Quote from: el diablo roboticoI'm amazed no one's posted Exalted yet. It's not in my top 5, but I would've assumed it's in someone's.

Outside of the shills at the Purple Palace, no one plays it.

Top 5 fantasy RPGs?  Uhm.

D&D = that includes all variants of AD&D and basic D&D.  It might as well include Hackmaster and C&C too.

MERP = This stuff used to be as common as D&D stuff and there used to be quite a few people at the 80s game shop who played it.

Hmmm.  It gets a lot harder after that.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay = I've known a few real people who play it.

Tunnels and Trolls = I knew a couple of people who claimed to have played it back in the early 80s.

For my last spot, I'll just throw in Lord of the Rings, because a friend and I were discussing giving it a try a few months ago.

Quote from: SosthenesI don't want to cause unneccesary chaos in this thread, but what's the big difference between the two versions? I never even heard of the originals but do own the Omni one. Haven't found the time to play it, as it wouldn't be too big a difference between it and the Conan RPG we're running on and off again. But it sure looks nice. So the original is even better?

The original is very much more a D&D spin off... classed based, but you might consider the way that the classes were put together a bit reminiscent of feats. Instead of each class having its own class ability list, each has a list of skills they got as they progressed, which were pulled from a master skill list.

The Omni system version also lacks a lot of the glorious detail that for me was a major selling point for Bard Games' Atlantis. Alchemists were extremely cool to play in atlantis, because you collected lots of little reagents and could make dozens of interesting alchemical items for them. That seems to be stripped down in the Omni system version.

Wow. :eyepop:  7 votes for Rolemaster/MERP so far (I'm lumping them together, since they're essentially the same system and are interchangeable).  I'm rather (pleasantly) surprised.  It's second only D&D.

If I extended my list to ten, I'd have added Tunnels and Trolls and Basic/Cyclopedia D&D...

But I only had five slots...

It seems Chivalry & Sorcery is the one representative of the early games that doesn't get much love nowadays.

Or more likely it's fans don't descend to writing posts that only contain five discrete elements.

Quote from: SilverlionIf I extended my list to ten, I'd have added Tunnels and Trolls and Basic/Cyclopedia D&D...

But I only had five slots...

Silverlion, check your PMs.

Jorune - I'm not going to talk about this game anymore:D

WHFRP - What can I say, I liked the original system. And TEW was probably my finest hour as a GM

Castle & Crusades - Old school goodness redux

Mage (first ed) - Hey it's fantasy. Modern day, but still one of my all time favourites. You could run a hell of lot of interesting games with this. Recently I ran a brief "Great and Secret Show" type game, it went down pretty well.

Earthdawn - more for the setting, which I always thought did D&D pretty well.

Regards,
David R

Mythus
D&D
Runequest
Stormbringer
Empire of the Petal Throne

Extended...

Tunnels and Trolls
Monsters! Monsters!
Chivalry & Sorcery
Fantasy Hero

(Can't think of a tenth.)

Pendragon: Bit unsure whether this should really go in 'historical' games, but I'll play along. One thing I like about PD is no concessions. You're a knight – now shut up and play. No, this game does not have the standard fantasy cliches – now shut up and play. It also has some of the best tools for a GM I've ever seen in a game.

HeroQuest: In some ways, hardly a fantasy game at all – more a flexible system that can be turned to anything you like with minimal effort. But I'm a Glorantha grog from way back, and I agree with Greg Stafford that HQ is currently the best representation of that freewheeling world.

Burning Wheel: It's cool. It gives me the feel of discovering RQ all those years ago. I used to play En Garde, too, and I always thought there was more you could do with combat along those lines.

Sorcerer (with Sorcerer & Sword): I really like the approach to swords-&-sorcery in this game, and it has a great deal of very worthwhile advice that influences all my other gaming.

RuneQuest: I can't stand running or playing it any more, myself, but it provided a couple of decades of entertainment. Recently, I've seen another group of players fall under its spell.

