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

[haakon1]

3.5e Core Rules (original round of releases only)

Best because it’s in the middle of the editions, the “last best” version of AD&D and the first (if you count 3/3.5 as one thing) of “modern” D&D with AC going up, etc.

As DM, I can draw from all of Basic, AD&D, 3e, PF1, and 5e fairly easily. (But it is annoyingly complicated.)

As a player, I can do just about any design (monsters and PC’s work the same) yet the PHB pushes me to the original classes and “species” AD&D started with. And I prefer not having subclasses.

 

[GothmogIV]

We like Castles&Crusades a lot. Has the old school feel but with some modernizations (d20, ascending AC, and a very useful bit called the Siege Engine for skill resolution). Great company, too.
I've recently purchased Old School Essentials, but haven't played it yet. Look great, though.
I ran Dragonbane and liked it well enough, but it wasn't quite it for me. It's a d100 system; a modernized (I guess?) version of Basic Role Playing/Magic World (both by Chaosium).
Dungeon Crawl Classics is a freaking blast. Pure fun, but a bit too swingy to run a long campaign (in my experience). All we do is laugh when we play it.

 

[bsss]

For me it is 13th Age. It hits the sweet spot of character options without a bunch of rule minutiae paired with collaborative narrative elements and a preference towards improv. I love that there's enough setting material in the game to go off and build on without feeling like you're beholden to "canon", while also having a solid mechanical framework to port to whatever other setting makes sense to you. I've played AD&D through to 5e, and ever since 13th Age hit its stride, I haven't looked back.

I did appreciate someone in this thread mentioning True20 --- I had some good times with that system back in the day, glad to see it's still kicking.

 

[VHawkwinter]

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!

Excluding my WIP d20 system designed to what I think is best in D&D adjacent fantasy gaming because that would be cheating:

D&D 3.0.
3.5 went too focused on minis and was generally less of a fantasy sandbox game through its supplements. It also has less of an AD&AD vibe going on. I would selectively use 3.5 (and PF1, and other d20) content with 3.0 content, but IMO 3.0 has the best books (official and third party) overall, so if I have to pick one, 3.0. Compatibility with non-3.0 material for 3.X d20 is a big selling point though.

Other 'mediaeval' fantasy RPGs I've tried and enjoyed to various extents include Rolemaster 4e; Mongoose Runequest 2; The Dark Eye; Dark Ages Vampire; Dungeon Fantasy RPG.

I like a ruleset that's good for "simulationist" sandboxy games, and 3.0 is one of the better ones in that category that's in a D&D genre.