There is no clear 'best' or I wouldn't need multiple choices at the table. They have different feel; they fill different niches. RPG is too wide a category to achieve a 'best'.
What's the best RPG?
There is no clear 'best' or I wouldn't need multiple choices at the table. They have different feel; they fill different niches. RPG is too wide a category to achieve a 'best'.
Neonchameleon
Legend
Ugh these wishy washy answers stink.
Pick a game, people!
Why? I have a collection of games I consider very good at what they do (in no particular order RC D&D, D&D 4e, Apocalypse World, Blades in the Dark, Monsterhearts Dread, Fate, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying). But asking for a best would be like asking me to pick a favourite food. I couldn't eat chocolate cake every day.
hawkeyefan
Legend
But you can say what makes them the best. The OP said to pick a game and say why it’s the best.
What is it that makes Apocalypse World a good choice? Why would you choose that game for a campaign? What would make you choose Fate instead?
I’m not saying I disagree that there are different games that are good for different reasons, but I think actually picking a game and saying why is a bit meatier than everyone saying whatever game works best, or whatever game gets them together with friends.
Neonchameleon
Legend
Fair enough.
The best thing about Apocalypse World is the rhythm; it is based on the rules causing minimal disruption to freeform roleplaying. This means that, especially with new gamers and freeformers the dice and mechanics slide in, enhancing the experience with conflict resolution and extra details while not breaking flow. (This applies less to experienced tabletop RPGers who have learned the flow of e.g. D&D and may have to fight what they have learned). And for running it's in many ways a joy - the game does so much work and leads to highly intense stories while not requiring much GM preparation. Monsterhearts is a distilled version of the same basic experience focused on the teen horror genre rather than a post-apocalyptic setting.
If I'm going to break out the battlemap and have tactical combat in my RPG I want to be using D&D 4e. It has an insane amount of character customisation (I feel cramped by comparison in both 3.5 and Pathfinder - and yes I know both pretty well) and details how characters move and what they do under pressure in ways no other game I'm aware of. And what you do when the rubber meets the road is roleplaying. If you want short, snappy combat use something else (preferably not a WotC produced version of D&D).
The Rules Cyclopaedia meanwhile is the other end of the D&D spectrum (there's a good case for Labyrinth Lord instead). Fast, snappy, and with XP for GP it encourages a highly mercenary playstyle with characters graduating from going in mob-handed with hirelings to big damn heroes to lords. And combat is fast and lethal.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying may soon be superseded by the Sentinels Comics RPG, but is really the system to date that's let me play comic book characters and feel like it's a four colour superhero comic complete with appropriate balancing, and that things are going wrong in the right ways.
Blades in the Dark has a resolution system that's taken over from several others for me. It has the advantages of single sided character sheets, and fast flowing mechanics that create complications, allowing for low prep GMing and lots of interesting choices and characterisation, with stories that spiral fast out of control normally in the best ways.
The best thing about Apocalypse World is the rhythm; it is based on the rules causing minimal disruption to freeform roleplaying. This means that, especially with new gamers and freeformers the dice and mechanics slide in, enhancing the experience with conflict resolution and extra details while not breaking flow. (This applies less to experienced tabletop RPGers who have learned the flow of e.g. D&D and may have to fight what they have learned). And for running it's in many ways a joy - the game does so much work and leads to highly intense stories while not requiring much GM preparation. Monsterhearts is a distilled version of the same basic experience focused on the teen horror genre rather than a post-apocalyptic setting.
If I'm going to break out the battlemap and have tactical combat in my RPG I want to be using D&D 4e. It has an insane amount of character customisation (I feel cramped by comparison in both 3.5 and Pathfinder - and yes I know both pretty well) and details how characters move and what they do under pressure in ways no other game I'm aware of. And what you do when the rubber meets the road is roleplaying. If you want short, snappy combat use something else (preferably not a WotC produced version of D&D).
The Rules Cyclopaedia meanwhile is the other end of the D&D spectrum (there's a good case for Labyrinth Lord instead). Fast, snappy, and with XP for GP it encourages a highly mercenary playstyle with characters graduating from going in mob-handed with hirelings to big damn heroes to lords. And combat is fast and lethal.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying may soon be superseded by the Sentinels Comics RPG, but is really the system to date that's let me play comic book characters and feel like it's a four colour superhero comic complete with appropriate balancing, and that things are going wrong in the right ways.
Blades in the Dark has a resolution system that's taken over from several others for me. It has the advantages of single sided character sheets, and fast flowing mechanics that create complications, allowing for low prep GMing and lots of interesting choices and characterisation, with stories that spiral fast out of control normally in the best ways.
ccs
41st lv DM
I did. See post #11.
Now if you want to know about my favorites, that's different (& not the question). That's AD&D 1e. But I'm not going to argue that it's the best.
Ulfgeir
Hero
Ugh these wishy washy answers stink.
Pick a game, people!
I would say best game in terms of presentation is either Dresden Files rpg or Atomic Robo rpg. Both are much better than the normal FATE-rules imo, and they are both very fun to read. They do have some slight problems, but nothing serious.
For simplicity I would say Call of Cthulhu. BRP is a system that doesn't get in the way of playing. I would say that the version used in The Troubleshooters is more modern, but it is not quite as simple.
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shawnhcorey
wizard
GURPS for hard-core simulations, especially combat.
FATE or FAE for easy play, both for players and GM.
Hârn for deadly medieval combat.
Rifts for weird post-apocalyptic settings.
Mouse Guard, 7th Sea, etc. for their settings.
Risus for quick one-shots.
Why play just one system?
FATE or FAE for easy play, both for players and GM.
Hârn for deadly medieval combat.
Rifts for weird post-apocalyptic settings.
Mouse Guard, 7th Sea, etc. for their settings.
Risus for quick one-shots.
Why play just one system?
GURPS (or it's recent child, the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game) has been my favorite RPG since discovering it in the 1990s. I love the character generation system and the simple skill-based mechanic. I love the flexibility of a toolkit; I've used an ultra-simple version of the rules for play with young children and I've turned up the complexity—especially of tactical combat—for players who love the crunch. I appreciate the fact that the default system is designed as a reasonable approximation of reality, but there are plenty of options for emulating less realistic genres.
