Other D&D Variant What is your favorite version of D&D offshoot/D20 fantasy today? Tell us why it is the best!

[daddystabz]

I am very curious about the various D&D/D20 fantasy alternatives/derivatives/adjacent games out there that are pretty popular right now. I even own several. I am wondering which is your personal favorite? Convince the rest of us why your favorite is the best!

Examples include:

DC20
Nimble
Draw Steel
Daggerheart
Old School Essentials
Shadowdark
The Cosmere RPG
D&D 5e (2014)
D&D 5e (2025)
Pathfinder 2e
Tales of the Valiant
Level Up A5E
13th. Age 2e
Shadow of the Demon Lord
Shadow of the Weird Wizard
Grimwild
Castles & Crusades
Dragonbane*
Legend in the Mist*

Adding the * games to the list as well, despite them not being D&D or d20 derivative, because they seem like close competitors to these other games, and are in a similar thematic space.

 

[Scribe]

Its Shadowdark, its not close.

 

[Distracted DM]

Dungeon Crawl Classics would've been my immediate answer but I'm still trying to figure out their whole biz with the Invincible Overlord crowdfund... DCC is perfect for Sword & Sorcery, but Shadowdark's like its gritter, less funkadelic counterpart.
13th Age was my old love, played the heck out of that before we moved to 5e. It does heroic fantasy so well! I'll take a look at 2e but now there's Draw Steel!, and I'm admittedly curious about that one though it's less DnD-flavored than 13A (but I do enjoy Colville's setting).

All that said, primarily what we're playing right now is Level Up A5E, but I'm getting a little tired of the power creep/bloat (which is seemingly inevitable with any system you're investing heavily in that gets a good amount of support).

 

[daddystabz]

Nimble is the way. I am enamored with Nimble. Such a bargain for the boxed set. I'm sooooo happy I purchased it.

 

[Corinnguard]

Level Up: A5e. Where to even start?

*It's slightly crunchier than 5e and has addressed some of the issues found in 5e (such as the Martial/Spellcaster gap).
*Race/Species was split up into Heritage (who your parents are) and Culture (the society you grew up in). All of the species traits that your character was born with (age, size, speed, senses, a signature trait. Ex. A Dragonborn's breath weapon) go into Heritage. Every your character could learn while growing up goes into a culture. Either a heritage-related one or a generic one (ex. Cosmopolitan) ASIs have been moved to Background.
*Every heritage gets a heritage gift at 1st level and a paragon gift at 10th level. They're basically the equivalent of species feats.
*Background has two +1 ASIs, one fixed and one floating. It also has two traits of its' own- Connections and Mementos. Connections involve an NPC your character could be connected to within a given adventure. Mementos are an item that your character personally values.
*Destiny. This feature is meant to answer the question, "Why did you leave your past behind to become an adventurer?"
*Every character class has features covering the three pillars of gameplay. So, they are fewer dead levels in each class.
*To address the Martial/Spellcaster gap, all martial classes (Adept, Berzerker, Fighter, Herald, Ranger and Rogue) can be proficient in at least two Combat Traditions (Fighters gain a third combat tradition proficiency when they pick up a subclass). Each Combat Tradition offers up to 15 combat maneuvers that are spread across 5 degrees (the equivalent of a caster level)

I could go on and on with this D&D offshoot.

 

[Morrus]

I am very curious about the various D&D/D20 fantasy alternatives/derivatives/adjacent games out there that are pretty popular right now. I even own several. I am wondering which is your personal favorite? Convince the rest of us why your favorite is the best!

Examples include:

DC20
Nimble
Draw Steel
Daggerheart
Shadowdark
The Cosmere RPG
D&D 5e (2014)
D&D 5e (2025)
Pathfinder 2e
Tales of the Valiant
Level Up A5E
13th. Age 2e
Shadow of the Demon Lord
Shadow of the Weird Wizard
Grimwild
Dragonbane*
Legend in the Mist*

Adding the * games to the list as well, despite them not being D&D or d20 derivative, because they seem like close competitors to these other games, and are in a similar thematic space.

Some of these are not variants of D&D. Draw Steel and Daggerheart aren't; they aren't even d20 systems--they don't use d20s for their core mechanics! I feel it diminishes them to call them d20 or D&D variants. I'm not familiar enough with some of the others to say whether they are.

 

[overgeeked]

If we’re sticking with proper D&D-like games, d20-based that’s an offshoot, clone, fork, etc of D&D, then it’s Pirate Borg at the top followed close behind by Shadowdark, followed a bit behind by Old-School Essentials Advanced.

If we’re opening things up to non-d20 and not direct offshoot fantasy games, then it’ll be Dragonbane for semi-serious play and Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme and Modiphius’ Discworld for super-serious play.

ETA: The games in paragraph two are at the top of my list, followed by the games in paragraph one.

 

[John Quixote]

Beyond the Wall / Through Sunken Lands. Most would point to the playbooks or the "build the village" mechanic as the selling point, but for me, it's the magic system.

BtW/TSL is like a B/X clone that caps at 10th level, with three core classes (fighter, rogue, and mage, where the mage also covers the cleric's role by being overall very druid-flavored). The magic system divides arcane abilities into cantrips, spells, and rituals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

• Cantrips are low-powered but flexible, meaning that you can stretch what they do at the risk of making them more likely to miscast or backfire; they're otherwise unlimited in use, but a backfire can really ruin your day, so overusing them is a bad idea.

• Spells are roughly equivalent to D&D 1st–2nd level spells; a mage can cast one per day per experience level (no memorization/preparation involved). They're rote and reliable.

• Rituals are leveled (1st–10th, corresponding to experience level). Like cantrips, they need a roll to cast, but a failure doesn't cause a backfire so much as a DM-fiat twisting of the magic's intention. They require various material components (often rare or expensive) and take 1 hour per level to cast, unless they've been "memorized" ahead of time or scribed onto a scroll. A mage who knows how to memorize rituals (not all do) can only have a handful readied at a time, and doing that is super volatile and potentially dangerous.

In other words, it genuinely feels more properly "Vancian" than D&D's magic.

 

[sevenbastard]

Peril and Plunder

My home brew rules I cobbled together after I grew tired of 4e, but wanted something a little more than 2e but not as crunch as 3e.

 

[daddystabz]

I say this because Draw Steel clearly states 4e as its primary influence, and the game's mechanics demonstrate this throughout. Daggerheart states it is their answer to 5e.

Some of these are not variants of D&D. Draw Steel and Daggerheart aren't; they aren't even d20 systems--they don't use d20s for their core mechanics! I feel it diminishes them to call them d20 or D&D variants. I'm not familiar enough with some of the others to say whether they are.