Scratching Fantasy Itch besides D&D

[Psion]

I like the way D&D feels, and generally find it the easy to get people to play.
(...)
Really, though, I have enough non fantasy things I want to try and little enough time that if I play something that's not D&D, it's not fantasy.

It occurs to me this is not entirely true. I've fallen in to the trap of thinking of "D&D" as "D&D and other D20 fantasy".

Really, there are a lot of Fantasy games I am interested in other than D&D. They're just mostly D20.

Grim Tales is good for gritty or dark fantasy.
Arcana Evolved is great for high fantasy with a bit less Tolkien in the mix.
Iron Heroes is intriguing low magic, high-heroism gaming.

And I look forward to Fantasy Craft for fantasy gaming with good non-combat support.

 

[Mallus]

I'm pretty interested in the fantasy source book that's coming out for M&M2e. There's a small chance we'll convert my long-running 3.5e campaign to it. Other than that, had I world enough and time (ie, I wasn't married), I'd like to try WFRP 2e.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I'll chime in in support of Palladium too. It has a nice simple system, easy to play and similar enough to DnD that it would be easily learnt. A nice fantasy world. IMO the world that's briefly outlined in the mainbook and then expanded on (slightly) in the supplements is one of the best. Very Grim & Gritty. The game lacks D20's customisation but also lacks D20s ability to be unplayable at higher level and extreme balance issues. But I don't like Palladium for any other genre and the less said of Rifts the better.

And Fantasy HERO (or any HERO System) is good too. But complex. You really have to want to learn a system that has 14 basic stats and then gets more convoluted from there. The Speed Chart and the Endurance rules (both essential parts of basic combat) are enough to put most folks off.

cheers

 

[Ry]

In A Wicked Age rocks my socks. The game is a great example of how 'rules-light' can mean 'the rules help us have more fun' instead of 'the rules get out of the way'.

 

[Imaro]

For me some of my top picks...

Earthdawn...To me this is D&D done right and logically.

Stormbringer 5th/Elric....Great system for swords and sorcery, and the demon summoning magic system is all kinds of cool. Plus Moorcock's stories have always been favorites of mine.

Greg Stolze's Reign...another game with a sword and sorcery feel, that's gritty, original, and strange in a good way. Plus it has rules for PC's running their own organizations.

Scion (Hero, God, Demigod)...urban fantasy turned up to 11, Hercules, Thor, Legba...Yeah you're related to them and they need your help.

oWoD Dark Ages Inquisitor...this beats out Warhammer FRPG as my "dark fantasy" game of choice. Just something about it fascinates me. IMO it is a game of gritty battles against the darkness, loosing or strengthening of a characters faith, unspeakable horrors from outside and within and a slow descent into madness. In fact I'm in the process of converting it to nWoD rules and starting up a campaign (after my failed 4e game ground to a halt). I think I'll try a story hour with this one...but no promises.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

'nWoD Dark Ages' (as far as I know this one's technically, well. . . nonexistent, but I would still be intrigued by the potential herein)

Well... There is the couple Vampire books based during the Roman Empire. You could use that as a base to build upon (much easier given the universal Storytelling system now instead of old).

 

[HelloChristian]

What may be difficult for beginning GURPS GMs to adjudicate is the concept of "game balance".

That is an excellent point and one that even experienced GMs must contend with. Now all 100 point characters are created equal.

To the OP: If you decide to go the GURPS route, I've written up quite a few NPCs and monsters for my zine that I can send your way.

 

[Syndron]

Thanks for all the responses so far, I appreciate it. I'm currently looking into Savage Worlds and Dragon Warriors currently.

I have been playing some form of D&D since about 1980. I am just basically thinking that I am getting sort of burned out on it currently and looking for some things to expand my rpg experience.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Well... There is the couple Vampire books based during the Roman Empire. You could use that as a base to build upon (much easier given the universal Storytelling system now instead of old).

Huh, I'd actually forgotten about, what was it. . . Requiem for Rome?. . . and didn't even know there's another book as well.

And yeah well, the Roman Empire certainly extended far enough, though I'm not sure of the scope of those particular books. . .

I was really thinking of just (theoretically) doing a hack, for mortal characters in Old Europe. Playing vampires can be interesting and fun, of course, but wow am I done with that slant on things, as of quite some time ago.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well I was thinking more for stuff like the character sheet and such, like obviously you won't have Computers in the Dark Ages Game. So I would take the Skill List and perhaps any other things like that and simply add/replace those to a Mortal Game.

Since the Rome books had specifically tailored character sheets for that setting and other such things.

Yup was Requiem for Rome and Fall of The Camarilla was the other.