Other Game Systems


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Hmm, we (meaning my old game group, not speaking of myself as a royal personage) played Mekton for a bit back in the 90s (I had a copy of Mekton II, but Mekton Zeta was the version we played) and had a great deal of fun with it. After Cyberpunk had begun to feel too dated and cheesy we got our Interlok-fix from Mekton (not sure what logic led us to decide that giant anime robots were less dated and cheesy than guys with mirrorshades, mohawks, and chromed-out chainsaw-hands, but there you have it). The apogee of our Mekton phase was when we tried to play the entire Operation:Rimfire adventure (which my players insisted on calling "Operation Rimjob") in a single all-night marathon session. We didn't make it; burned out about 2/3 of the way through (which we hit at about dawn) and never did go back to finish it. Strangely, I no longer remember a thing about that adventure -- not the plot, not any particular scenes, not even the premise.
 

Retreater said:
Thanks for the contributions, everyone. It's easy for some of these games to kind of fall through the cracks when my FLGS carries nothing but WotC.

I'm pretty open on trying new games.

Basically what's I'm looking for is (in no particular order):
1. Something that's in print; I don't want a PDF rule book
2. More or less rules-lite (in comparison to D&D 3.5)
3. Something that would be affordable to get started with (don't want to have to buy a lot of books, just in case it doesn't catch on with my group)
4. Not minis centric
5. A system that can accomodate different genres (the pure fantasy of D&D is getting old)

Sounds like UniSystem to me... so I recommend Buffy... (continues reading)

As far as the Buffy/Firefly games go, how well would they work if I've never seen an episode of the TV shows? In fact, I don't know for certain if any of the 7 people who regularly game with me have seen either program.

You are now dead to me. :(

I still recommend UniSystem however, just ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN, it would suit one of the living dead like yourself. :D
 

I'd recommend, in no particular order:

Hero System
D6 Adventure (and I'd highly recommend Bloodshadows)
Silver Age Sentinels, Tri-Stat (might be hard to find)

Some people shy away from the toolkit like philosophy of Hero, but it plays very fast and easy, and can do just about anything nearly as well as a tailored game system. It's my first choice for virtually anything that doesn't already have a game.

D6 Adventure is a direct descendent of Star Wars (WEG), and is quick, easy, and fun.

Silver Age Sentinels is a triumph of design, and exudes love for the comics genre.
 

You are now dead to me.

Sorry. Guess I should now admit that I've also never seen 24, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Survivor, Sopranos, or many, many other TV shows. I think I may have seen 1 or 2 episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and Seinfeld.

I just don't watch much TV. I'm very out of the loop on such things.

Retreater
 

Jhaelen said:
Umm ??? I can hardly think of two systems that are more different than Ars Magica and D&D.

I've never played in an Ars Magica game that was even remotely similar to a typical D&D session. Combat in Ars Magica is almost non-existent and if it happens, it's very quick and simple and very deadly (for the grogs, that is...).

Even roleplay-heavy sessions in D&D hardly ever take place without combat and if it happens it's the session's high point, being very tactical and taking ages.

The systems (and the core rules) are indeed very different. It's why I suggested Ars in the first place. But it is Fantasy set in Medieval Europe. It would be *very* easy to design adventures that are essentially D&D adventures with all the numbers filed off. It wouldn't do the system justice (and would be a travesty in fact), but D&D is a mindset as well as a ruleset.
 

thedungeondelver said:

Four MEKTON players, not counting me?

I'm scared! :uhoh:

You should be. There are more of us than you know. We don't draw much attention to ourselves, but we're out there. Watching.

. . . and waiting.
 

If you have seen the movie Army of Darkness, Unisystem has a game of that same name out! Ash rules!

I will add a vote to Savage Worlds. The plot point books especially (such as 50 Fathoms, the fantasy pirate one) make it ridiculously easy to run campaigns.

That said, you might want to look at various game reviews, so that you can get a better handle on what you will like or dislike. I mean, I can say I like Castles and Crusades, Dogs in the Vinyard, or even the modern nightmare ultra-light Don't Rest Your Head (which I mention a) because it is cool, and b) so I can be the first in this thread to mention it) but ultimately a game has to "click" with you.
 

Has nobody mentioned Feng Shui yet?
Then I must mention it. It's good. Give it a try. We played a Lord of the Rings side quest with it. Legolas with the Carnival of Carnage ability with his bow was priceless.
It's definitely action theater material. Quick paced, fun, pretty easy mechanics.

Otherwise, I usually play (as alternatives to D&D):

Call of Cthulhu (BRP)
Mutants and Masterminds
GURPS

In the past, I've played plenty of:

Champions (Hero system)
Paranoia
Villains and Vigilantes
MegaTraveller
Cyberpunk 2020
Warhammer Fantasy

Of the RPGs I've played other than D&D, my top recommendations are Call of Cthulhu, Feng Shui, MegaTraveller, and Mutants and Masterminds.
 

In my opinion, one of the best game systems and the most balanced character creation/advancement system that I've played in is the d10 Legend of the Five Rings system.

1. Something that's in print; I don't want a PDF rule book
3rd Edition is still in print (although there is an optional PDF for more character options).

2. More or less rules-lite (in comparison to D&D 3.5)
The rules are pretty easy to get, I think. Although getting the cultural aspects down can be pretty tough since the society/culture has such a different mindset than a D&D dungeoncrawly game.

3. Something that would be affordable to get started with (don't want to have to buy a lot of books, just in case it doesn't catch on with my group)
There are I think three books out now (with a fourth on the way) but you only need the main rulebook.

4. Not minis centric
In the most recent game I played we used them for combats at times but in the past we never used minis.

5. A system that can accomodate different genres (the pure fantasy of D&D is getting old).
That'd be the biggest downfall, it's completely geared towards the samurai fantasy genre.

Hands down though, one of my favorite games of all time!
 

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