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Friday, February 21, 2014

What is Your "Go To" Non-D&D / OSR RPG?

I ask, because I'm not even sure if I have one. Well, there is Tunnels & Trolls, but that is still fantasy and stripped down to it's history, very much "D&D".

I've heard much goodness about Savage Worlds, but I think I'd really need to play in a few sessions to really wrap my head around it. Ubiquity (Hollow Earth Expedition and others) seems almost like a stripped down Savage Worlds. FATE just makes no sense to me, even if I did support the Kickstarter and have endless support for it. Yet another game I'd probably have to play in order to grok.

Hmmm...

I guess I don't have a "go to" non OSR RPG.

That sucks.

So, what's your game to play when you're not playing OSR?

43 comments:

  1. I only ran it once, but I think my go-to non-D&D non-OSR RPG would be InSpectres/octaNe (practically the same game.) It's incredibly easy to run

    I ran TFT for a while and GURPS for a long time, but I'm not sure I'd go back to those. Probably wouldn't run GURPS, but maybe TFT. Just maybe. Would definitely play in TFT, but maybe not in GURPS, depending on the way characters are handled.

    I might want to try running TOON again at some point, buut can't say that it would be my go-to game.

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  2. RuneQuest on Harn.

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  3. I don't have one. I don't have a lot of time to play and when I do... I play AD&D.

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  4. No surprise for me, but GURPS is my first choice. If I would run a specific campaign, though, in a non-GURPS system it would be Star Wars d6, which is freakin' awesome.

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  5. Runequest or Call of Cthulhu. Perhaps BFRP would be a clearer answer.

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  6. I ran my first campaign to completion in Dark Heresy, and played my first campaign to completion as a Rogue Trader in a Deathwatch campaign. The systems are fine d100 jobs, but the point of playing them is the background setting of Warhammer 40k. When it is put on a personal scale rather than as "great heroes fighting ancient evils!" it has a lot more heart and comedy.

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  7. Savage worlds can be fun, but I've always loved the Dogs in the vineyard and old school hack mechanics

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  8. Call of Cthulhu is pretty much only other RPG I actually play.

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  9. I don't have one.
    In the past couple years besides Chainmail combat OD&D and DCC I've run a bit of:
    Dungeon World
    Barbarians of Lemuria
    Savage Worlds/ Deadlands Reloaded as a minis game


    I've promised to run a Creeks and Crawdads soon.

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  10. Dragonquest! You mean people still play D & D with all it's crazy dice? Oh, recently I started playing Dungeon World.

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  11. Defacto go-to game would be Mutants & Masterminds 3E. There are lots of other games I'd like to try (e.g., Blade of the Iron Throne, or Jaws of the Six Serpents), but most of the people I game with like playing supers, particularly with M&M, so it's what we gravitate toward.

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  12. If I'm not playing old-style fantasy romps, then Fate Accelerated has been my current go-to game.

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  13. Traveler is the only correct answer!

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  14. Mine is usually Savage Worlds. Its easy to run, easy to adapt, and easy to teach to new players.

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  15. Haven't had one in years. DCC RPG is all I have time to play. At this point I'd have to say Call of Cthulhu, but I haven't played it in years... I want Fate to be it, but haven't GMd it yet. Played a couple times. If feel like I need to get out more.

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  16. GURPS would be mine. Flexibility and I played it for years.

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  17. Although I have been running D&D most of these years, I did run some GW Advanced Heroquest awhile back, fun but the level advancement was not so good. Warhammer quest fixed the advancement but broke the core mechanics. I have been know to run Empire of the Petal Throne occasionally, but that is most re-skinned OD&D. The wife likes Call of Cthullu and Chill, but I don't like the horror genre.

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  18. My goto system for pretty much everything else is Ghosts of Albion. Cinematic Unisystem is the system I know the best.

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  19. One of the reasons I write so many game systems is that I can't seem to find a "go to" non D&D/OSR game. So I have been trying to make one that works for me. I feel good about Five by Five (sorry unabashed plug) but I might also recommend the system for Barbarians of Lemuria by Simon Washburne. That's original and seems to be adaptable to many other game systems, and it's really good. Beyond that, I think the question would be what sort of game genre are you wanting to play? That might make a huge difference.

    Jeff

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  20. MechWarrior - I started on 3rd Edition MW, and still have the rule books. Really fun game. I usually play Periphery merchants. "On Earth, gold prospectors never made money, but the merchants who sold them their gear did" was his motto in reference to those looking for LosTech. :)

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  21. Pretty much with any RPG I found the best games are run by the best DMs. Traveller can be fantastic and Space 1889. Call of Cthulhu really needs someone versed in the spooky Lovecraft/Clark Ashton Smith lore. I'd like to give some of the 40K RPGs a try.

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  22. Warhammer FRP 2E is calling me back lately.

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  23. I like classic Traveller; provided you survive the character creation process, it's a very user-friendly system!

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  24. Traveller....BRP...Legend....and recently returned to Savage Worlds.

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  25. Traveller (specifically, MegaTraveller), GURPS, and RuneQuest/BRP. There are other games I like a great deal, such as Flashing Blades and Pendragon, but those three are the ones I keep coming back to.

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  26. Savage Worlds and D6 for more cinematic pulpy hero play. BRP/Cthulhu for more gritty games.

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  27. Champions for me. Played a lot in high school, and still have a soft spot for the Hero System.

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  28. Pendragon!
    But Warhammer and The Riddle of Steel are close second and third...

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  29. Flashing Blades or Fiasco these days.
    Once upon a time it was RIFTS, TMNT, or Shadowrun.

    I've tried Savage Worlds and I just don't grok it.

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  30. Depending on who I'm playing with, Risus or some form of D6 (Star Wars as others have noted, or in especially carefree times, Ghostbusters).

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  31. Until recently, I would have said Dungeon World. It is excellent. But, now, I'm inclined to say Adventurers!. Because it is a 2 page ruleset and it's pretty much all I want or need in a system. Now, if I could just convince other player to "go to" it with me.

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  32. I'm biased, obviously, but any flavor of BRP. Call of Cthulhu, Magic World, or unadulterated BRP core rules. I've played so much of those games over the years that they're second nature to me. I can run any strain of BRP at a moment's notice.

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  33. Champions. We always reach for that when we fancy a break from fantasy. Been playing that since the early 80s (in fact it was the RPG I played in).

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  34. Savage Worlds. It is built around easy to use rules that stay out of the way, you can make whatever character you want, combat is fast and has little book keeping. It is really what OSR wants to be, but without the crud of the past.

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