I'm having a hard time saying "this is it"; but I could play the way Professor Dungeon Master runs his games, and be happy. His channel name is Dungeon Craft.
He borrows from many systems, runs a game that's as simple as can be, and makes it feel like fast paced D&D.
But he hasn't published it....
Quote from: Razor 007;1139634I'm having a hard time saying "this is it"; but I could play the way Professor Dungeon Master runs his games, and be happy. His channel name is Dungeon Craft.
He borrows from many systems, runs a game that's as simple as can be, and makes it feel like fast paced D&D.
But he hasn't published it....
He did once say Five Torches Deep is what he would write if he did write.
For me, if I had to choose my "this is it" game, its DCC.
Quote from: Slambo;1139637He did once say Five Torches Deep is what he would write if he did write.
For me, if I had to choose my "this is it" game, its DCC.
Good one there. DCC rocks.
Quote from: Razor 007;1139639Good one there. DCC rocks.
The only problem is people see how thicc the book is and assume its a super rules heavy game, I've taken to reccomending people with the quickstart since it looks a bit more friendly.
Mythras
HERO 6e. I keep coming back to HERO. A close 2nd would be GURPS 4e. I keep trying other lighter games and they just don't push my buttons. Which can be complicated because I don't always have time to prep the crunch. :-)
Closest thing was a homebrewed effect-based system I once did years ago, that was nonetheless still flawed, but formed the basis for a more fleshed out system I'm still developing. That was the most successful homebrewed system I ever did and the closest to fulfilling what I look for in a system.
Of the published systems I've always had soft spot for Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP), which is the most simple yet versatile system I've ever read or played, and the original inspiration for my homebrewed game, despite neither system looking much alike. FASERIP can be easily adjusted to play pretty much anything. All abilities and powers are rated in terms of descriptive ranks (Typical, Good, Excellent, etc.) with a matching number to determine damage or DR that allow the GM to quickly eyeball the effects of anything in the game world--just pick a comparable power effect, assign an appropriate rank and it's done! And the system is so simple it can be explained to new players in minutes and character creation is quick, despite letting you do so much.
Barbarians of Lemuria family of games.
Would be 1e AD&D if I had to pick one. Just returned to it this year and falling in love all over again. :D
I don't think there is such an animal. The problem is while I don't mind a certain amount of complexity in a system, most designers spend their "complexity budget" in places that are counter-productive for me. So I get driven back to simpler games as an easier starting point from which to house rule into the territory that I want.
D&D BEMCI is probably the best starting point if I had to pick an existing system to mangle and mutilate into something close to what i want, but not many here would consider it the same game when I got done with it (though most would be able to see the roots).
D6 system is the only system I play. Does everything.
1E AD&D as it was the first rpg that brought me to the hobby.
My heart says OD&D for the sheer nostalgia, but I think I would pick C&C for a modern version of AD&D. My players like 5E best, however.
Quote from: S'mon;1139667Would be 1e AD&D if I had to pick one. Just returned to it this year and falling in love all over again. :D
Same here.
Second place would be ACKS, and only because it is B/X derived and I never played B/X or BECMI back in the day.
Quote from: RandyB;1139707Same here.
Second place would be ACKS, and only because it is B/X derived and I never played B/X or BECMI back in the day.
If you wanna try b/x might i reccomend Old School Essentials. I really like the multi book layout.
Quote from: Slipshot762;1139697D6 system is the only system I play. Does everything.
This would be my choice too.
I will always have a soft spot in my heart for BECMI, because it was the first tabletop RPG I ever played.
Quote from: trechriron;1139647HERO 6e. I keep coming back to HERO. A close 2nd would be GURPS 4e. I keep trying other lighter games and they just don't push my buttons. Which can be complicated because I don't always have time to prep the crunch. :-)
I would go with Hero 5e but otherwise I concur with both recommendations.
Quote from: Slambo;1139786If you wanna try b/x might i reccomend Old School Essentials. I really like the multi book layout.
I've got the free, text-only version of Old School Essentials. Looks good, but I'm a 1e man at heart. Nothing bad to say about B/X or it's derivatives, though.
I would say Savage Worlds, but I occasionally need a palate cleanser from the high-action. I also play a campaign in an OSR game and then never look back on it.
So if I got to pick one and only one system, it would be GURPS 4e. Even though it is complicated, the one-second rounds keep people paying attention and not on their Switch.
I have an unhealthy relationship with Gamma World 1e. It's like chocolate, I want to mix it with too many things that probably shouldn't be mixed with chocolate.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1139816I have an unhealthy relationship with Gamma World 1e. It's like chocolate, I want to mix it with too many things that probably shouldn't be mixed with chocolate.
I thought kind of the purpose of Gamma World was to mix in things that probably shouldn't be mixed in with it? Though I only played it a few times.
Savage Worlds. Does everything I want, just the way I want it to.
Classic Traveller. So much game packed into those 3 little black books.
AD&D, or maybe HERO, I dunno. Really it's probably Robotech.
