Your Top Ten RPGs
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
sgtscott658
First Post
Hi-
Well are the RPG's I have played and enjoyed
D&D 1E- Simple and fun back in the day.
D&D 2E- Enjoyed this edition too, especially the planscape setting.
D&D 3.x- My favorite version of D&D with all the cool mechanical bits and classes
D&D 5E- Some issues but very customizable for what I want to do.
Traveler 2300- The old version from GDW, hard core sci fi goodnees
Traveler- Great fun designing ships and doing the gun boat diplomacy thing
Warhammer FRP- Fun RPG but can get bogged down with such a depressing backround
Marvel Superheros- Yes the old TSR game. Good times indeed.
Call of Cuthuhlu d20- Very very enjoyable 1920's gangster action with the mytho's thrown.
Only 9 on the list, but the 9 RPG's I have played alot of.
Well are the RPG's I have played and enjoyed
D&D 1E- Simple and fun back in the day.
D&D 2E- Enjoyed this edition too, especially the planscape setting.
D&D 3.x- My favorite version of D&D with all the cool mechanical bits and classes
D&D 5E- Some issues but very customizable for what I want to do.
Traveler 2300- The old version from GDW, hard core sci fi goodnees
Traveler- Great fun designing ships and doing the gun boat diplomacy thing
Warhammer FRP- Fun RPG but can get bogged down with such a depressing backround
Marvel Superheros- Yes the old TSR game. Good times indeed.
Call of Cuthuhlu d20- Very very enjoyable 1920's gangster action with the mytho's thrown.
Only 9 on the list, but the 9 RPG's I have played alot of.
R
RevTurkey
Guest
Goes something like this in no particular order...
Dungeons & Dragons B/X/AD&D/PF
Rolemaster (played with MERP stuff)
Savage Worlds (especially the Hellfrost setting)
Call Of Cthulhu
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Warhammer Fantasy 1st Edition
Golden Heroes
Tunnels & Trolls
Champions (Dark Champions in particular)
Runequest (1/2/6 editions)
Dungeons & Dragons B/X/AD&D/PF
Rolemaster (played with MERP stuff)
Savage Worlds (especially the Hellfrost setting)
Call Of Cthulhu
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Warhammer Fantasy 1st Edition
Golden Heroes
Tunnels & Trolls
Champions (Dark Champions in particular)
Runequest (1/2/6 editions)
Neonchameleon
Legend
In alphabetical order (because all are good)
Apocalypse World
Cortex+ (Marvel Heroic/Leverage/Firefly - should probably be different entries but who cares? Same engine.)
D&D 4E
D&D (Rules Cyclopaedia)
Dread (Jenga)
Fate
Feng Shui (2 for preference)
Fiasco
GURPS
Monsterhearts
Apocalypse World
Cortex+ (Marvel Heroic/Leverage/Firefly - should probably be different entries but who cares? Same engine.)
D&D 4E
D&D (Rules Cyclopaedia)
Dread (Jenga)
Fate
Feng Shui (2 for preference)
Fiasco
GURPS
Monsterhearts
TrippyHippy
Hero
In chronological order:
D&D - 5th edition, as it stands. My first game, and the most accessible towards intro play.
Traveller - Classic or Mongoose. Love the game-within-game systems, and the sheer diversity of adventures to be had.
RuneQuest - 6th Edition is fine by me. Flawless game world simulation, with a spiritual core.
Call of Cthulhu - l’m a bit un-plussed by 7th edition changes, but otherwise as is. Love the diametrically opposed premise in game design to ‘heroic’ D&D. Face it, things aren’t going to end well….
Paranoia - In my view, the prototype ‘indie’ game. Provocative, sardonic, satirical, and mandatory fun!
Mage: The Ascension - Possibly a ‘guilty pleasure’ game as the rules were sometimes sloppy and the premise may be a little pretentious. Loved to play it throughout the 90s though, and made The Matrix seem like a watered-down substitute when it came out - like Vampire: The Masquerade compared to Underworld.
