So you're done with D&D but still want to play D&Dish fantasy...

[The Soloist]

Fantasy AGE and Shadow of the Demon Lord/ Weird Wizard are two D&D adjacent games I play instead of curent D&D. They have classes amd levels but work very differently.

 

[Corinnguard]

If I was done with 5e, I probably would go with Level Up because it offers a lot of customization that isn't there in D&D.

 

[aco175]

If I was done with 5e, I probably would go with Level Up because it offers a lot of customization that isn't there in D&D.

I kind of see Level UP and Tales of Valiant as D&D/5e. I can play PCs in both games with no problems and there is a lot of overlap to where I would not need to learn hardly anything to play.

 

[Corinnguard]

I kind of see Level UP and Tales of Valiant as D&D/5e. I can play PCs in both games with no problems and there is a lot of overlap to where I would not need to learn hardly anything to play.

A definite plus. And the stuff that doesn't overlap between Level Up and D&D? curious

 

[cranberry]

My "conversation" to Pathfinder 2E came shortly after the OGL scandal.

I really like the 3 action system, all of the conditions and combat options, as well as the variety of character building.

However, I still prefer D&D lore to Pathfinder lore.

 

[DevL]

Indeed. I don’t see Dragonbane as a D&D alternative. People who go in Dragonbane thinking it’s a simpler D&D alternative often hit a wall or they start turning it into a frankendragon hybrid. We see that all the time in the FB group.

Edit: Dragonbane is for those who are truly done with D&Disms.

Dragonbane’s (Drakar och Demoner) ancestry can be traved back to an 80s version of Basic Roleplaying (BRP) so it has always been quite far removed from D&D.

 

[Willie the Duck]

If you're into X, then play...

If you're into OSR-qualities like combat being deadly and finding money being important, but also want to have built rather than emergent characters, and also lean into quasi-'realism,' a solid choice is GURPS Fantasy.

 

[numtini]

ndeed. I don’t see Dragonbane as a D&D alternative. People who go in Dragonbane thinking it’s a simpler D&D alternative often hit a wall or they start turning it into a frankendragon hybrid. We see that all the time in the FB group.

It depends whether you view alternative as rules or background. It's not a clone. It's a completely separate system. But back in the day, the whole point of Magic World was to take the Runequest rules and apply them to a generic high fantasy D&D-like setting. So if the "D&D alternative" is about cloning rules, then no, Dragonbane doesn't apply. But if the "D&D alternative" is about a world with wizards, fighters, thieves, elves, dwarves, and halflings and all that, then it's quite adjacent.

 

[Voadam]

I just bought a couple Shadow of the Weird Wizard books (on sale now in the Christmas in July sale) to check out as a possible alt D&D system. I love the flavor of the Shadow of the Demon Lord books that I have bought but I am more into D&D's heroic fantasy game theme model (even if it is heroic fantasy in a dark fantasy or gothic horror setting) and the Demon Lord stuff is a bit too over the top gruesome grimdark in some of its flavor for me to run, my horror tastes are more PG 13 pulp comedy horror like Army of Darkness. So I have mostly used the Demon Lord stuff for fun setting materials and flavor concepts in my D&D games and not run or played a game of it and I have not delved into the mechanics because I did not expect to run or play it even though they sound really neat, sort of 4e ish with better multiclassing, a little less fiddlyness, and quick advancement. But Weird Wizard is designed to be the more heroic fantasy version with rules slightly tweaked after years of demon lord experience and to make it more survivable hero rather than grim dark doomed hero. Also D&Dish but everybody at base is human with over the top class options seems pretty fun for my style of running D&D games.

There are a decent amount of adventures, and I expect the Demon Lord ones could translate well, but no real adventure paths and I am not sure on how the level pacing would work when converting D&D/Pathfinder adventures.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Honestly, I don't think it really does anyone any benefit to relate any of these games to D&D, rather than just treat them as their own things. Once someone takes the step of saying "I'm done with D&D, so let me find this game that does this part of D&D differently"... the person is predisposed to always be comparing and contrasting this new game to D&D rather than coming into a game with fresh eyes. One can't let go of D&D if they always have it in the back of their mind.

There's nothing at all wrong about playing other RPGs. But do oneself a favor and just take them as they are and on their own terms.