Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Mork Borg, without question. And to a lesser extent, the Year Zero Engine games from Free League.
Most influential RPG
- Thread starter RolRàpid
- Start date
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Yes to the OSR. OSRIC is probably the right choice here, occupying the Velvet Underground sort of role that @Reynard is alluding to -- it doesn't have to be strictly popular to dramatically shape what comes after.
Reynard
aka Ian Eller
I am struggling to think of a non Free League game inspired by or a descendent of YZE.
Snarf's Inarguable List of Top 10 Most Influential TTRPGs!
The following is a product of maths and logicks, and cannot be reasonable disputed. Other than #1, they are not listed in order of importance.
1. D&D. (1974)
OD&D (the Little Brown Books) started the industry as we know it.
2. Amber Diceless Roeplying. (1991)
I am not going to argue that it was the first diceless RPG (people were playing freeform D&D the year after it was released). But ADRPG was the first real commercial salvo for diceless RPGs.
3. Fudge. (1992)
A clean break from the increasingly sclerotic RPGs of the '80s, Fudge was flexible and light, and presaged important later innovations (eventually becoming FATE).
4. Paranoia. (1984)
Not just a comedic masterpiece, this was the first meta-RPG. While we now associate it with comedy and The Computer, Paranoia was actually a very clever satire and parody of the rules and tropes of other TTRPGs that said a lot about what "RPGs" were in the '80s.
5. Ghostbusters. (1986)
Dice pools start here. Heck, love it or hate it, the d6 system was born from the game. I still remember the first time I ran it.
6. Runequest. (1978)
Not just a good game in and of itself, it introduced Glorantha and formed the basis for the later Basic Role-Playing System and Call of Cthulhu.
7. Apocalypse World. (2010)
The first game that used the Powered by the Apocalypse system, Vicent Baker's "story-first" game has had a lasting impact since its debut. This also let to Blades in the Dark and the Forged in the Dark system.
8. Lasers & Feelings. (2013)
I'm giving L&F the nod here as the game that kickstarted the "lite rules" revolution. Not every game has to be less than three pages - but this started the process of asking, "Why not?"
9. Traveller. (1977)
In the '70s, most RPGs were either D&D, house rules of D&D (including the first superhero game) or games that were like D&D, but with different rules. Traveller was NOT D&D, and many of its innovations in gaming and design were incorporated into later RPGs.
10. Castles & Crusades. (2004)
The first "OSR" game and the beginning of a movement that started with attempts to retro clone OD&D and 1e rules, and eventually grew to include games that had completely different mechanics but were trying to emulate the "feel" of older games (Electric Bastionland).
The following is a product of maths and logicks, and cannot be reasonable disputed. Other than #1, they are not listed in order of importance.
1. D&D. (1974)
OD&D (the Little Brown Books) started the industry as we know it.
2. Amber Diceless Roeplying. (1991)
I am not going to argue that it was the first diceless RPG (people were playing freeform D&D the year after it was released). But ADRPG was the first real commercial salvo for diceless RPGs.
3. Fudge. (1992)
A clean break from the increasingly sclerotic RPGs of the '80s, Fudge was flexible and light, and presaged important later innovations (eventually becoming FATE).
4. Paranoia. (1984)
Not just a comedic masterpiece, this was the first meta-RPG. While we now associate it with comedy and The Computer, Paranoia was actually a very clever satire and parody of the rules and tropes of other TTRPGs that said a lot about what "RPGs" were in the '80s.
5. Ghostbusters. (1986)
Dice pools start here. Heck, love it or hate it, the d6 system was born from the game. I still remember the first time I ran it.
6. Runequest. (1978)
Not just a good game in and of itself, it introduced Glorantha and formed the basis for the later Basic Role-Playing System and Call of Cthulhu.
7. Apocalypse World. (2010)
The first game that used the Powered by the Apocalypse system, Vicent Baker's "story-first" game has had a lasting impact since its debut. This also let to Blades in the Dark and the Forged in the Dark system.
8. Lasers & Feelings. (2013)
I'm giving L&F the nod here as the game that kickstarted the "lite rules" revolution. Not every game has to be less than three pages - but this started the process of asking, "Why not?"
9. Traveller. (1977)
In the '70s, most RPGs were either D&D, house rules of D&D (including the first superhero game) or games that were like D&D, but with different rules. Traveller was NOT D&D, and many of its innovations in gaming and design were incorporated into later RPGs.
10. Castles & Crusades. (2004)
The first "OSR" game and the beginning of a movement that started with attempts to retro clone OD&D and 1e rules, and eventually grew to include games that had completely different mechanics but were trying to emulate the "feel" of older games (Electric Bastionland).
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Brownstein spawned Blackmoor.
Blackmoor spawned D&D.
Also Traveller, Tunnels & Trolls, Paranoia, Toon, Ghostbusters, WEG Star Wars, Marvel FASERIP, DC Heroes, and GURPS.
In the OSR, OSRIC for kicking it off. Old-School Essentials for being the long-time dominant game. And increasingly Shadowdark for supplanting OSE.
In Japan, Sword World. In Sweden, Drakkar och Demoner (aka Dragonbane).
In the last decade Lasers & Feelings, Apocalypse World, Mörk Borg, and Mothership.
Blackmoor spawned D&D.
Also Traveller, Tunnels & Trolls, Paranoia, Toon, Ghostbusters, WEG Star Wars, Marvel FASERIP, DC Heroes, and GURPS.
In the OSR, OSRIC for kicking it off. Old-School Essentials for being the long-time dominant game. And increasingly Shadowdark for supplanting OSE.
In Japan, Sword World. In Sweden, Drakkar och Demoner (aka Dragonbane).
In the last decade Lasers & Feelings, Apocalypse World, Mörk Borg, and Mothership.
Last edited:
RolRàpid
Explorer
Can Mork Borg be considered OSR or it's another different beast?
Yeah, and there's always going to be weird bits.
Like Ghostbusters. First to use a dice pool. Cool.
But first doesn't mean it is the most influential. I would argue that WEG Star Wars was the most influential use of dice pools - because it is the one that popularized the form. Others took the idea from WEG, not from Ghostbusters directly.
BenjaminPey
Adventurer
Blades in the Dark (Forged in the dark games)
Dream Apart/Dream Askew (Belonging outside belonging games)
For the Queen (descending from the Queen games)
Brindlewood Bay (Carved from Brindlewood games)
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Yes. It’s OSR.
If not the first, Runequest was certainly the first highly popular game to be entirely based around a pure skill system--Traveller is semi-skill based if I remember. And Cthulhu would be the first highly popular game to introduce pure investigation as the major form of gameplay. I believe Champions would be the first highly popular game to introduce character building with faults offsetting powers.
I use the term "highly popular" because it doesn't matter that Rayguns and Roosters had these first, because it didn't really "influence" anyone.
I use the term "highly popular" because it doesn't matter that Rayguns and Roosters had these first, because it didn't really "influence" anyone.
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