Feng Shui - Another Matrixy-game, released before the movie came out. Instantly playable and versatile though. Completely filled the ‘action movie’ niche for me.
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space - absolutely flawless design, very easy on the eye, and perfect for running TV show inspired games.
The One Ring - another ‘perfect’ game design, totally suited to emulating the source material. It’s the modern Pendragon for me, in some ways.
Fiasco - Classic indie design…endlessly adaptable…but without the subtext that takes itself too seriously.
my alternative game of choice.
Other notable mentions (but in some cases with, to be honest, very limited actual play): Baron Munchhausen, HoL: Human Occupied Landfill, Amber Diceless, Ars Magica, Pendragon, Ghostbusters, Toon, Vampire: The Masquerade.
D&D - 5th edition, as it stands. My first game, and the most accessible towards intro play.
Traveller - Classic or Mongoose. Love the game-within-game systems, and the sheer diversity of adventures to be had.
RuneQuest - 6th Edition is fine by me. Flawless game world simulation, with a spiritual core.
Call of Cthulhu - l’m a bit un-plussed by 7th edition changes, but otherwise as is. Love the diametrically opposed premise in game design to ‘heroic’ D&D. Face it, things aren’t going to end well….
Paranoia - In my view, the prototype ‘indie’ game. Provocative, sardonic, satirical, and mandatory fun!
Mage: The Ascension - Possibly a ‘guilty pleasure’ game as the rules were sometimes sloppy and the premise may be a little pretentious. Loved to play it throughout the 90s though, and made The Matrix seem like a watered-down substitute when it came out - like Vampire: The Masquerade compared to Underworld.
Feng Shui - Another Matrixy-game, released before the movie came out. Instantly playable and versatile though. Completely filled the ‘action movie’ niche for me.
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space - absolutely flawless design, very easy on the eye, and perfect for running TV show inspired games.
The One Ring - another ‘perfect’ game design, totally suited to emulating the source material. It’s the modern Pendragon for me, in some ways.
Fiasco - Classic indie design…endlessly adaptable…but without the subtext that takes itself too seriously.
my alternative game of choice.
Other notable mentions (but in some cases with, to be honest, very limited actual play): Baron Munchhausen, HoL: Human Occupied Landfill, Amber Diceless, Ars Magica, Pendragon, Ghostbusters, Toon, Vampire: The Masquerade.
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These are my current top 10 based on how quickly I would run them.
1. Savage Worlds (SW). I could run or play this game immediately. Some of my best gaming was with SW. I have an ongoing game that genre hops, which has been loads of fun. I expect it to go to the Old West with a Boot Hill module, some Deadlands Reloaded rules, and maybe the setting from Aces & Eights; or to WW2 with Weird War 2. It could go post-apocalyptic (see below). I would even like to try it with low or high fantasy (with an existing idea - see below) or space opera with Star Wars minis. I like the bennies (chips) and cards in addition to the dice so much that I import versions of those rules into other games. It's just so simple to prepare that it becomes much more fun to run and weave the story.
2. D&D d20 was really the apex of D&D for me from Basic through 1e & 2e. I have a campaign on a long hiatus and an idea for another game now that could tie into it. The real benefit to me is that I can use my stock of D&D minis & rules mastery to just run the story I want with little extra preparation, which makes a conversion to SW more work ironically. I would not want to prepare stats for foes, but I do want to use parts of all the cool modules I have from various editions. And, I know my group will play it & stick with it.
3. Dungeon Crawl Classics is a surprise to me as I compile this list. I offered to run it recently, though, so it made the cut. I would probably try it with a variant of the d20 game story mentioned above, but I am not sure how the D&D minis would work in the conversion. DCC is pretty inspired with the death funnel of random character creation, the theory of which I would like to apply to my next fantasy game. I also like the level 5 "limit" because it flattens the power curve. I don't like the odd dice, though; so those have to go.
