What are you favorite RPG genres?

[Committed Hero]

They weren't trying for alt-hist, but they were succeeding. It's very safe to say that many in the Army during both wars considered Korea and Vietnam to be dystopias.

I have some quibbles with your definitions of both things, but this thread isn't the place for them.

 

[ART!]

Interesting question!

Supers. I'm always on the lookout for my next favorite supers system. I want to play them, but if I want them to happen at all I usually have to run them.

I love superhero comics, always have, and always will, so getting to jump head first into that milieu is always a blast.

Sword & Sorcery. I love the grittiness and tone, but I have trouble getting groups to buy in; to the average fantasy gamer it feels like a D&D game with fewer options.

Low fantasy. I like relying more on character and skill than on magic and other superpowers, but this shares a similar problem with S&S, above.

Hard scifi. Again, less about characters with superpowers and more about characters dealing with challenges in a more naturalistic albeit high-tech society or environment. Systems for this seem to be few and far between, but is love to stand corrected!

 

[aramis erak]

What genres get you excited, TTRPG wise?

What are your favorite genres for TTRPGs? Why?

It's hard for me to narrow... but top 3 settings include Star Trek, Star Wars, and Firefly.
Albedo comes in 4th on preference, but my players dont go for it.
I clearly like Space Opera, both poles (the real science fiction end through the space fantasy end); I like space opera in TV shows (Star Trek{all}, Space: Above and Beyond², Homeboys in Outer Space, Mercy Point¹, Andromeda, 1978-1981 Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica (original series only, plus the Hatch novels). Of those, S:AAB is the most realistic, but it's still got too much fantasy to be real sci-fi. And Movies: Star Wars Eps I-VI, Solo, and Rogue One; original BSG on the big screen; Manhunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone; In the Fold.
Note that a strong subset are active duty military/paramilitary... and my runs have a strong dose of Space Trucker and Paramilitary... Traveller does both, so do FL's ALIEN, WEG Star Wars d6, FGU's Space Opera, and Spacemaster. All of those allow for space trucker mode, all allow for mercs mode, and all allow for ship crews in military service, tho not as cleanly.

Albedo is a Soft-Sci-fi, but it stays just shy of the Space Opera border, and is based upon the strip, Erma Felna, EDF, there are no living humans as far as I've read. (I haven't caught up. www.stevegallacci.com has the strips online)

I'm also fond of fantasy, provided it's not too much LFQW³... I like it inspired by shows and movies such as Ladyhawke, LOTR (Both versions), The Hobbit (Both versions), Hercules: The Legendary Journeys & Xena: Warrior Princess, Percy Jackson, The Dresden Files (defininte LFQW, but even so, I played a White Court), all the Harryhousen movies. I'm burned out on D&D, partly due to mechanics, partly due to settings, partly due to WotC's higher ups needing to have a serious attitude adjustment, and largely due to LFQW; the exponent on the wizards is lower in 5th than TSR or 3rd, but it's still there. Favored games include The Fantasy Trip, The One Ring 1E, Arrowflight 1e, Legend of the Five Rings (2e, 3e, and 5e, but NOT the nasty D&D ports), Mouse Guard.

Arthurian - I like my arthurian pretty wibbly-wobbly, so my preferred game therein is King Arthur Pendragon 4th Edition. Yes, it does have serious LFQW. But most wizard players have decided to do prepped minor spells and risk no sleeping. It still felt right last I ran it (2018?). I've got a couple other Arthurian games, but I haven't used them: I, Mordred (D&D 3e splat), Romance of the Perilous Land (a D&D 3e knockoff with an excellent bit of fluff, and have read Prince Valiant.

I long to do a Flash Gordon or close knockoff, but the groups I had? the players who'd enjoy it would be split between the online group and the FTF group. (Yeah, I do know there's a Savage Worlds setting book and splats.)

I like Robotech as a setting, but liked the Macross Reconstruction era when playing. Rewatching the anime. Am hoping the live action series version gets greenlit. (I have my doubts that it will, tho'.) Finally watched Shadow Chronicles... and I've read the 19 novels. The series is 18 novels long. Trust me, 19 isn't a good fit to any of it. I've run 1-shots of Heavy Gear and Palladium Robotech. I dropped out of the SMG Robotech playtest due to the mechanics.

