Looking for new fantasy RPG - story & roleplay oriented !

[Rasyr]

Despite of D&D's popularity, it isn't the best RPG. D&D has become, or always has been, a game with lots of combat that often takes place in dungeons.

For me, RPG is more than that, much more. Thus I'm looking for an old-school RPG that emphasizes roleplay and is story centered instead of filled with numbers & stats and combat oriented.
Combat is fine, but it's only a small part of an RPG to me, and rules should be short, easy and flexible. The "holy rule balance" shouldn't restrict good stories and unforgettable game moments. As long as it's believable.

I'm not looking for a drama game without any dice rolls, but I need something else than "level based free attack bonuses & HP" etc. The world where the (epic) stories take place should be more important than micro-rules for accomplishing things.

IMPORTANT: I'm not interested in any manga/anime, oriental, gothic or sci-fi RPGs; I want a classic medieval fantasy RPG. Can you help me find it?
It should preferably come in only one or two corebooks, with moderate support, not the zillion of books as in D&D or GURPS.

Yes, I can, but not until August. It sounds like you are looking for HARP (High Adventure Role Playing) by Iron Crown Enterprises. You can read more about it here: HARP Overview

It is fun, it is flexible, and easy to play. While it has provisions for combat, the XP system is setup so that it is goal based (combat might be a goal, but getting information out of an informant may be a more important goal). You can set difficulty ratings on the goals as well, and those that are more difficult give more xp. Resolution of skills is easy and uses a single small chart, that is extremely flexible....

Check out the link... You won't regret it...

 

[Golem Joe]

Well, if the books are so hard to get, how will you ever have luck in finding players?!

The books aren't hard to get. Try finding a copy of Talislanta 4 on the shelf at your FLGS. It's hard for a new game to get shelf space these days unless you have d20 on the cover. And since LA came out just barely a year before 3e...

As for players, I've had great success running the game at cons. In fact, about the ONLY complaint I've ever heard is that spellcasting required an ability check and was not automatic. So either I'm just that good as a GM (doubtful) or the game is just that much fun (more likely).

Don't sell it short until you give it a spin. That is, after all, what the Quickstart is for.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Just jumping on the Ars Magica and Pendragon bandwagons. Both are excellent, both fit all you really need in one book, and neither one is remotely like D20. Ars Magica (available free!) in particular is incredible, the magic system beats any others on the market hands down. (Yes, even Mage: the Ascension...) In an offbeat sort of way Changeling: the Dreaming also sort of fits the bill, while set in the World of Darkness madern setting the Dreaming is a much more magical and sometimes medeival place.

Part of what can lead to the hack 'n' slash form of a lot of D&D games its that tpeople percieve it as how the game is supposed to be played. The fact that the combat rules eat up a fairly large section of the rulebook can also lead to this, sometimes unwarranted, assumption. For some really good examples of non-combat heavy D&D check out Monkey God Enterprise's 'All the King's Men' and, to a lesser extent, 'Edge of Dreams'.

I picked up 'Edge of Dreams' on the clearance rack at my FLGS, and liked it so much I ordered 'All the King's Men'. Both of these are mysteries rather than pure dungeon crawls, and both are very well written.

'All the King's Men' is the first adventure that I have run almost straight from the book in over twenty years.

The Auld Grump, who really liked these adventures, does it show?

 

[sword-dancer]

Even if you have excluded it
GURPS
-You don`t need more than the corebook and the setting book.
The Bestiarys, Magic, are useful but i don`t think a necessity.

Runequest

Harnmaster

The Riddle of Steel
I don`t think it`s Combat heavy, Combat is to deadly for it.

Amber

Ars Magica



Dangerous Journeys Mythus

 

[the Jester]

Well, first off, I have to add a voice to the chorus of old-schoolers saying it doesn't have to be about combat, but I'll leave off that end of the discussion.

If you do decide to stick with dnd, especially 3e dnd, I suggest just ditching everything other than the core rules. The easiest way to avoid the manic need to read more and more rules is just to not use them; they're all optional, after all.

