here is a thread to gush about your favourite ttrpg system
or just ones you like
come all ye system hopping comrades
(i'm a little drunk)
I'll start us off
i have recently been on a bit of a Savage Worlds kick
it's a generic system made primarily for a pulpy adventure feel
my favourite thing about it mechanically is the way stats and skills work
instead of a d20 + modifier, you use different sized dice
and the dice explode infinitely on a max roll, which leads to some very fun situationsThe diversity of Savage Worlds is amazing, only thing that comes to mind that may beat it is GURPS but I agree with you that exploding dice is a super fun mechanic
It's been a few years, but I really love Savage Worlds. Always recommend it to folks. Using a deck of cards for Initiative is fun too.
I got Savage Worlds to play the Powdermage setting, but I got too many hobbies to start even a 1-off. Still, it looks snacky and fun.
aww yiss my favorite system of all time is called The Riddle of Steel
The two killer features were the combat system, which was designed by HEMA nerds to try and simulate actual duels with a helping of poker-esque "betting the odds" strategy thrown in, and the character advancement system which didn't turn around fighting monsters or getting treasure but roleplaying your character.
The first part causes combat to be really deadly and players to develop "styles" based on the moves they like the best. In one game that I was the GM, we had a player who rocked a mace and shield, and after killing one person with an upwards swing (that connected hard with their pelvis, obliterating it), decided that that was now his signature move and became known as "the groin smasher" after doing it a few more times. Enemies who knew his reputation would intentionally hold their shield low, exposing their head - but he was committed to the bit and would knock their shield out of the way in order to set up his preferred attack.
The second part really drives the story in interesting directions. Each player lays out five "spiritual attributes", which is basically things that your character would risk fighting for. This can be getting treasure or saving the innocent, but it can also be your family legacy, religious fervor, a love interest, revenge, etc. As the GM (TROS calls the GM a "Seneschal"), you take all of the plot threads that your players give you in the form of their characters' SAs, and weave them together into a character action-driven narrative - there are no miniatures or maps needed, so prep time is basically just character creation.
The result is character driven dark fantasy where the players move the story forward by making decisions and the Seneschal describes how the world reacts to those decisions. It's an utterly unique game that fosters a connection to exactly what your character is doing moment-to-moment that I haven't gotten from any other system; you don't "make an attack roll", you "swing your sword downwards-diagonally"; you don't "get a job clearing werewolves from the countryside", you "travel to the next town following a lead on the man who killed your father".
I used to be a power poster on the fan forum for this game, and I tragically watched the community go from fans of medieval treatises to "anti-woke" cryptofash nerds. The successor game to TROS was made by fans after the original publisher disappeared without a trace, and it might be an improved and cleaned up version of the game, but for some reason they filled it with sus imagery and then got mad at anyone who complained about it calling them SJWs and shit. Sucked to see.
It's so good! It's complex but once you learn it people will be describing exactly how they're holding their weapons, coming up with novel strategies instead of just using the basic attacks, a cut to the head will cause blood to leak down into your eyes preventing you from fighting properly, etc. Hits are actually pretty hard to score, but when you land one and go over to the damage tables they're pretty deadly and usually mean that the fight is over.
edit: I remembered a PvP match I had in one game where I was a player. Our characters were fighting as part of an honor duel that my guy had declared, and were doing it with blunted weapons so nobody would actually get hurt - but then the other player bashed me with his shield which did the full effect because you can't exactly blunt a shield, and I ended up losing because the shock and pain of getting hit in the head for real prevented me from blocking his follow up attack that actually scored him the win.
One of the devs of the successor game used to post on 4chan under the handle John Galt, so I'm not surprised.
But yeah tRoS rules.
Numenera. Got many of the books. Just love the weirdness and great art! Makes my imagination happy
___Pathfinder 2e the system I've played the most, just really enjoy the world that was built as well as the 3 action system
ICONS superpowered roleplaying is my favorite Supers system although Masks is a very close second, I love the random generation of ICONS but it breaks down for games longer than a 1-3shot where as Masks can sustain a longer system, Masks is also fantastic for capturing the Teen Titan vibe
GUMSHOE system is my favorite for running any kind of investigation style game and can even be canabilized to work in other systems, honorable mention to the Bladerunner RPG as it takes place in one of my personal favorite fluff/world settings
Shadowrun 5e is my gold standard for a crunchy game, I tend to like Pink Mohawk style but can be used along with some concepts in Bladerunner RPG to create a really special Black Trenchcoat style, also the Shadowrun world is probably the one I've read the most "Adventure Paths" for.
