Looking for D&D-like alternatives to D&D 5e

[Quickleaf]

Is anyone familiar with Old Swords Reign? I wonder if it would hit the OP’s sweet spot for tactical 5e + OSR?

 

[der_kluge]

I've on a similar path as the OP. I don't hate 5e, but I certainly hate WoTC, so after basically a lifetime of playing D&D almost exclusively, I've also been in the market for something different.

I run 3 games, and play in another one, and 2 of the ones I run are 5e, with no plans to switch at least until those campaigns end, and then we'll see. I might run Caverns of Thracia which just finished its kickstarter, and if I do that, I'll probably stick with 5e. Again, don't hate 5e, just hate WoTC.

That said, I found Low Fantasy Gaming to be fairly palatable, but I also found myself changing a lot about it. But I think what I've settled on is almost something like "LFG characters with 5e rules", but we're still tweaking it as we go. I'm using it for my Ravenloft campaign, because I felt like 5e would be too heavy-handed for that. There's a 2nd edition of it that was just kickstarted called Tales of Argosa, of which I'm largely unfamiliar. The LFG rules are on DriveThruRPG, and I got them pretty cheap ($10) on sale.

I'd also seriously consider Savage Worlds. I've played a bit of it at conventions, and it's pretty pulpy, fun and easy to grasp. The lack of character classes (from my naive perspective at least) does make it a fairly large departure from D&D.

Also, Tales of the Valiant is basically exactly 5e, so you could rule that out, I think, if you're not happy with 5e.

Also surprised I didn't see a ton of fanboys in here harping about ShadowDark, but it really is a kind of OSR system, and also not really my cup of tea. Daggerheart swings the pendulum WAY too far the other way with all its anthropomorphic races and such. Not my cup of tea. I don't know anything about "Draw Steel", but DC20 does look quite interesting as well. I just don't have the budget to go out and acquire a ton of RPG books in order to evaluate them all.

 

[Helena Real]

I've on a similar path as the OP. I don't hate 5e, but I certainly hate WoTC, so after basically a lifetime of playing D&D almost exclusively, I've also been in the market for something different.

I run 3 games, and play in another one, and 2 of the ones I run are 5e, with no plans to switch at least until those campaigns end, and then we'll see. I might run Caverns of Thracia which just finished its kickstarter, and if I do that, I'll probably stick with 5e. Again, don't hate 5e, just hate WoTC.

That said, I found Low Fantasy Gaming to be fairly palatable, but I also found myself changing a lot about it. But I think what I've settled on is almost something like "LFG characters with 5e rules", but we're still tweaking it as we go. I'm using it for my Ravenloft campaign, because I felt like 5e would be too heavy-handed for that. There's a 2nd edition of it that was just kickstarted called Tales of Argosa, of which I'm largely unfamiliar. The LFG rules are on DriveThruRPG, and I got them pretty cheap ($10) on sale.

I'd also seriously consider Savage Worlds. I've played a bit of it at conventions, and it's pretty pulpy, fun and easy to grasp. The lack of character classes (from my naive perspective at least) does make it a fairly large departure from D&D.

Also, Tales of the Valiant is basically exactly 5e, so you could rule that out, I think, if you're not happy with 5e.

Also surprised I didn't see a ton of fanboys in here harping about ShadowDark, but it really is a kind of OSR system, and also not really my cup of tea. Daggerheart swings the pendulum WAY too far the other way with all its anthropomorphic races and such. Not my cup of tea. I don't know anything about "Draw Steel", but DC20 does look quite interesting as well. I just don't have the budget to go out and acquire a ton of RPG books in order to evaluate them all.

If you want something like D&D, I'd say that Draw Steel may be your best bet when it comes out. As someone who has been following its development rather closely (and who's about to play the most recent Patreon Playtest Packet that people are also playing at GenCon) it's already a really solid fantasy game with mechanics for everything you'd expect. Combat is tactical but also cinematic, so fights are as long as 5e but WAY more entertaining and dramatic. There are rules for negotiating with important NPCs that are actually functional and dramatic, and the full game will include crafting and other projects for downtime. So, my advice would be: keep an eye on it.

Back on topic: you know what I'd love to have? A "Basic" version of Level Up 5e. I've found that LU is the best version of 5e I've read, but it's just too complex for me. I want a "simplified" version of it, one that reconstructs a sensible version of 5e for people who don't want to give money to WotC.

 

[ThrorII]

I'm not going through 8 pages of text, but has anyone suggested Castle's & Crusades?

For those of you who (shocked!!!) don't know, it is has been around since 2008, and can be described as "AD&D 3rd Edition". It uses the d20 system of v3.5, but the simplicity and straightforwardness of AD&D (2e, specifically). Characters are simpler, with no feats, just level abilities. It has ascending AC, but is otherwise nearly 100% compatible with OSR and TSR D&D.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Doesn't seem to fit the request for tactical combat all that well.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I am eyeing Nimble 5e with greater and greater interest. I was sure Savage Pathfinder would be my next campaign. Now I'm not so sure.