I also recommend heartily that you check into the ol' Basic/Expert sets if you can find them. Very simple and rules-lite, but also keeps the dnd 'tone' (which it sounds like you prefer despite your issues with the rules and style of play you've been experiencing).

As to another system, lite on rules, heavy on role-play, with total flexibility in the tone- have you tried Amber? It's a diceless (randomless) system that's really, really cool- but you truly need a good gm for it to work. At least, until you're comfortable enough with the game to dispense with the gm entirely....

 

[Azlan]

I second the Pendragon and Ars Magica suggestions. Really nothing more to say.

I third that!

Pendragon and Ars Magica are fantastic RPGs that place a lot of emphasis on roleplaying and story-telling, yet without going too far with that, as RPGs like Vampire and Mage do. Furthermore, Pendragon and Ars Magica fit perfectly the description originally given in this post; i.e. they are "classic medieval roleplaying", and they are not oriental, anime, or goth. Nor do they require a lot of "micro rules" for accomplishing things, as RoleMaster, Chivalry & Sorcerery, and Harn do.

But it's not just the rules system of Pendragon and Ars Magica that makes those RPGs so great. It's also their settings, histories, NPCs, plot hooks and devices, roleplaying aspects, etc., that make them quite different from your typical "high fantasy" D&D campaign.

BTW: I have a used bookstore near me that has a humongous used RPG section. I can get ahold of half-priced copies of Pendragon and Ars Magica books, all of them in excellent shape. Myself, I've already gotten nearly everything ever published for Pendragon and Ars Magica, through this bookstore during the past few years.

 

[Shadowlord]

If you do decide to stick with dnd, especially 3e dnd, I suggest just ditching everything other than the core rules. The easiest way to avoid the manic need to read more and more rules is just to not use them; they're all optional, after all.

I'll do that.

I didn't ask for "classic medieval RP", I wrote "classic fantasy RP". Thus, real Earth mixed with myth like in Ars Magica isn't what I'm after, neither is Arthurian myth like in Pendragon. I want more of the fantasy element in it, without giving it a flashy, pulp feel like in D&D (FR nowadays).

I thank you for your support, but in fact I didn't see anything that convinced me. The settings are either too Earthly, or too flashy, too much (Talislanta's world for ex).
My conclusion: I'll have to stick with D&D, resist the manic urge to read or posses more & more, and wait for DL for a fresh start. I don't like the idea of again buying three rulebooks though which for 3/4 content I already have.

PS: Since DL is D&D but always had an epic feel, putting the stress on story, and having a strong novel line, what do you think of the SAGA system? No dice, no books, all story & RP. I know some of you didn't like what changes the 5th age brought, but leaving that out, is it worth a try?

And what do yoou think of Sovereign Stone? Is there a big storyline running through the setting, is there a goal?
SS keeps all stereotypes like elves & dwarves but adds a twist. Is this hard to grasp? Would they better have dropped those stereotypes altogether or kept them as they were instead of keeping 1/2 and changing 1/2 ?

 

[Wraith Form]

Try this...

I have to second (third?) the votes for the Midnight setting. It's d20 with some really interesting twists. I didn't actually think I'd like it as much as I did, but after reading some Midnight posts on these boards by people who were practically frothing at the mouth, and seeing 4 or 5 outta 5 star reviews, I bought it. Plowed through the entire book in a day and a half.

Good stuff, trust me, and incredibly epic. AND centered on roleplaying rather than roll-playing.

 

[Artimoff]

Why don't you and your group join an improv theater company. You can "roleplay" all you want. If you want to game play D&D.

 

[Azlan]

I didn't ask for "classic medieval RP", I wrote "classic fantasy RP".

Actually, your words in your initial post were "classic medieval fantasy". So, that's why I (and others, here) thought Pendragon and Ars Magic would be just the thing you are looking for.

However, it now appears that what you are really looking for is to tone down the magic and the power of 3rd Edition D&D, as well as to do away with many of its, ahem, superfluous rules and options (such as those found in the supplemental splatbooks).

If that's the case, then you are better off sticking with the core rulebooks of 3E D&D and simply toning down the magic and power yourself. Or maybe you can go with a more toned down (or less comic-bookish?) RPG such as Wheel of Time or Sovereign Stone.