4. Omega World d20 is just a brilliant little game. It is a concise adaptation of d20 to classic Gamma World. I had much fun running it with the Alternity Gamma World adventure series, and I enjoyed playing it in a long-running game that another GM converted to OW. I really like the streamlining of the system and the use of defects as character definers.
5. Gamma World (4e D&D version). I ran it for my group with the free module, the adventure in the book, and the first boxed set. I would love to run the next 2 boxed sets, but it probably needs conversion to OW for my adult group to give them greater character flexibility & development without randomness that works mechanically similarly. My sons & nephews might do it as written, though; which would be much fun for me.
6. Judge Dredd d20 is similar. I love the simpler rules with 2 judge classes & psionics in place of magic. The characters were distinguished by skills & feats. It was neat to run. I went through the first 2 published adventures. Those were the most fun to me, but I still have 2 more and would like to finish it. Plus, the movie Dredd put some fuel in that tank.
7. Rifts is a wonky game that I enjoyed playing & running. I had some very fun times with it on both sides of the screen: power playing and creative GMing. It's on the list now because I would love to run Machinations of Doom for my group using the pre-generated characters, but I can't get my players to bite.
8. Hell on Earth Reloaded appears here because I really liked playing the original and can't get the GM in a nearby city to finish it one weekend a year. If I had a really appealing adventure I would run it or take my existing SW game to it, which I may do anyway at some point (see above).
9. Tour of Darkness started my SW games and may be the finishing point for that long campaign. ToD is a fun game and had the highest level of player buy-in ever. I think it was all the people we knew growing up who were in Viet Nam and all the movies. I know I watched a bunch of them and reviewed several before running the game. Even the music appeals.
10. ORK! the RPG is fun and has a great little game engine that I would love to apply to other genres. It's last on this list because it is a bit silly as written and had no staying power in our group. But I like it.
That was fun. Thanks.
1. Savage Worlds (SW). I could run or play this game immediately. Some of my best gaming was with SW. I have an ongoing game that genre hops, which has been loads of fun. I expect it to go to the Old West with a Boot Hill module, some Deadlands Reloaded rules, and maybe the setting from Aces & Eights; or to WW2 with Weird War 2. It could go post-apocalyptic (see below). I would even like to try it with low or high fantasy (with an existing idea - see below) or space opera with Star Wars minis. I like the bennies (chips) and cards in addition to the dice so much that I import versions of those rules into other games. It's just so simple to prepare that it becomes much more fun to run and weave the story.
2. D&D d20 was really the apex of D&D for me from Basic through 1e & 2e. I have a campaign on a long hiatus and an idea for another game now that could tie into it. The real benefit to me is that I can use my stock of D&D minis & rules mastery to just run the story I want with little extra preparation, which makes a conversion to SW more work ironically. I would not want to prepare stats for foes, but I do want to use parts of all the cool modules I have from various editions. And, I know my group will play it & stick with it.
3. Dungeon Crawl Classics is a surprise to me as I compile this list. I offered to run it recently, though, so it made the cut. I would probably try it with a variant of the d20 game story mentioned above, but I am not sure how the D&D minis would work in the conversion. DCC is pretty inspired with the death funnel of random character creation, the theory of which I would like to apply to my next fantasy game. I also like the level 5 "limit" because it flattens the power curve. I don't like the odd dice, though; so those have to go.
4. Omega World d20 is just a brilliant little game. It is a concise adaptation of d20 to classic Gamma World. I had much fun running it with the Alternity Gamma World adventure series, and I enjoyed playing it in a long-running game that another GM converted to OW. I really like the streamlining of the system and the use of defects as character definers.
5. Gamma World (4e D&D version). I ran it for my group with the free module, the adventure in the book, and the first boxed set. I would love to run the next 2 boxed sets, but it probably needs conversion to OW for my adult group to give them greater character flexibility & development without randomness that works mechanically similarly. My sons & nephews might do it as written, though; which would be much fun for me.