I also have a soft spot for action horror: BTVS, Angel, Army of Darkness, ALIEN. I've run Eden's BTVS, LEG's Aliens Adventure Game, and FL's ALIEN. If I were to do BTVS as a setting again, I'd use Savage Worlds, not Cinematic Unisystem - less work.

Oh, I also like Anthro games in general... Mouse Guard, Pugmire/Monarchies of Mau/Squeeks in the Deep, Albedo, Albedo SC, Justifiers, My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria- I've run MG, MLP:TOE, MoM, both Albedo games, and Justifiers. Haven't gotten Pugmire itself to table, nor Squeeks... it's down the road for one group, but they're same variant 5e adapted core... and they are QUITE adapted. While I have the Freefall RPG, it's a little bit too light for me.

Historical/quasi-historicals intrigue me, but only one has seen play: Crimson Cutlass. I am tempted to run Recon some day, but I need players willing to play it. Warped history, such as Space: 1889, Deadlands, and Aces & Eights appeal a bit more...


Footnotes
¹ when my wife worked at a TV station, I was asked to view the 4 epsiode prospectus. It was good. A sci-fi medical drama. A little more wibbly than Trek.
²: «BLEEP»ing FOX...
³: Linear Fighter, Quadratic Wizard. The fighter increases in power linearly or with a nearly linear exponent, while wizards increase in power by exponential growth.

 

[Crusadius]

Fantasy such as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, The One Ring, Shadow of the Weird Wizard.

Urban Fantasy/Secret History such as World of Darkness, Liminal, Urban Shadows.

Asian media/literature-inspired games such as Feng Shui, Exalted, Weapons of the Gods, Fabula Ultima.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Oh, I also like Anthro games in general... Mouse Guard, Pugmire/Monarchies of Mau/Squeeks in the Deep, Albedo, Albedo SC, Justifiers, My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria- I've run MG, MLP:TOE, MoM, both Albedo games, and Justifiers. Haven't gotten Pugmire itself to table, nor Squeeks... it's down the road for one group, but they're same variant 5e adapted core... and they are QUITE adapted. While I have the Freefall RPG, it's a little bit too light for me.

Ever play the Usagi Yojimbo RPGs, any of the various versions? I love the source material; but I bounce kind of hard off licensed properties that aren't themselves "troop" style fiction. My brain has a hard time shifting from the single protagonist POV to the party at the table. But maybe either of the versions (1998 or 2005) was a game you liked?

 

[dbm]

Fantasy of different stripes by quite a wide margin for our group, and myself too. Fantasy is such a broad genre with interesting sub-genres (high magic, low magic, magi-tech, gritty and so on) which means you can get a wide range of different campaign feels in there.

It has the advantage of not being based on scientific principles which make suspension of disbelief easier in my experience. One of my regular players has a PhD in Physics and ‘rubber science’ can really make him struggle with embracing a sci-fi genre. When we do play sci-fi it’s typically space opera (Star Wars, 40k) which brings in the pseudo-magical. Maybe that makes it more digestible?

Personally I am also a big fan of supers. We don’t get to play that genre much. It seems to be one of the trickier genres to get right for a decent length campaign. I know it can be done, I’ve just not experienced a supers campaign of the longevity that comes pretty easily to a fantasy game.

 

[Li Shenron]

1- classic fantasy

2- gothic horror

3- modern supernatural

 

[Bill Zebub]

Low-magic fantasy is my absolute go-to.

I've always wanted to find a sci-fi game & setting that scratches that itch for me in the right way, but have never found it.

And I'd like to try a "weird west" game. Never have.

 

[payn]

Low-magic fantasy is my absolute go-to.

I've always wanted to find a sci-fi game & setting that scratches that itch for me in the right way, but have never found it.

And I'd like to try a "weird west" game. Never have.

Have you tried Traveller? Im particularly fond of the Mongoose 2E myself.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Have you tried Traveller? Im particularly fond of the Mongoose 2E myself.

Only classic Traveller, back in '80 or '81.