My list, in no particular order:

* AD&D (1st Edition and 2nd Edition): A hybrid of these two games is great times.

* D&D (3.0 and 3.5): A solid game.

* Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (2nd Edition): Never played 1st Edition, but GM'ed 2nd, and it rocked.

* Conan (the Mongoose version): I only have the pocket-sized handbook, but I love it, and really should get more books from this line in the future.

* Call of Cthulhu (the BRP version and d20 version): Does this qualify as fantasy? If so, I'll add it to the list. I originally bought the BRP version because I'd heard it used the same system as Runequest (which I wanted to check out, but haven't yet). Interesting stuff here.

D&D - pretty much any iteration. Why? Hmm. For some reason, the whole class and levels thing just strikes me as being easy to interpret and utilize.

Pendragon - One of only two RPGs that evoke the word "classy" in my mind (see below for the other). Perhaps the best example of how to do a tightly-focused game right. droog's comments are pretty much spot-on.

Ars Magica - another example of a tightly-focused RPG. Does a helluva job in making its subject matter even more interesting than it already was. Wizards are interesting in and of themselves as it is; Ars Magica constructs a milieu that makes them even more so. Using covenants as the both a base and a motivation to adventure is another big plus.

Lord of the Rings - This RPG, which Decipher produced and then dropped like a hot potato, is a great example of how to do a game that fits the mood and feel of a licensed setting. The basic game could easily be used for other heroic campaigns set in homebrews. Has some great advice for anyone wanting to run a game in the epic fantasy mode. Plus the writers show a love and knowledge for the setting that is astounding.

HackMaster - at the other end of the spectrum from Pendragon and Lord of the Rings, HackMaster is a hoot. Yeah, yeah, I know, it could collapse under its own weight with all its rules, and you could technically say it's an iteration of AD&D. But it's a rollicking, high-spirited game that doesn't take itself seriously. Plus any game with an adventure called The Temple of Existential Evil and a Smartass Smackdown Table in the GM's guide scores big in my book.

DnD: WhateverEdition. Cuz it's DnD.

Dragonquest: Cuz I love the Colleges of magic it had.

Stormbringer: Cuz it's the only game my brother would run when we were young and we were the only two we knew in our town that RPGed.

Blue Rose: Cuz it uses the True20 rules (for the most part), and I can take out all the goofy shit I don't like about the setting.

Dungeons & Dragons: The game that defines gaming. The version presented in the Rules Cyclopedia represents the peak of its evolution.

Stormbringer: Dark, brutal, strange. This is the heavy metal of fantasy RPGs.

Tunnels & Trolls: Simple, tongue-in-cheek, way ahead of its time.

Fantasy HERO: The best available general overview of the genre for gaming purposes. The highlight for me has to be the single most thoughtful and deep discussion of the hows and whys of RPG magic system creation available.

Midnight: Bleak and well-realized. Any old schmuck can be a hero when he has a chance of winning...

I'm in:

Runequest: Because it's the best RPG ever, not just fantasy. Gritty, brutal system, full of magic, cultures, strange beasts, and flying limbs.

D&D RC: The best iteration of one of the best games. Adventure in its purest.

Pendragon: The best emulation of a fantastic genre ever conceived, classy, elegant, inspired.

Stormbringer: As Yamo said, is pure heavy metal. One of the best adaptations of a setting.

MERP: It's not tolkienesque, but it system makes wonders, and 20 years after keeps being a lot of fun.

There's a lot others: The Riddle of Steel, Burning Wheel, The Shadow of Yesterday, HeroQuest, Dying Earth... Man, fantasy has produced so many good.

5: Rules Cyclopedia D&D: All the crunch in one handy book - what more could you ask for?

4: Ars Magica: A true gem.

3: WFRP: Totally metal.

2: Runequest 2nd Edition: Runequest worked far better with the Glorantha elements firmly intact.

1: Pendragon: Far and away the greatest evocation of a myth-cycle in RPG form.