6. Judge Dredd d20 is similar. I love the simpler rules with 2 judge classes & psionics in place of magic. The characters were distinguished by skills & feats. It was neat to run. I went through the first 2 published adventures. Those were the most fun to me, but I still have 2 more and would like to finish it. Plus, the movie Dredd put some fuel in that tank.
7. Rifts is a wonky game that I enjoyed playing & running. I had some very fun times with it on both sides of the screen: power playing and creative GMing. It's on the list now because I would love to run Machinations of Doom for my group using the pre-generated characters, but I can't get my players to bite.
8. Hell on Earth Reloaded appears here because I really liked playing the original and can't get the GM in a nearby city to finish it one weekend a year. If I had a really appealing adventure I would run it or take my existing SW game to it, which I may do anyway at some point (see above).
9. Tour of Darkness started my SW games and may be the finishing point for that long campaign. ToD is a fun game and had the highest level of player buy-in ever. I think it was all the people we knew growing up who were in Viet Nam and all the movies. I know I watched a bunch of them and reviewed several before running the game. Even the music appeals.
10. ORK! the RPG is fun and has a great little game engine that I would love to apply to other genres. It's last on this list because it is a bit silly as written and had no staying power in our group. But I like it.
That was fun. Thanks.
Darth Quiris
First Post
Talk about making it tough. My top ten list probably changes monthly depending on what inspires me.
1. Smallville RPG (Cortex Plus Drama)
2. Monster of the Week
3. FFG Star Wars - Edge of the Empire
4. Apocalypse World
5. Firefly RPG
6. Demon: the Descent
7. Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition
8. AMP: Year One
9. 13th Age
10. Earthdawn
1. Smallville RPG (Cortex Plus Drama)
2. Monster of the Week
3. FFG Star Wars - Edge of the Empire
4. Apocalypse World
5. Firefly RPG
6. Demon: the Descent
7. Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition
8. AMP: Year One
9. 13th Age
10. Earthdawn
Jan van Leyden
Adventurer
Interesting; I would have expected more mentions of D&D5.
Here's my list of notable games which I wouldn't put into any specific order:
A lot of games come close to enter this list, but have usually one detrimental property which excludes them.
Here's my list of notable games which I wouldn't put into any specific order:
- Call of Cthulhu
- Warhammer FRP (1e)
- Torg
- Earthdawn
- Swords&Wizardry
- AD&D (2e)
- Paranoia
- D&D (4e)
A lot of games come close to enter this list, but have usually one detrimental property which excludes them.
sgtscott658
First Post
Would highly recommend Low Life, its kinda like the vermin and refuse have taken over the earth. I dont play Savage worlds but after reading this book I might like to give it a try. In addition, Low Life might perfect as another plane in the Abyss for my DnD 5E campaign. All the creatures being minor demons would be perfect for a mid level adventure.
Scott
Scott
Ars Magica - my all-time favorite - truly magical!
the other nine (_not_ in order of preference):
Mage: The Ascension - freestyle magic in a modern setting
Wraith: The Oblivion - the most beautiful horror system I would never want to play
D&D 4e - easy prep, peerless tactical combat
Earthdawn - legendary items, exploring cairns, facing horrors, 'd&d done right'
Runequest - best compromise between playability and realism
Pendragon - lifetime sagas based on simplified RQ mechanics
The One Ring - very faithful to the spirit of LotR
Trail of Cthulhu - boiling down CoC to its essence
Eclipse Phase - cutting edge transhumanism
There's several others, but these came to my mind first.
the other nine (_not_ in order of preference):
Mage: The Ascension - freestyle magic in a modern setting
Wraith: The Oblivion - the most beautiful horror system I would never want to play
D&D 4e - easy prep, peerless tactical combat
Earthdawn - legendary items, exploring cairns, facing horrors, 'd&d done right'
Runequest - best compromise between playability and realism
Pendragon - lifetime sagas based on simplified RQ mechanics
The One Ring - very faithful to the spirit of LotR
Trail of Cthulhu - boiling down CoC to its essence
Eclipse Phase - cutting edge transhumanism
There's several others, but these came to my mind first.
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