What games should I have on my shelf?

[ShadowDenizen]

Where to begin?
(Some are new and still in print, others are long since gone to the RPG graveyard.)


RPG's:

D20 variants/setting:

Mutants and Masterminds 2E
Spycraft 2E
Midnight

Others:
Ars Magica 5E
BtvS
Call of Cthulhu
Torg (Yes, it's a Kitchen Sink setting, in the vein of "Rifts" or "Exalted", but still playable, IMO.)
Grimm Tales
Marvel Super Heroes
CyberGen (Cyberpunk…. With kids!!)
Orpheus: In the vein of White Wolfs oWoD, but separate and self-contained.
Paranoia
Amber Diceless
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Not a huge Palladium fan, but these are just FUN.)
Deadlands (but NOT the D20 version.)
Feng Shui
Champions (Older Version if you can find it, though M&M seems to have stolen the thunder of this classic game.)
Star Wars (WEG)

 

[GlassJaw]

Some gaming essentials:

d20 stuff:

Grim Tales
Conan
Spycraft 2.0

non-d20:

Shadowrun
old-school Shadowrun Seattle Sourcebook
WEG d6 Star Wars revised rulebook
Call of Cthulhu

Board/Card games:

Heroquest
Munchkin
Settlers

 

[CryHavoc]

Here's my favorite games that I have on my shelf:

Dungeons & Dragons (1974, 77-78 (Holmes), 81 (Moldvay), and 83-86 (Mentzer) editions)
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st edition)
Empire of the Petal Throne
Metamorphosis Alpha (1st edition)
Gamma World (1st & 2nd editions)
Traveller (& MegaTraveller)
Traveller: 2300 (& 2300 AD)
Space: 1889
Dangerous Journeys: Mythus
RuneQuest (1st-3rd editions)
Stormbringer (1st edition)
Call of Cthulhu (3rd & 5th editions)
King Arthur Pendragon (1st, 3rd & 4th editions)
Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game
Mekton (II and Zeta)
Cyberpunk (1st edition)
Amber Diceless Role-Playing
Ars Magica (1st edition)
Bushido (1st edition)
Dragonquest (2nd edition)
HeroQuest
James Bond 007
Paranoia (1st edition)
Sorcerer (& Sorcerer & Sword)
Tunnels & Trolls (5.5 edition)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (1st edition)

Almost all of these (AD&D being the big exception) are at least theoretically complete and playable with a single book or boxed set, even those with tons of supplements. The vast majority of them I'll likely never play again, but who knows, maybe someday...

What taste, what glamour! And here I thought all the classic gamers had hidden under the rampage of the d20ites! My hat off to you!

 

[Greg K]

Generic
-True20
-GURPS
-Alternity

Non Generic
-Mutants and Masterminds
-DC Heroes
-Ars Magic
-Rolemaster RMSS
-HARP
-Mekton II
-Cyberpunk
-Shadowrun
-Top Secret S.I.
-James Bond 007
-Legend of the 5 rings
-7th Sea
-Toon

 

[scourger]

Here are some that have survived my recent purges that I recommend in order:

Savage Worlds. It is truly a great game. It has the fine granularity that players like with the coarse granularity that makes a GM's job a dream. Find a plot point book you like (mine was Tour of Darkness) and have at it.

Omega World d20. This is a fantastic mini-game from the Polyhedron side of Dungeon #94. It is inspried in its simplicity and really lets you take the 3.0 game to the post-apocalyptic genre of Gamma World. I used it for a great mini-campaign using the adventures from Alternity Gamma World. It's really genius in many ways. It presents an entire alternative setting & game in about 40 pages.

Honorbale mentions to:

Judge Dredd d20. Another easy conversion of 3.0 to post-apoc/sci-fi. The modules are good, too; although I only ran the first two of four. Stick to the core book & adventures and have a ball.

ORK! the RPG. This is a just a fun little game with a very neat rules set.

 

[Imaro]

A few suggestions...

Qin:The Warring States. The best wuxia/chinese fantasy game I've bought(and yes I've had Weapons of the Gods, the old Dragonfist game and Swords of the middle Kingdom.) It's power level is more along the lines of Hero(the time period it's set in) and CTHD rather than Stormbringers or Weapons of the Gods. It's a pseuo-historical setting that incorporates monsters, alchemy, etc. on a low key level. Really underrated and under exposed game.

For Supernatural...I would recommend the new World of Darkness as well. Second Sight is a great book for psychics or practitioners of the low arts(hedge magic). All around an easy game for new players to learn the rules, has a gritty feel to it...especially when you play mortals.

 

[Tetsubo]

After the Bomb (Second Edition)

Jorune

Justifiers RPG

Ringworld

RuneQuest

Aftermath

The Morrow Project

Gamma World (Fourth Edition)

That's all I can think of without going into the library...

 

[Gothmog]

Savage Worlds! If you've never tried this system, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. Its truly the most revolutionary RPG in the last 10 years. It has all of the character options of D&D without the rules bloat and complexity. Incredible system, and it plays REALLY fast. In addition, in about another month, you can get a full-color digest-sized version of the rules for $10! Finally, there are a ton of incredible supplements for SW- Deadlands (my all time favorite RPG setting), Pirates of the Spanish Main, Soloman Kane, and Rippers, just to name a few. This is our system of choice now.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2. Great setting perfect for dark, brutal fantasy. Its very well supported, with over 50 FREE adventures on their site that are quite good.

nWOD- I really like the nWOD. The core rules are very tight and play very well. I prefer mortals campaigns as well, and books like Second Sight, Antagonists, Skinwalkers, Spirits, and Ghost Stories can provide the basis for some great games. The new Vampire, Werewolf, and Promethean lines are very well done as well.

True 20- great streamlined version of d20 without all the extremely clunky bits. I've played in two True 20 campaigns and the rules really are good- I actually perfer the d20 system without hit points. If I ever run another d20 based game again, it will be True 20.

 

[Falstaff]

Well, since you typed:

Ultimately, though, it's all about the fun.

There is only ONE game that outshines all other games when it comes to being all about the fun:

HACKMASTER!

cheers!

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

That was why I've avoided it. I can't stand anime. Now, various Western myths (Greek, Norse, Babylonian) would be great.

You can take it all sorts of ways; you don't *have* to do an Inuyasha or Naruto retread.

Brad