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Author Topic: Best Point Buy Fantasy RPG  (Read 8329 times)

Lawbag

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Best Point Buy Fantasy RPG
« on: October 27, 2011, 01:05:45 PM »
Ive a player in my group who absolutely abhors level based RPGs, especially those that require a random 3D6 dice roll to obtain stats.
 
Im looking at sneaking in a big fantasy game for next year and looking for recommendations for the best fantasy point-based RPG out there.
 
Im aware of GURPS, but this has 2 potential downfalls for me;
 
1 its a low power gaming system, not suited for high or epic gaming
2 whilst its rife with supplements and add ons, doesnt appear to have any adventures of campaigns of note.
 
I tried RuneQuest with the group too but for some reason it didnt grab them.
 
Any thoughts...
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Narf the Mouse

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« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2011, 01:40:29 PM »
Quote from: Lawbag;486714
Ive a player in my group who absolutely abhors level based RPGs, especially those that require a random 3D6 dice roll to obtain stats.
 
Im looking at sneaking in a big fantasy game for next year and looking for recommendations for the best fantasy point-based RPG out there.
 
Im aware of GURPS, but this has 2 potential downfalls for me;
 
1 its a low power gaming system, not suited for high or epic gaming
2 whilst its rife with supplements and add ons, doesnt appear to have any adventures of campaigns of note.
 
I tried RuneQuest with the group too but for some reason it didnt grab them.
 
Any thoughts...
Hero could work, but it's also not rife with campaign and adventure supplements, especially Fantasy.

OTOH, there's plenty of fan-made material and the system, once learned, is simple - It's been summarized to two pages (I did the compilation, I must admit). Do a web search for "Hero In Two Pages" and, even if you don't have a Hero forum ID, it's on file-sharing sites (it's public domain).

This dude: http://www.killershrike.com/ has a ton of stuff. Most of it's 5th Edition Hero, rather than the latest, 6th Edition, but the two are very compatible. 6th Edition is an upgrade, not a re-write.
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daniel_ream

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« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2011, 01:53:16 PM »
Eclipse: The Codex Persona by Distant Horizons Games breaks down all of d20 into a point-buy system, and adds some stunningly original ideas and mechanics on top of it for different magic and "powers" systems.  It's free and worth a look.  Still technically level based, but all a level does is give you 12 more points to spend.
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Cranewings

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« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2011, 02:03:26 PM »
Lawbag, I like my modified Pathfinder. It comes with a point by system for stats.

The two big changes I made to RAW that converted my d20 hating players was running E6 and sticking firm to the idea that NPCs don't have many levels - making their characters stronger and combat faster, and I let them automatically succeed on any non contested climb / jump / acrobatics roll so long as they have a +7 or better in the skill. That way characters that are good can BE good. They start off strong and rapidly become stronger in relation to the world. They can describe all the high powered anime crap they like....

It's fun.

Simlasa

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« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2011, 03:07:24 PM »
I pretty much 'abhor' levels too (not that they'll keep me from playing)... with BRP and GURPS being my favorite generic-ish systems because of their swing towards low-power/dangerous/gritty gameplay.

Isn't Savage Worlds point-buy? Not my taste but it has a reputation of being more 'cinematic'.

arminius

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« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2011, 03:47:53 PM »
Lawbag, you're mixing up point-buy and non-level-based and I think that's getting you some answers that may not be as useful as they could be.

It sounds like your player really just doesn't like class-based (and possibly level-based) games. This can cause problems with your spec since you write
Quote
low power gaming system, not suited for high or epic gaming
and really, most non-class-based systems, which are also usually non-level-based, tend not to work well for epic gaming. The reason: fundamentally, without levels, you tend not to get escalating hit points as characters improve. They just get better defensive skills, and it only takes one botched parry/dodge to kill a character.

So I think you probably need either a system that still uses levels and escalating hit points, but which (at least) strongly blurs the concept of "class", not to mention doing away with random chargen, or you need a system that just makes it very hard for PCs to die in the first place.

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest Talislanta 3e for the first option. A side benefit is that it's now free and there are a fair number of adventures for Tal. (Note: Tal is pretty nonstandard fantasy. Not sure if that's a selling point for you.) For the second option, you might look at d6 Fantasy, which I believe is also free now. I don't know d6 very well, but after reading a bit of the original Star Wars rules, it sounds like characters are pretty hard to kill.

Of course a cheap method of making any character hard to kill, and even giving them additional "staying power" as they advance, is to use "hero points".

If you really want to do away entirely with levels and random chargen, then Talislanta 4e might be up your alley. Also free. For a similar system and more traditional fantasy, then Atlantis: The Second Age or High Medieval might be options.

If you want to get rid of random chargen, but you can get away with just sort-of blurring the rigidness of classes & levels, then Fantasy Craft might be an option. It's not for me--too fiddly and too much d20 still in its bones--but it might be for you. I have a copy for sale by the way. ;)

BTW, have you asked the player what systems he/she does like? That might give us a better idea of what to suggest.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2011, 03:50:24 PM by Arminius »

Lawbag

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Best Point Buy Fantasy RPG
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2011, 05:57:49 AM »
Thanks for all the advices, Ill keep you posted as to my decisions and the player ultimate choices too.
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RPGPundit

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« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2011, 02:19:54 PM »
There is no "good" point-buy fantasy RPG. There are adequate ones, and terrible ones.

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Narf the Mouse

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« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2011, 03:16:42 PM »
Quote from: RPGPundit;486927
There is no "good" point-buy fantasy RPG. There are adequate ones, and terrible ones.

RPGPundit

Feel free to back up that opinion with reasoned, rational and well-thought out facts.

I know you're capable of reasoning, rationality and thinking.
The main problem with government is the difficulty of pressing charges against its directors.

Given a choice of two out of three M&Ms, the human brain subconsciously tries to justify the two M&Ms chosen as being superior to the M&M not chosen.

Lawbag

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Best Point Buy Fantasy RPG
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2011, 05:01:05 PM »
I may consider a point buy version of Pathfinder.
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Planning: pathfinder amongst other things
 
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Tetsubo

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« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2011, 06:04:25 PM »
I recommend taking a look at Everstone: Blood Legacy. It does have levels but everything is point buy. Every class ability is bought with points. It is built off of the OGL.

kryyst

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« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2011, 07:59:54 PM »
Greg Stolze's Reign does point buy can scale to Epic games if you want and still has a fairly medium rules level.  I'm not a huge fan of the stock world, it's ok but has some weirdness for the sake of weirdness.   Fortunately you can ignore the world in the full game or get the cheaper setting free Enchiridion version.  It uses the One Roll Engine also seen in Nemisis and Godlike.
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Bradford C. Walker

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Best Point Buy Fantasy RPG
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2011, 10:55:58 PM »
You're going to have to either go with Fantasy HERO or adapt Mutants & Masterminds to fit, because what you're looking for--for all intents and purposes--is a superhero TRPG in fantasy drag.

arminius

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Best Point Buy Fantasy RPG
« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2011, 03:42:32 AM »
Doesn't M&M have a fantasy supplement?

Spinachcat

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« Reply #14 on: October 30, 2011, 03:55:57 AM »
There is a free RPG called Warrior, Rogue & Mage that is worth looking into.

Here are a couple of reviews
http://www.gameknightreviews.com/2010/12/book-review-warrior-rogue-mage-by-michael-wolf/

Here's Ken St. Andre (Tunnels & Trolls dude) talking about it...
http://atroll.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/warrior-rogue-and-mage-a-critical-review/