassJaw
Hero
Heh, ruined is a good word. When I think about running D&D nowadays, I'm like "ugh": homework. And all that extra work doesn't equal more fun, which SW has in spades.
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Looking for a new system!!!
- Thread starter Thunderfoot
- Start date
Heh, ruined is a good word. When I think about running D&D nowadays, I'm like "ugh": homework. And all that extra work doesn't equal more fun, which SW has in spades.
Ethalias
First Post
*Correction made for my own fussy sake..
Huzzah! Reading this series at the moment and my RPG sense had been firing throughout. Anyone played the quick start? (Semi-relevent to OP but fork if necc
)
Calico_Jack73
First Post
I like Palladium FPRG for the following reasons:
1) One book gets you going
2) The actual rules section is very short. The rest of the book is class description, spells, skills, monsters, setting, etc. The actual rules mechanics section I believe is probably less than 20 pages.
3) XP rewards for using your skills whether you are successful or not
4) XP rewards for having ideas whether they are successful or not
5) A more granular combat system that doesn't force warriors to wear armor just to survive
6) A much better alignment system that gives examples of behavior
7) A "Magic Point" magic system rather than spells/level/day
8) A really great campaign setting
9) Since character creation is 3-18 based and combat still uses a d20 for hit resolution it is easy to convert D&D materials to Palladium. Thus you can also easily use Palladium in D&D settings.
10) The combat system assumes you WON'T be using minis and a battlemat
11) The books are MUCH cheaper than WOTC products. The core book is only $27 and all the support books are less than that. However, you don't NEED the support books. I just recently began collecting them but went for years on just my core book.
1) One book gets you going
2) The actual rules section is very short. The rest of the book is class description, spells, skills, monsters, setting, etc. The actual rules mechanics section I believe is probably less than 20 pages.
3) XP rewards for using your skills whether you are successful or not
4) XP rewards for having ideas whether they are successful or not
5) A more granular combat system that doesn't force warriors to wear armor just to survive
6) A much better alignment system that gives examples of behavior
7) A "Magic Point" magic system rather than spells/level/day
8) A really great campaign setting
9) Since character creation is 3-18 based and combat still uses a d20 for hit resolution it is easy to convert D&D materials to Palladium. Thus you can also easily use Palladium in D&D settings.
10) The combat system assumes you WON'T be using minis and a battlemat
11) The books are MUCH cheaper than WOTC products. The core book is only $27 and all the support books are less than that. However, you don't NEED the support books. I just recently began collecting them but went for years on just my core book.
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I've even recently taken a break from even playing D&D. It's just too much processor load for 20 minutes of fun packed into 4 hours.
GlassJaw
Hero
Preaching to the choir man, preaching to the choir.
I ran a couple of SW sessions so far (using the Pinebox modern horror setting from 12 to Midnight) and I was shocked at how much we get done in a session.
We're a laid back group and we don't play long sessions (beer is involved as well
) but it's nice to get in some role-playing, investigation, and a combat or two all in one session and actually have things keep moving.oni no won
First Post
You can't go wrong with Savage Worlds but I would like to direct your attention to the Framewerks system used in CthuluTech.
The rules are light and just under 100 pages.
There are 49 skills, only 6 of which deals with combat.
It really depends on playstyle. You can make it as combat heavy/light as you desire.
No need to worry
Chargen, NPC, and creature creation are pretty similar in that they all are basically made up of skills and therefore are pretty simple.
You can take the psionics, magic, and anything supernatural out without effecting the core game mechanics.
The rules are light and just under 100 pages.
There are 49 skills, only 6 of which deals with combat.
It really depends on playstyle. You can make it as combat heavy/light as you desire.
No need to worry
Chargen, NPC, and creature creation are pretty similar in that they all are basically made up of skills and therefore are pretty simple.
You can take the psionics, magic, and anything supernatural out without effecting the core game mechanics.
where actions outside
where actions outside of combat require more than just a glossing over.
Combat variable - not the center of the stage, but easily integrated into the system.
Not GURPS - sorry I don't like GURPS, not elegant and too many rules (in the latest edition)
Other information: Does not have to be a generic system, but that would be a bonus. Monster design is quick and painless. Magic can be scaled to near non-existence without destroying the system. Not level based (but this isn't necessarily a deal breaker
where actions outside of combat require more than just a glossing over.
Combat variable - not the center of the stage, but easily integrated into the system.
Not GURPS - sorry I don't like GURPS, not elegant and too many rules (in the latest edition)
Other information: Does not have to be a generic system, but that would be a bonus. Monster design is quick and painless. Magic can be scaled to near non-existence without destroying the system. Not level based (but this isn't necessarily a deal breaker
Team-Preston
First Post
Well...many folks have mentioned Savage Worlds, so I'll drive on by...
I'm a fan of Spirit of the Century. I also like OD&D and Swords and Wizardry, AD&D 1E and OSRIC.
SotC is very pulpy. OD&D and AD&D 1E are actually pretty bare bones systems and really, you can run whatever kind of game you like: combat hack and slash-fests or fully detailed stories full of RP and social interaction in a very freeform manner (the rules for all this are simply up to the GM to adjudicate/ GM Fiat).
A couple of my all-time favorites are Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Dark Heresy and Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu (BRP system). Both are percentage based and pretty straightforward.
