What are the most interesting non-D&D systems you've yet to play?

[MNblockhead]

InSPECTREs, a Ghostbusters-meets-reality-TV-inspired indie game. Uses dice pools and players good roles, means that THEY get to say what happens and then the game master has to work with that. There is also a mechanic where you set aside a chair that acts like a reality-TV confessional booth where a player can sit in it and assign characteristics to another player's character. The other player can accept or reject with an incentive to accept the characteristic.

It is a more improvisational and narrative game and not so much a tactical game.

With the right group, it is a lot of fun.

Grin. Grin's rules take up one side of one sheet of paper and most of that is white space. It is similar to Dread in that it uses a prop to build tension. Instead of Jenga blocks (which Dread uses), Grin uses a deck of cards and the creator sells decks of Grin cards as print on demand. I find it too light to build much of a game on, but I've incorporated it into DnD sessions. For example, when the party first when to the Fey Wild, as their spirits and bodies were adapting to the strong magic and their senses adjusting to overpowering stimuli of the Fey Wild, I put aside all 5e mechanics and replaced them with the Grin Deck and Grin Rules until their adapted and then we went back to normal 5e RAW. It is a fun way to build suspense.

Paranoia. I bought the new edition of Paranoia by Mongoose Publishing. I'm a bit disappointed with the sloppiness of some of the rules descriptions and the lower quality of the books, but I think they did a great job capturing the flavor of the setting and I like the bluffing-based, card-driven combat mechanics.

No Thank You, Evil! Monte Cook knocked it out of the park with this one. The best TTRPG for small children. The only thing I don't like is the name of the game. But this is a well-written system with high production values and some great expansions. It was also my introduction to Cypher System and led me into looking into Numenera, which I'm hoping I'll get a chance to play some day.

 

[Jhaelen]

Plenty.

A few of the more recent ones (well, systems I learned about in the past decade or so...):
- Trail of Cthulhu: I feel that this system based on Gumshoe is really the perfect fit for the kind of Mythos stories, I'd like to tell. Getting the right group together is tricky, though.
- Ashen Stars: Also based on Gumshoe, this is very reminiscent of Star Trek. I was a bit surprised how well an episode of the tv show matches the procedural style of the RPG system.
- Burning Wheel: Character Creation is fun! I'd really like to give this a try with some of the more exotic races, like Giant Spiders or Wargs.
- The One Ring: Another system that is just perfect for its setting. I especially like the way overland travel is implemented, assigning different roles to each PC.