What RPG systems do you like?

[Laslo Tremaine]

My top five, in no particular order


Ars Magica: Have played in a number of campaigns. The troupe style of play is great and the setting is easily accessable by most people. Definitely the best magic system EVAR! A great system for long, on-going campaigns.

Mutants & Masterminds: I am currently in love with this game. I used to be a big Champions fanboy, but M&M has the flexibility of Champions with one tenth the complexity and cruft.

Call of Cthulhu: This is a true classic. I've had more fun and memorable games with CoC then pretty much any other RPG.

Over the Edge: This is our one-off game system of choice. Fun, fast, free-form. Don't think it works too well for extended campaigns though.

Paranoia: Haven't payed for years, but I have some very fond memories of this game...

 

[Umbran]

Hm...

Alwyas loved the original (FASERIP) Marvel Superheroes RPG. The character advancement system didn't work so well, but the rest of it was great for supers in the mighty Marvel Manner.

Shadowrun has always been one of my favorites. Great setting, and once they smoothed out the system in 2nd edition, I count it as being fine there, too.

I enjoyed playing Star Wars (the d6 version) a lot back in college, but that may more due to the group of players than due to the actual system mechanics.

Deadlands (the non-d20 version) is a fine thing, in my opinion. I think Alternity has a lot of strengths as a sci-fi system, but haven't done enough work with it to tell for sure.

White Wolf mechanics are not, IMHO, nearly as bad as many folks make them out to be. I find the root of many WW problems to be in the players and their attitude than in the mechanic. Mage, most especially, warms my heart

 

[kenjib]

I like the open-endedness of the Lejendary Adventures skills and the spiritual attributes in Riddle of Steel kick major booty.

 

[cjyoung1]

Don't know if any one mentioned it {I really should read things more carefully}, but I thought the alternity system was excellent. It was quite easy to figure out and you could do anything with it. (I guess it was the grandfather to the current d20 system...)



That a long with the original marvel super heroes, and star frontiers are my favorites.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Let's see...

My favorite system has to be D20. I'm going to lump fantasy and modern D20 games together since I use everything from D&D to Star Wars in my regular D20 Modern/Rifts campaign. Heck, I even modified Jedi for use in the setting! I feel like I finally found a system (and sub-systems) that allow me to truly make the game world I always wanted. Therefore, I don't tend to play anything else.

That said, I still have fond memories of the following systems:

Gamma World (various editions). My first RPG other than The Legend of Zelda...My first character was a Cactus Gunslinger with a handlebar moustace that took great offense to anyone calling whiskey "cactus juice". His name was Prickly Bill. I had a lot of fun with him.

D&D 2E: My first true fantasy RPG. I lost characters left and right until I got it right with a human fighter named Kane Grundar (hence my login name). The system wasn't that great, it was way too consticting, but I still had fun with it for many years.

Alternity: This game was the one that took me away from D&D. I loved the system, but it was a little strange. Too bad it didn't get the support I felt it deserved. At least it's coming back in D20 Modern and, hopefully, D20 Future.

Marvel Super Heroes: I hated the system, but it was fun to wipe out the Avengers using pretty much just the Silver Surfer!

Mutants and Masterminds: Quite honestly the best superhero game I've played in a while. Too bad my group didn't get into it.

Rifts: HORRIBLE, WRETCHED system, but my all time favorite setting. I wish KS would let go of his fear and hatred of D20 and allow a conversion. With a little work I find that it can be converted, be balanced, and even retain the feel pretty well.

Hero Quest: Yeah, it's a board game, but it was my first taste of fantasy gaming. I still have most of my character sheets. Fun game.

Warhammer Quest: This game took HQ to the next level. I'm not a fan of GW mostly. (I think they are money grubbers, mostly.) However, this game it pretty fun and highly expandable. I wrote up tons of material converted from WHFB to use with it. Some of the best plastic Hero figs ever made as well.

There's my list of my favorite games.

Kane

 

[Mercule]

White Wolf mechanics are not, IMHO, nearly as bad as many folks make them out to be.

Well, since I called them "The worst system that remains playable," let me point out that I do consider them playable and that they have a niche. I wouldn't use the system for Shadowrun, despite similarity, but it works well for a "rules-lite" game.

 

[zenld]

I would have to say I enjoy the entire d20 system, with particular props to d20M. Other fun systems include, but are not limited to:

Hong Kong Action Theatre (1st edition): any system witha stat called "cool" can't be all bad.

Kobolds Ate My Baby: If you can't figure out the BEER system in 10 seconds flat, how do you remember to breath?

I have to agree with Kane about Rifts. The system can use a lot of work (many hours of which I have already done), but I love the setting. But maybe that's just because one of the best campaigns I was ever involved with was a Rifts campaign.

Always on the lookout for new games and systems to try. This thread has helped a lot. I will even be considering picking up Shadowrun 3E. It is probably my favorite setting of all time, but the last time I tried to play it was 1E and I couldn't stand the rules. But we'll see what happens.

I love this game!

zen