RPG systems you liked -- much to your surprise

[Odhanan]

I guess that would be Lejendary Adventures for me. I've been following Gary's creations for a while. When I saw LA come out, I didn't think much of it, mostly because I thought it would be another Dangerous Journeys (which I have and still like). When the boxed set came out with "lite" rules, I picked it up. I always like RPGs potentially introducing new people to the hobby.

And I was very surprised because the system is really lite, easy to use and very useful to introduce people to the game, and has nothing to do with DJ. It felt like going back to the old D&D boxed set - which feels, well, pretty darn good!

 

[Mark Hope]

D&D 3e, for sure. I was very leery of the new edition and took a couple of years to really get interested. Happily enough, that was just enough time for 3.5 to be released so I missed the frustration of getting heavily into 3.0 and more or less kicked off with 3.5. Never looked back - great system.

 

[James Heard]

Werewolf, In Nomine, Mekton, & Champions. Admittedly for any of those, still wasn't because of the system as much because of earnest GMs and players busting their behinds to make them fun despite failings in the system.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I was quite pleasantly surprised by Mutants & Masterminds. I was skeptical that the d20 system could be stretched that far, but had a chance to play at a gameday last year and really enjoyed it. (The GM did a great job, too.) The genre is not my cup of tea for everyday play, but I will add v.2 to my library for the occasional mini-campaign.

I also really liked Deadlands (the non-d20 version). A friend picked picked it up and wanted to play, so I went along. Ended up having a blast -- the mechanics and the flavor had a nice synergy.

 

[Andre]

Though I only got to play the system a few times, I really enjoyed the original Deadlands. The poker chips, the offbeat characters, the setting - it all meshed into some very enjoyable sessions. Then the GM wanted to do something else...

 

[francisca]

Shadowrun

 

[Wombat]

D20/D&D 3.0

I hadn't done anything serious with D&D since I left it around 1980. The notion that I might want to play D&D again never entered my imagination. Now I am playing D20 games; partially this is due to being able to put a gaming group together under that rubric more easily than any other system that I likes, and partially because I have been able to cobble a good version of the system together, primarily thanks to 3rd party material.

D20 ain't my fave system, but I am having fun with it, and much more than I would have anticipated given my falling out with D&D.

Yep, I was one of the Fallen Fans brought back.

 

[scourger]

Deadlands was a suprisingly fun game that I had to be tricked into playing.

D&D 3.0 was a game I thought I would hate from reading about it and seeing the changes in Dungeon. I borrowed and read a friend's PHB and was hooked. I've only recently begun to look elsewhere.

ORK! was a sleeper hit for me. I bought it on a lark. It has a really simple system that I love. But, my players hated it after 1 game. Too bad, as I was comtemplating an ORK! of the Ring game told from the reverse perspective of the novels and movies.

Savage Worlds looks great, but I have yet to play it. I bought the revised edition on sort of a whim, although I had read about it somewhat.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Well, I know many on the other thread hated it, but my group really got into Star Wars d6. It was different and the base mechanic is pretty solid. It got unweildy at high levels, but wasnt really designed for long campaigns anyway. We had a blast with it.

 

[SWBaxter]

My question: What RPG systems have your tried -- and liked -- despite initial doubts?

Werewolf: The Forsaken (and the WOD core rulebook) from White Wolf. I didn't much like Vampire and Werewolf in the 90s, but the new version was a really pleasant surprise. The rules are a lot more coherent, and the setting isn't nearly as angsty. I'm almost tempted to pick up Vampire: The Requiem, but I have a feeling that might be pushing it.

This is the second time WW have done that to me - back when they had the Streetfighter license I was given a copy as a joke gift, and it turned out to be an actual decent game. Rules were on the wonky side, but it still worked much better than it had any right to.

In a similar vein, I did a lot of eye-rolling when I first heard about the d20 pro-wrestling RPG coming out soon - Know Your Role - but all the previews I've seen look pretty good, and I now halfway expect it'll be a decent little game.