I do have a new love though: Eden's Unisystem (All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Witchcraft, Buffy, etc). They have an elegant system that is attribute dice plus skill dice against a target number for net successes. Very easy. That and there are rules for doing fantasy (Dungeons and Zombies) as well as pretty much any setting/ genre. Think of GURPS but WAYYYYY simpler, faster, easier to play and WAY easier to run. One thing that is nice, is that the games always come with handfulls of pre-generated characters that are useful (while many systems have pre-gens that are either broken or worthless). It's totally easy to either grab a pre-gen for a fast pick-up game, or make your own like normal...but there are SO many available pre-gens that it's often a five minute deal to grab a pre-gen that is in the ball park...and do a couple swaps, name it and rock on. Like Savage Worlds it is geared for fluid fast fun, not a lot of math and crunchy system bits that can be dickered around for hours...but unlike SW (which I do love, no doubt) it's got a little more to it. A little more character depth, more skills without being Rolemaster or HERO, but without being complicated at all.
I hope this is helpful!
Enjoy!
Jeff Preston
I'm a fan of Spirit of the Century. I also like OD&D and Swords and Wizardry, AD&D 1E and OSRIC.
SotC is very pulpy. OD&D and AD&D 1E are actually pretty bare bones systems and really, you can run whatever kind of game you like: combat hack and slash-fests or fully detailed stories full of RP and social interaction in a very freeform manner (the rules for all this are simply up to the GM to adjudicate/ GM Fiat).
A couple of my all-time favorites are Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Dark Heresy and Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu (BRP system). Both are percentage based and pretty straightforward.
I do have a new love though: Eden's Unisystem (All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Witchcraft, Buffy, etc). They have an elegant system that is attribute dice plus skill dice against a target number for net successes. Very easy. That and there are rules for doing fantasy (Dungeons and Zombies) as well as pretty much any setting/ genre. Think of GURPS but WAYYYYY simpler, faster, easier to play and WAY easier to run. One thing that is nice, is that the games always come with handfulls of pre-generated characters that are useful (while many systems have pre-gens that are either broken or worthless). It's totally easy to either grab a pre-gen for a fast pick-up game, or make your own like normal...but there are SO many available pre-gens that it's often a five minute deal to grab a pre-gen that is in the ball park...and do a couple swaps, name it and rock on. Like Savage Worlds it is geared for fluid fast fun, not a lot of math and crunchy system bits that can be dickered around for hours...but unlike SW (which I do love, no doubt) it's got a little more to it. A little more character depth, more skills without being Rolemaster or HERO, but without being complicated at all.
I hope this is helpful!
Enjoy!
Jeff Preston
1auxy
First Post
Halcyon RPG
You may be interested in the Halcyon RPG. Halcyon RPG
I picked this up @ Con on the Cob last month. A very new game system...meaning their booth at that convention was the first time they sold the system at a show and demo'd the game for people.
It's set in what could easily be the future of Earth, but is a very universal system in general and could be played in practically any setting or period in time.
Haven't played a game of it yet but looking forward to it. The rules set looks to be very well done.
You may be interested in the Halcyon RPG. Halcyon RPG
I picked this up @ Con on the Cob last month. A very new game system...meaning their booth at that convention was the first time they sold the system at a show and demo'd the game for people.
It's set in what could easily be the future of Earth, but is a very universal system in general and could be played in practically any setting or period in time.
Haven't played a game of it yet but looking forward to it. The rules set looks to be very well done.
Betote
First Post
Savage Worlds: As they've said, it's a winner if you want a quick pick-up system.The rules are easy to grasp (roll 4+, the die you use depends on your ability), everything is based on skills with "edges" serving both as feats and as classes, and the "advanced" rules are very modular, so you can add or remove anything you want.
Downside: it's not really "generic", because it's rather centered on action-heavy (not the same as combat-heavy) games.
Fudge: If you like tinkering, this is your game. As Savage Worlds, it's skill-based, and in fact you can use with Fudge anything meant for SW, just keeping this in mind: Mediocre=d4, Fair=d6; Good=d8; Great=d10; Superb=d12. It's more generic than SW in that you can really adapt it to any genre you want: Detailed, broad, combat-heavy, rp-heavy, gritty, four-colored...
Downside: If you don't like tinkering, this is not your game, and you'd be better off picking SW.
Basic Role-Playing: The skill-based rpg system. Very detailed, very solid (25+ years of history and it's really still ze same
) and very light (roll d100 equal or lower than your skill).
Downside: Maybe better for "gritty" or "realist" games than for high-fantasy or superhero.
Risus: You can't get any lighter than this! It's more description-based than skill-based, but this makes up for even more freedom in character creation. Its openness is the highest I've ever seen in a rpg, so if you like freeform games this is the perfect choice for you.
Downside: Not very suitable for long-term games.
That said, I don't think there's "one" perfect rpg rulesystem, as each genre or playstyle has different needs, and what's good for one of them is bad for another.
Downside: it's not really "generic", because it's rather centered on action-heavy (not the same as combat-heavy) games.
Fudge: If you like tinkering, this is your game. As Savage Worlds, it's skill-based, and in fact you can use with Fudge anything meant for SW, just keeping this in mind: Mediocre=d4, Fair=d6; Good=d8; Great=d10; Superb=d12. It's more generic than SW in that you can really adapt it to any genre you want: Detailed, broad, combat-heavy, rp-heavy, gritty, four-colored...
Downside: If you don't like tinkering, this is not your game, and you'd be better off picking SW.
Basic Role-Playing: The skill-based rpg system. Very detailed, very solid (25+ years of history and it's really still ze same
) and very light (roll d100 equal or lower than your skill).Downside: Maybe better for "gritty" or "realist" games than for high-fantasy or superhero.
Risus: You can't get any lighter than this! It's more description-based than skill-based, but this makes up for even more freedom in character creation. Its openness is the highest I've ever seen in a rpg, so if you like freeform games this is the perfect choice for you.
Downside: Not very suitable for long-term games.
That said, I don't think there's "one" perfect rpg rulesystem, as each genre or playstyle has different needs, and what's good for one of them is bad for another.
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