Why do you play games other than D&D?

[The Umber Knight]

The main reason I play non-D&D TTRPGs is because of WotC. The products they produce are conflict-ridden and honestly subpar compared to the 3rd-Party Stuff I have bought. I am largely unimpressed with 2024 D&D, so for the sake of my wallet, I have been migrating to Tales of the Valiant. Better quality and compatible with all the stuff I already have because it's essentially a variant on 2014 D&D.

However, I have been favoring other systems. I really want to get my group to try out Shadowdark, and I have been playing a lot of Horde Wars on Discord. I also actually favor Sci-Fi games, so if given the chance to run/play Cyberpunk: Red or Shadowrun (5E), I'm going to take that. I've been looking at Runners in the Shadows (derivative of Blades in the Dark) since a lot of my group is turned off by crunchy rule sets.

 

[Scott Christian]

We played The Witcher, Fallout, and Daggerheart the past few years. Each was short lived. Then we moved to our new D&D campaign. The fact that our group likes D&D, I believe, has nothing to do with market dominance. It has to do with it being a system for everyone. Our table is diverse, and so is D&D.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I've found I can get "this is new and cool" from campaigns with different settings using a familiar game system. I've done this with BRP and GURPS, but not with Hero System, which I've found is always trying to do superheroes. This may be the result of the GMs I've played it with.

For what its worth (and I acknowledge your caveat at the end there), while I think Hero does only work for some kinds of tone, the Fringeworthy and fantasy games I ran with it didn't feel superhero-ish.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've done this with BRP and GURPS, but not with Hero System, which I've found is always trying to do superheroes. This may be the result of the GMs I've played it with.

For what its worth (and I acknowledge your caveat at the end there), while I think Hero does only work for some kinds of tone, the Fringeworthy and fantasy games I ran with it didn't feel superhero-ish.

As an unabashed HEROphile, I’m of the opinion that HERO can do any genre of RPG…because I’ve done it. But it’s not necessarily going to so as well as a system custom designed to model a certain genre or especially a particular IP. For instance, while I could definitely run a Mecha-centric campaign in HERO, I know that it wouldn’t be as streamlined and immersive a gaming experience as if I were using a dedicated mecha RPG, regardless of how I decided mecha should be modeled in my campaign.*

AND in the spirit of full disclosure, sometimes modeling a particular genre or IP in HERO requires an amount of system mastery that most players or GMs just don’t have.






* as with any characters in a HERO campaign, there’s probably at least 6 distinct ways you could design mechs.

 

[SableWyvern]

I've only run a single campaign with HERO, and it was high-powered fantasy. Even with the high power level, it definitely didn't feel like supers to me. The only problem I had with it was the the phased movement system felt quite cumbersome with a large group.

 

[Umbran]

As an unabashed HEROphile, I’m of the opinion that HERO can do any genre of RPG…because I’ve done it.

With respect, Danny, that sounds hyperbolic.

Like, I don't believe you, or anyone else on this board, has actually played ALL GENRES of RPG, like, ever, much less done it all in one single system.

In raising the question of your accuracy about your own achievement there, you also raise the question of how broad the game's utility really is.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

With respect, Danny, that sounds hyperbolic.

Like, I don't believe you, or anyone else on this board, has actually played ALL GENRES of RPG, like, ever, much less done it all in one single system.

In raising the question of your accuracy about your own achievement there, you also raise the question of how broad the game's utility really is.

I am exaggerating, absolutely. But I have owned over 167 different RPGs and played almost 200 different systems, including 2 playtests.

That said, I’ve used HERO to run supers, space opera, horror, hard sci-fi, low fantasy, high fantasy, cross-edition D&D simulations, spies, mecha (hence my choice of that genre in particular to illustrate something I’d never do again) and more.

I was even in the process of modeling M:tG into a playable RPG campaign. I’d worked out the campaign rules for colored mana, “tapping” sources, summons, package deals for races, and how to make Slivers function. That’s when the idea of playing in it was vetoed by my prospective players. So I stopped working on it.

Having done all that, I stand by my assertion that I could model any kind of genre, with the proviso for clarity that I would have to work at it…and that I know full well that it’s not always worth the effort.

After all, there’s reasons why I have owned the aforementioned 167 different RPGs. I could model different games, but it’s not always a good idea to do so.

 

[Thomas Shey]

As an unabashed HEROphile, I’m of the opinion that HERO can do any genre of RPG…because I’ve done it. But it’s not necessarily going to so as well as a system custom designed to model a certain genre or especially a particular IP. For instance, while I could definitely run a Mecha-centric campaign in HERO, I know that it wouldn’t be as streamlined and immersive a gaming experience as if I were using a dedicated mecha RPG, regardless of how I decided mecha should be modeled in my campaign.*

Well, part of that is the price of Hero going full generic-system at one point. I think Robot Warriors back in the day did as or more credible a job than any of the crunch-oriented mecha games.

AND in the spirit of full disclosure, sometimes modeling a particular genre or IP in HERO requires an amount of system mastery that most players or GMs just don’t have.

Including sometimes doing it and discovering what you've done just doesn't work the way you hope it would (discovered that with trying to do a more-or-less Witch World style campaign a number of years ago. It wasn't a problem with doing fantasy with Hero, but the particular thing I was trying to do was just something a different system basis would have handled better (though perhaps still not as successfully as I wanted)).

 

[SableWyvern]

If genre is being used as a fairly high-level term, to refer predominantly to general setting norms (hard sci fi, gritty fantasy, horror, police procedural) without digging into how those things are dealt with in play, then I'd say many games can handle many, most or perhaps even all genres. I'd agree that HERO can potentially do every genre, under this use of the term.

However, if genre is being used to distinguish between stylistic differences, certain types of mood and the like, system is more likely to interfere with some options. If you're trying to emulate the gameflow of a Blades in the Dark heist using HERO, you're going to struggle. HERO can work great for a game where you solve a mystery, but I suspect it is probably far less suitable for one where you tell the story of solving a mystery ala Brindlewood Bay.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I've only run a single campaign with HERO, and it was high-powered fantasy. Even with the high power level, it definitely didn't feel like supers to me. The only problem I had with it was the the phased movement system felt quite cumbersome with a large group.

Proper management of the phase chart is a bit of an art, even with proper tools.