Star Wars FFG is one I really like for Space Opera although Traveller is a very close second, the pre-built world of Star Wars is really easy to use for campaign material, also want to mention the Star Trek RPG as it has one of my favorite methods for character generation.
Vampire: The Requiem has to be on this list as it was the very first system I ever played and will always hold a place in my heart despite the fact that I am not into running as gritty campaigns as that system tends towards.
Even though I've never actually gotten the chance to play it, Deadlands was a huge inspiration for the ttrpg system I wrote, Realm of Bastions. Weird West is a pocket love of mine and hope that it can get some more attention in the future. Also on the list of ones that I have always wanted to play is, Lacuna: Part 1 which is a really really cool and unique concept, easiest way to describe it is like Inception the movie. Also want to mention Nobilis as the book itself is one of the best designed core rulebooks I've read and after getting into The Sandman this is the perfect system to run something akin to that,
Shadowrun 5e is my gold standard for a crunchy game
The funniest thing is that outside chargen, which can be tool assisted with chummer 5, Shadowrun 5e is best played as like a pretty light narrative game where you just use the numbers chummer gives you. Like it has a ton of rules and tables and all but like 99% of your actions are just "do a skill check, here's a special name for it" and 99% of the modifier tables are "little contextual problem -1; normal contextual problem -2; big contextual problem -3; extreme contextual problem -4" so you can confidently wing it in a very smooth way. The only people who really need to know all the crunchy bullshit parts are the decker and GM, and even that can be streamlined if the decker actually knows what they're doing and how to minimize their rolls correctly. Even the mage doesn't need to know more than just how their own spells work, because the astral is useless in the extreme (what's there? nothing. What can you use it for? vague context-free, detail-free reconnaissance better done with a drone. What can you affect from it? literally nothing) so its rules can just be ignored completely.
Damn, I agree with like, all your takes here. Kind of except for Starwars? Its a fine system, but I'm just not into starwars.
But I do think its funny how much hate Vampire: the Requiem gets. Especially since I strongly agree with dumpstering the metaplot. The 'story' of OWoD is pretty neat (if also fucked up), but when I play, I like there to be no 'canon' plot, I always want there to be some kind of uncertainty. (Not to mention, I generally think oWoD mechanics are... pretty bad. Though, I do also kind of hate Chronicles of Darkness's beats system a lot, though I can choose to basically ignore it).
Damn, I agree with like, all your takes here. Kind of except for Starwars? Its a fine system, but I’m just not into starwars.
if you like the system but not the setting, i can strongly recommend Genesys, it's the same system but the star wars theming is removed
and a few tweaks that most FFGSW GMs port into the star wars system anyway
Wow I never realized how much of a nerd I am until I made this comment
Nothing but love and respect for Mage: The Ascension (although, its revised variant Awakening arguably has better rules).
Probably one of the most open concept magic systems, you're really encouraged to get wild with character concepts and backstory.
Conflicts can exist as a direct action/thriller narrative, but longer arcs encourage more intrigue and social conflict. Players must constantly conceal their powers, lest naive bystanders disrupt your magics with their natural skepticism.
Villains run the ideological spectrum. Neoliberal Technocracy seeks to quash individuality in pursuit of world domination. Nihilist cults, grown poisonously cynical, court Elder Gods to corrupt and dissolve reality. Self-obsessed egomaniacs completely rewrite reality in their own mad image.
I'm a shameless stan for World of Darkness / Onyx Path games, but Mage is far and away my favorite line in the franchise.