The current system I'm nearly done writing called Ruins & Realms would be my "if you could only choose one" system. The base setting is a schizo-tech kitchen sink in the vein of Thundarr the Barbarian so doing modern, historical or sci-fi is more a matter of tuning dials and re-fluffing than needing to completely rewrite the whole thing.
I really like T&T 5th ed, RQ 2nd ed, and GURPS 3rd ed, but if I can only choose one Moldvay/Cook B/X would be it. It's simple and elegant, I actually like all the subsystems (one mechanic systems bore me a bit) and it can be houserulled easily. Also, I can more or less run it in my sleep after all these years.
If you want what I want out of a system, then I recommend the game I wrote but everyone doesn't want the same things, and that's fine. However, if you want:
1: Your character's attributes are inter-related. They influence but don't determine one another and
2: A game where it matters whether you are using the point or the edge of your sword.
3: Hit Points are not an abstraction and you don't get more as you improve.
4: The ability to avoid being hit is reflected by being harder to hit.
5: Morale matters, natural animals and people sometimes run away, people sometimes surrender.
6: There's lots of crunch but it's all in the prep. Never look in the book or at a table during play.
Quote from: Marchand;1139896Classic Traveller. So much game packed into those 3 little black books.[/QUOT
Classic Traveller is my choice as well.
Great to see some love for Hero 6th and Gamma World 1st.
For myself, it's Rolemaster Standard System. Sadly, it's hard to get people to give it a chance.
Quote from: David Johansen;1140013Great to see some love for Hero 6th and Gamma World 1st.
For myself, it's Rolemaster Standard System. Sadly, it's hard to get people to give it a chance.
RMSS is a game that by all rights ought to be very attractive to me but for some reason I can't put my finger on why it doesn't click. Might be one of those deals where I'd enjoy playing it if someone else was running it.
I'm torn between picking original D&D and 1e AD&D, but if I had to take one set of rules with me to an island, or something, it would be the 1e AD&D rules.
(And a thread-cheating honorable mention to the Basic Roleplaying "gold book"...)
Classic Traveller played fast and loose in the proto-Traveller mode.
No, Wait! The old WEG D6 system. Yeah. Totally.
No. Wait! Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies based on how much fun we've had with it at my table over the years.
No. Wait! Runequest 2e, before Glorantha piled on 40 years of canon and lore.
No. Wait! Fuck! I'm back to Classic Traveller.
Ok. Fine. I'll go with Classic Traveller.
I hate this thread. Making me pick just one game. Evil, evil, evil!
Quote from: SavageSchemer;1140253Classic Traveller played fast and loose in the proto-Traveller mode.
No, Wait! The old WEG D6 system. Yeah. Totally.
No. Wait! Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies based on how much fun we've had with it at my table over the years.
No. Wait! Runequest 2e, before Glorantha piled on 40 years of canon and lore.
No. Wait! Fuck! I'm back to Classic Traveller.
Ok. Fine. I'll go with Classic Traveller.
I hate this thread. Making me pick just one game. Evil, evil, evil!
Muhuwahaha!!!!! We have ways of making you choose.....
Right now I'm really into Spycraft First Edition. Its the perfect amount of crunch with some great changes to the d20 mechanics:
- Action points
- VP and WP
- Awesome feats
- Half and full actions
- Chase mechanics
If I could alter the past, I'd engineer it so 2nd edition was a cleaned up version of 1E:
- Incorporate some 3.5 revisions
- Rethink some of the classes and departments
- Simplify the budget points/gadget points system
- Some sort of psi system
- Appendix for sci-fi genres
One of my dream projects is to use SC 1.0 as a base for a fantasy game. Sort of a Fantasy Craft Lite.
There are several games I really like, but if I _have_ to pick just one, it's going to be AD&D.
If I was on a desert island and could pick only one game to have with me it would be Marvel Heroic.
I've got a lot of honorable mentions though . . .
Quote from: Razor 007;1139634Just one great game, system, edition, etc. Which one is closest to your heart?
Mongoose Traveller. Either edition.
This question has a different answer, depending on my current mood. But there is always the same 3-4 games that are on the list. Today, if I had to pick that one system to play for the rest of my days it would probably be 2nd Edition AD&D. It was the first edition, and maybe only since, that had everything I wanted in a D&D game.
These threads are lethal. How can I answer such a question?? :)
I'll name one for the moment - but it's never going to be just one.
I've just finished - The Heroes Journey 2e. It's a work of art.
High Lord of the rings fantasy but played low.
Quote from: Lord Dynel;1141369This question has a different answer, depending on my current mood. But there is always the same 3-4 games that are on the list.
Yeah, at times I'd have said 5e D&D, Mini Six RPG, and 1e AD&D/OSRIC. A few years ago I might have said BECMI D&D or RC. A few years before that I might have said 3e (*shudder*)! And I love 4e D&D for what it does. And I loved Call of Cthulu, 34-35 years ago. And D6 Star Wars. And PARANOIA. And before all that, Fighting Fantasy.
But if I had to get by with one forever, 1e AD&D is the obvious choice.
I don't believe in One system. But right now Savage Worlds is doing it for me. MSH (FASERIP) is a close second.