What to run when you are done with D&D?

[SJB]

You already have 7 pages of great recommendations and discussion, so I'm not sure if you settled on anything yet.

You didn't mention if your prefered GM style is to homebrew your own adventures or if you prefer to run published adventures. One thing I always look at is how well supported is the system? It may have the greatest rules ever written for the style you are looking for, but if you have trouble finding adventures for it, are you okay with that?

In my experience, DCC gave the best fantasy dungeon exploration style of play that still felt different than D&D. I've backed Goodman Games Dying Lands kickstarter. I'm liking what they are doing with magic from what I've seen so far. Their Lankhmar set is also worth looking into.

You've already stated that more old-school, rules light systems were not well received by your players. So I think Swords & Wizardry is probably out. Even lighter systems like ICRPG as well.

If you want to go full home brew, use Cortex Prime to build the system you are looking for. That may be more work than you want, especially since you'd need to homebrew all your adventures as well.

Usually, when I want a break from D&D, I go with something radically different either in terms of genre or system (or both). But you don't seem interested in that.

All and all, my best recommendation would be one of the DCC setting sets, like Lankhmar or Dying Lands. Already DCC has a familiar but different flavor to it. Lankmar and Dying Lands add to that with heavily flavored new mechanics and settings.

Seven pages of great discussion mainly recommending D&D as the replacement for D&D!

The obvious non-D&D alternatives have already been mentioned. DFRPG, TFT - or In the Labyrinth - which suggests its purpose, Dungeons with hexes. Melee is free from SJG.

Runequest. Runequest Classic is probably the best option because early Runequest was very dungeon based. Pavis is the mega-dungeon and Balastor’s Barracks the classic dungeon. The Mythras variant has a Classic Fantasy supplement that optimises it for dungeons. Plenty of modules. Personally, I would opt for the OpenQuest variant; it has the shallowest d100 learning curve. An OpenQuest Dungeon supplement is promised this year.

Other options:

DragonQuest. More d100. Some great Jaquays adventures.

Palladium Fantasy Roleplay. It is 1d20 roll over so D&D adjacent. Great armour system. Parrying and dodging in combat. We enjoyed this one.

Dragons & Demons. Swedish “D&D”; originally d100 roll under; now d20 roll under. A new version is Kickstarting from Free League but there is a Quickstart.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy. 2d6 roll under. Good Quickstart.

OLD is dungeon optimised. Additive dice pools with d6s. Surely A5E is D&D?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Your posts on Dungeon Fantasy have definitely led me to look into it. What is the easiest way to get into the game, do they have a quick start or free version?

I’m familiar with GURPS but never played or ran it.

Any good actual plays or demos on YouTube as well?

Hmmm. I'm new enough that I've asked for help on recommendations (Need help recommending DF quick start/sample version - Steve Jackson Games Forums), but for my part I'll make the following observations:

1.) If you want a free and fast one-page intro to GURPS as a system, that would be GURPS Ultralight (GURPS Ultra-Lite). It doesn't give the flavor of Dungeon Fantasy because it's not, but you could put it together with (3) below.

2.) If you're willing to spend $9, Pyramid 3 issue #104 includes a Choose Your Own Adventure-style solo adventure called Secrets of the Living Tomb designed to teach you the rules even if you don't have any other material. Pyramid #3/104: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game

3.) You can download a 50 page preview of the DFRPG boxed set here: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game

I don't have any YouTube recommendations but maybe someone else will.

If you can afford it and like what you see in the preview, I would just order the boxed set (and have done so for friends and family). It's a good, self-contained intro well worth the asking price ($40 PDF, $79 physical boxed set).

 

[thullgrim]

I haven’t read the whole thread but I’ve recently been reading and prepping an Earthdawn 4e game set in Parlainth. It might fit the bill. It’s crunchy. It’s a setting and system that makes sense of the classic tropes like why dungeon exist and so on.

It’s a niche game I’ll grant you and if your not looking for crunchy I’d definitely pass but if you want crunch and a game where the mechanics and setting are intimately intertwined it might be worth a look.

 

[Emirikol]

EDIT because it seems to be getting lost: I am talking about wanting to do the whole dungeon fantasy thing, but not with any version of D&D.

More specifically, what do you run when you are done with D&D specifically, but still want something "D&D like" -- dungeons, monsters, traps, treasure, etc...?

I moved to WFRP 3rd edition. 4e is also out now, but we keep going back to 3e WFRP (which you cannot get anywhere anymore).

I'd also like to push to The One Ring (because middle earth is fun and trendy), but I kinda dislike the system's combat mechanism.

Other non-fantasy rugs that are good for my group include: alien, vaesen, coc, and 40k rpg.

 

[uzirath]

Your posts on Dungeon Fantasy have definitely led me to look into it. What is the easiest way to get into the game, do they have a quick start or free version?

I’m familiar with GURPS but never played or ran it.

Any good actual plays or demos on YouTube as well?

I'm not sure about YouTube, but GMsShadow has created a series of podcasts using the Dungeon Fantasy RPG in Douglas Cole's excellent Nordlond setting. They should give you the flavor of the game.

Cole has published a lot of great books in support of DFRPG. If you get into the game, you might particularly enjoy using Delvers to Grow which provides a system for creating lower level characters than the default. This is helpful for newer players who may be overwhelmed by the many options for their characters. I have created characters using this system in less than 20 minutes—a great way to get the adventure started pronto.

 

[thullgrim]

The Nordland material is also easily portable to other settings. Douglas Coke/Gaming Ballistic just launched another KS for more GURPS DF monsters.

 

[corwyn77]

There is a free downoadable Gurpslite - a 32 page starter ruleset for full gurps.

Warehouse 23 - GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition)

Warehouse 23 is your online source for games and geek toys. Fronted by Steve Jackson Games on behalf of the Illuminati, it offers a wide variety of roleplaying games, card games, and board games from many different companies. Fnord.

www.warehouse23.com

Mook has a bunch of 4e content, including combat examples, skill contests, etc. not for DF mostly, but will explain a lot of concepts used for DF.

New to GURPS – Welcome!

Welcome to the first post of my New to GURPS series. GURPS is a fantastically broad and simple tabletop RPG, one that can be used for all sorts of games while always maintaining the same elegant core.

www.themook.net

 

[Douglas Cole]

The Nordland material is also easily portable to other settings. Douglas Coke/Gaming Ballistic just launched another KS for more GURPS DF monsters.

Tooting my own horn a bit, but the Nightmare Fuel campaign has some "starter sets" that include the core rules, plus a bunch of monsters. Delvers to Grow is of course available as an add-on.

The covers for the three new books are my somewhat whimsical placeholders. The new cover art will be more like this:

This is a work-in-progress image, but shows the general point: each book will have an "action scene" based on the theme of the volume, and the scene will not show things going well for Team Delver.

 

[overgeeked]

Right now it's Fabula Ultima. I don't know if I'd want to do a full-on dungeon crawl with it, but the stylistic change from D&D-style fantasy to JRPG-inspired fantasy is a really nice breath of fresh air after almost 10 years of 5E.

 

[Baron Opal II]

You know, lately it has been Gloomhaven for me. No one else wants to run, and I've spent too much time writing my own version of AD&D to want to run something that rule-constrained. I have been considering Fate for street level supers or a Long Staircase type game. Traveller would be a contender, too.