Hello it is me, the local GURPS shill. While not truly universal (I would never try to use it to run a really high-powered game like superheroes without massive houseruling, for instance), GURPS is pretty fantastic at running anything that's vaguely realistic. If you don't like the piles of HP people get in D&D, then come play GURPS were a single sword blow can be potentially fatal. There are buckets of optional (and not-so-optional) rules, and I've used it to run or play in the following games over the last 6 years:
- D&D with the serial numbers filed off
- Sci-Fi post-apocalypse road trip across the ruins of north america where the mad max-style vehicles are powered by human blood
- A spinoff game in the same post-apocalypse setting but in the Pacific Ocean, hopping around the islands from China to Japan
- Shadowrun with the serial numbers filed off where the PCs were rogue androids that needed to find alternate power supplies after breaking out of a corporate facility
- Warhammer 30k just before the heresy where the PCs were officers in the Imperial Army tasked with finding out why a colony had broken off contact while dealing with suspicious traitors along the way
- Space Opera heist game based on the setting of the Twilight Imperium boardgame
- Delta Green with the serial numbers filed off
- Evangelion + Pacific Rim vs Skynet
- Kung Fu Cowboys, an alternate universe where guns don't exist, so the old west is plagued by gangs of martial arts masters
- An extremely rules-light game where the PCs were prospective gods and had to complete prophecies to convince others of their divinity
- A pair of Halloween One-Shots: Campers vs Bigfoot and Squid Game but the Bourgeoisie are Literal Vampires
Where ever there is the chance to shill for GURPS, I will be there :rat-salute:
I ran Fate for the first time last week and it was a ton of fun. Reminded me a lot of Fiasco, but more open ended and not restricted to one-shots, though it works great for them. Both games are very rules-lite and you can just drop them down at a table with zero prep and have a lot of fun.
For longer games I really enjoyed the World of Darkness games like VtM and MtA. They're a bit more involved than the ones above, but they really guide you into making your character come to life. I love the wound system that makes combat super deadly and encourages finding alternative solutions, and your stats aren't super combat focused either so you have tools to apply there.
I've been looking into a bunch of other systems that I haven't had a chance to run. I picked up Ironsworn and I'm thinking I'll pick up Starforged, they're pretty neat in that they support GM, co-op, and even solo play, where they can almost be as much of a writing tool as a game.
I read though Mausritter which I found pretty interesting, particularly in how your mouse character's abilities are defined by their inventory, which they have to manage with fitting tokens in boxes like video game inventory management. I loved a lot of it though I found myself wishing it had a little bit more detail on some parts.
Open D6 feels kinda forgotten but I always loved the Star Wars D6 system it was based on, which was the first ttrpg I ever played. No classes, high lethality wound system, rare force/magic, all excellent features that I'm always looking for in games. The tone and lore of the game was often very different from the direction that the franchise later took and I think it really leaned more into the tone of Andor, in part because that's the same period it was set. I ran a one shot of it a couple years ago and I think it absolutely holds up, although it definitely has some quirks and the character advancement is kinda trash.
I've also been eyeing, well, a lot of these games. I was kinda interested in Spire: The City Must Fall, where you play as drow revolutionaries fighting back against high elf colonizers, but I was always nervous about pitching it to people because it's basically a game about the Cool Zone. I think Heart: The City Beneath might be an easier sell (and it has some cool new mechanics, it sounds like), because the conflict is still very much there, but it's about delving through dungeons beneath the spire and exploring areas that have been twisted and corrupted because of the high elves drawing on a mysterious power source called the Heart to mine for Bitcoin or whatever. It's kinda jarring to see some of the other games on there with a very silly tone but tbh a lot of them seem appealing too. I just wish they'd give more previews because I really like to read before I buy.
(Blades link was removed for copyright, will put up if i find it again)
edit: my personal Blades copy, only core rules and a commie revolution homebrew thing
if you bought the itch.io racial justice bundle, you already own blades
My group's been playing "Level up: advanced 5th edition" recently which is pretty much what it says on the tin. It's dnd5e but better.
When I dm though I like stars without numbers. Ran a few oneshots with that where the PCs play superheroes in an alt history 1980s, ignoring all the spaceship rules.It's deceptively light, but even with this miniscule set of rules you can tell intense stories. I only played once, as a filler session when half the party couldn't make it, but those 5 hours will play out forever in our hearts.
