What's the best RPG?

[ccs]

The one that you & those you play with enjoy the most.

 

[CleverNickName]

Having recently gone back to re-play that game, since I now have access to a version of the game which isn't crippled by bugs, I have to say that the playability is not all it's cracked up to be. The fact that permanent stat boosts are assigned based on which specific magicite you have equipped at the time of level-up means that there's a lot of XP-countdown-watching and magicite shuffling between fights, which could have been easily avoided if the magicite simply gave a stat bonus while it remained equipped.

I actually liked that feature: it gave you a tiny bit of control over what stats would be boosted and what abilities (spells) would be learned, sort of like a rudimentary multiclassing. You had to decide ahead of time which characters needed which statboosts, and it made you prioritize the recovery of certain magicite shards over others. By swapping magicite around and farming levels, you could come up with some interesting builds.

But...yeah. It does require a lot of XP countdown watching and shuffling, and I can see how that might not be everyone's jam.

 

[generic]

I'm really the first to say this? Really?

FATAL is by far the best RPG.

 

[CleverNickName]

Dread is the best Indie RPG, because it has the most interesting pass/fail mechanic, the most streamlined character generation, and the most focused storytelling. Using the Tower to literally build tension at the table is genius.

 

[dragoner]

It's the one I haven't found yet, and that does everything I want it to.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Call of Cthulhu, because of its elegance, simplicity, verisimilitude, and comprehensibility. It achieves what it sets out to do - approximate real life - with a bare minimum of rules. Anyone with no rpg experience at all can look at a character sheet and understand most of it.

 

[Arnwolf666]

Call of Cthulhu 7E. I am enjoying the lethality of the game. I like the emphasis on problem solving and story. I like that in general you want to avoid combat unless absolutely necessary.

 

[RSIxidor]

I guess 5E is currently best as its the one I actually get to play. It's far from my favorite, though. Sadly, its not as easy to get friends to try RPGs they haven't heard of or seen on insert twitch or youtube channel

 

[Parmandur]

Traveller, because random character generation is amazing.

 

[Ulfgeir]

I would say any game where the group is having fun, and the game system doesn't actively get in the way of playing. Yes, I am looking at you Eclipse Phase 1e, and Exalted 2e... Go stand in the corner of shame.

Preferably the rules should also help drive the fiction in the game. The rules should at least not contradict the fiction on how things work in the world. cough Vampire: the Masquerade (where the rules are supercreatures with fangs and claws instead of personal horror, which is what the setting claims) cough Shadowrun 3e- (I understand why they changed how initiative and multiple actions worked as it was op as hell, BUT it directly contradicts the fiction in the world of how things work) cough