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

[GreyLord]

Well, one can do RPGs (Star Frontiers, WH40K RPG, Warhammer Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Star Wars, etc)...but another thing we do is...

Boardgaming. Boardgames can get quite in depth and some of them even have ongoing campaigns (Legacy products like Pandemic Legacy or more RPG types like Gloomhaven).

 

[aramis erak]

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'd recommend looking at D6 Fantasy, GURPS/Dungeon Fanatasy, RuneQuest/BRP/Legend, Tunnels & Trolls, or The Fantasy Trip.

D6 Fantasy is a d6 dice pool, roll & total, compare to TN or opposed roll. Fast and easy character generation. Magic is a little bit construction-set mode. Note that the older Hercules & Xena game is the precursor to d6 Fantasy.

SJG's GURPS and Dungeon Fantasy both can do dungeon crawls. DF is the same core mechanics as GURPS, but I don't know the specifics. I've many friends who have used GURPS for the DF genre. It's 3d6 vs Skill+mods
SJG's The Fantasy Trip is a facelift of GURPS' older, simpler brother. Still plenty good, It's nd6 vs attribute, with n being difficulty typically ranging from 1 to 5, and most combat rolls being 3d.


Tunnels and Trolls has been around since 1975... and the core mechancis are still the same two... Saving Rolls (2d6 doubles open end, plus attribute, vs a TN by difficulty level (TN=(DN×5)+15 ), and the combat roll (weapon's dice, weapons adds, character's adds - in each fight - which may be side vs side, or cluster vs cluster, as the group lets happen, all on one side total, and the other side does likewise, loser takes the difference.

RuneQuest 6e is a flavored setting using a descendent of the 1st ed mechanics, having drifted a bit. It's still recognizably RuneQuest.
BRP (Chaosium's Basic Role Play) is a descendent of RQ 1E as well... but without the Glorathan setting, and being a general RPG.
Legend is (functionally) also RuneQuest - it's Mongoose's RuneQuest II (the 5th edition of RQ), stripped of the Glorantha setting IP. It's the low budget version... There are differences across the line in mechanics., but they're all percetiles, roll under.

While I've not run it, Genisys is a general purpose RPG which can easily do dungeon fantasy. It uses the same mechanics as FFG's Star Wars trilogy (Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, FOrce & Destiny), which I've run extensively (and am about to do so again). It also has a solid fatnasy setting book.... And yes, FFG Star Wars can support dungeon crawling just fine...

 

[Crusadius]

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is my "dungeon fantasy thing" roleplaying game.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Pathfinder for Savage Worlds.

 

[Aldarc]

My usual list of alternatives for dungeon-delving fantasy adventure (not including OSR D&D retroclones or PbtA/FitD):

* Index Card RPG: it's a nifty d20 hack of D&D that went level-less and built around item-based character progression.

* Fantasy Age: an easy to learn 3d6 class and level-based game with a neat stunt point system involving rolling doubles. I would wait for the new revised Core Rulebook coming out this year. You can watch the basic system in action on Youtube either with the Dragon Age episodes of Wil Wheaton's Tabletop or his '80s inspired science fantasy Titansgrave campaign.

* Numenera / Cypher System: Numenera is basically D&D dungeon-delving with a far future science fantasy coat of paint. You can easily use the more generic Cypher System and its supplements for more traditional D&D-esque fantasy adventure.

* Shadow of the Demon Lord / Weird Wizard: SotDL is dark fantasy, but the upcoming Shadow of the Weird Wizard entails Rob Schwalb putting his personalized spin on Gygaxian Greyhawk fantasy. It's a great, easy to learn system that offers a glimpse of an alternative 5e D&D.

 

[Reynard]

Pathfinder for Savage Worlds.

I ran a test of this with my group the other night using Hollow's Last Hope and the pregen archetypes. I am a big Savage Worlds fan and even write for the game on occasion and we came away not very impressed with the "D&D-like" implementation. The players thought the characters were poorly designed and I found Savage Worlds combat is way too swingy and costly to implement at the frequency and scale a conversion of a Pathfinder module requires. I am looking forward to a proper Fantasy Companion, though.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I ran a test of this with my group the other night using Hollow's Last Hope and the pregen archetypes. I am a big Savage Worlds fan and even write for the game on occasion and we came away not very impressed with the "D&D-like" implementation. The players thought the characters were poorly designed and I found Savage Worlds combat is way too swingy and costly to implement at the frequency and scale a conversion of a Pathfinder module requires. I am looking forward to a proper Fantasy Companion, though.

That's interesting, as I've heard a lot of praise for PF SW. Is it the pregens that are poorly designed, or is it the core book, that has this flaw? What makes it poorly designed? Aan lastly, why do you think it will be better with the companion, but not PF SW?

 

[Reynard]

That's interesting, as I've heard a lot of praise for PF SW. Is it the pregens that are poorly designed, or is it the core book, that has this flaw? What makes it poorly designed? Aan lastly, why do you think it will be better with the companion, but not PF SW?

Specifically the players were unhappy with the pregens but since we only played the once it is impossible to tell whether it is the result of something more that how the pregens were built.

PFSW is trying to do a specific flavor of fantasy, while the companions have always been more open toolkits. I suspect the SWADE version will continue that design ethos.

 

[Ixal]

You can try The Dark Eye which is basically the European version of D&D (Not a simple knockoff, it exists since the 80s) and features the same high fantasy gameplay, maybe a bit more down to earth and less if a kitchen sink setting and instead a Europe light world.

Ulisses Spiele

Phantastische Brett-, Karten-, Rollen- und Tabletopspiele

www.ulisses-ebooks.de

The Dark Eye - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Willie the Duck]

DCC is usually considered under the rubric of "OSR," but it has a very different approach to character creation and abilities that may be worth a look.

Worlds Without Number would be another.