What rpg system would you use for a 60+ session fantasy campaign?

[HaroldTheHobbit]

My goto for all fantasy is Savage Worlds/Savage Pathfinder. The only exception is seriously gritty and grimdark stuff, where I'm Cinderellas foot for Warhammer Fantasys shoe.

 

[Composer99]

D&D - 4e or 5e - or a 5e-like such as Tales of the Valuant or A5E. I've run a 60+ session game for 5e, and played in 60+ sessions of 5e and 4e, and enjoyed them all.

 

[Neonchameleon]

It's a hypothetical question, with the following stipulations:

1. The campaign you'll be running will be at least 60 sessions long, more if you wish.
2. It's a fantasy campaign but the subgenre is whatever you want it to be. Heroic, grim-dark, military, whatever.
3. Can be any rpg system since the beginning of the hobby, out of print or currently published and you and your players have access to the materials.
4. Putting aside character death and character retirement in the course of playing, the intention is to run with the same characters for the entire campaign.
5. You have adequate time to read rules and prepare. Miraculous, i know... but for this hypothetical, you don't need to worry about that. You have the time.
6. Also don't worry about getting players - let's say you have them and they want to play and will learn the game if they don't already know it.
7. Let's say there's good online VTT support for whatever system you choose. I know, not realistic, but it's not a factor you need to consider if you would run this online.

So that's it. What system would you choose for a fantasy campaign of considerable duration given the stipulations above?

If you feel like you hate campaign durations of that length and wouldn't ever do this, good for you and there's no need for you to post in this thread. I'm looking for answer from people who might actually want to do something like this.

Thanks in advance!

So if we're running a 60 session campaign with the same characters I need there to be character growth and progression. Which means either I want a skill based system or at least ten levels if we're using a level based system. And I'm ruling out most PbtA and FitD games here and Fate as although all are great games I'd prefer about a dozen sessions for campaigns. I'm also actively seeking out bulkier systems than I normally prefer.

I also (as ever for me) want to be surprised and for there to be options for character growth that aren't "hard multiclassing". Many D&D 5e classes only make a character growth choice after level 3 one level in 4, which rules that system out. And absolutely rules out anything without advancement. (I've also ruled out Call of Cthulhu because I don't want to traumatise characters that much).

Of the systems I know well enough there's Daggerheart, GURPS, D&D 4e, and WFRP (either 2e or 3e; I despise what they did to careers with 4e), and maybe GURPS. (My knowledge is antiquated). I'd also consider Dragonbane, Shadowdark, Warhammer: The Old World, and maybe a few others.

And I think my number one preference at the moment would be seeing if I could run The Enemy Within under Warhammer: The Old World.

 

[loverdrive]

I would pick very unknown but amazing Unofficial Elder Scrolls RPG, loosely based on Dark Heresy 40k RPG.

Why:

• There is a lot of runway for progression, and it's possible to slowly grow strong characters. There always will be some talent, or skill point, or elite advancement to look forward to, even after years of play.
• Despite that, characters of different power level can coexist. If your character dies, or if you decide to retire them, a new 2000XP replacement would still feel mostly comfortable around 5000XP beasts (and depending on who the characters are, it's totally possible for a 2000XP fighter with a spear to just utterly wipe the floor with a 5000XP scholar with encyclopedic knowledge of history and mysticism but no combat skills)
• There is room for different kinds of play, the game doesn't prescribe combat (despite having deep and detailed combat rules) -- you can very well have a single dramatic fight per session (or have none at all!)

 

[SteveC]

This is a really interesting question. I think the big issue is the 60 sessions. That's going to mean the game has to allow for significant progression over time. PF2 is a good example of something I could see for that, as is D&D of just about any flavor. I'd love to say 13th Age or something similar, but the fact that it just goes to 10 might make it difficult to stay in for the length of the game.

I play RPGs for two reasons (beyond being social with friends, of course): the story and the progression of the character. I think it would be really hard to draw me into a game that long with just a story at this point in my life. But a good storyline and progression of characters? Yes, that would work.

 

[nyvinter]

Legend in the Mist or Daggerheart depending on if the focus is characters or a more combat heavy plot.

Suddenly there's a lot of good options for fantasy games that isn't D20.

 

[Lanefan]

60 sessions is short by my standards. Any edition of D&D will do for this, as will (as others have noted) a fairly wide variety of other systems depending on the genre you want.

For something significantly longer, 2e D&D (or 1e without giving xp for treasure) can do you for years, even decades.

There's one thing not covered in the OP: while it notes the intent is to be playing the same characters all the way through, there's no mention as to what degree (if any) those characters are expected to mechanically progress or advance over the campaign's run. In D&D terms, are you looking to go from 1st to 20th level, or 1st to 10th, or just 2nd to 7th, or just start at 6th and stay there?

This is relevant because if the expectation is that the characters don't or won't mechanically progress then every system ever written is in play, you just ignore the system's progression rules and carry on for as long as you want.

 

[Reynard]

60 sessions would likely take my "weekly" group about 2 years. I don't think I would find something like Fate Accelerated satisfying for that long.