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Author Topic: Looking for a new roleplay system  (Read 1437 times)

nielspeterdejong

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Looking for a new roleplay system
« on: November 23, 2022, 02:10:30 AM »
As the title stated, I'm looking for a new system to try out, seeing as D&D 5E and Pathfinder 2E are going firmly into the woke masses direction. I'm just tired of seeing people who don't really care about the genre make everything about politics and see negativity everywhere (which, surprise surprise, is what happens when that is all that is on your mind, and which you want to see to validate your own beliefs). So, I'm hoping for a system that has enough people where I can find other players (I live in the Netherlands), as well as a customization-able enough character creation design, and is highly recommended by veterans.

Right now, this looks the most promising to me: https://peginc.com/store/pathfinder-for-savage-worlds-core-rules/ What do you guys think of this system? Can it be implemented with other Savage World content well enough?

That said, I also heard that ACKS is quite popular. Am I correct in that assumption? I never played 2nd edition D&D mind you, but I did truly love Baldur's Gate 2 and how intersting yet thematic the dual class system was.

MeganovaStella

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2022, 02:17:45 AM »
Try Quixalted Extended. Kickass setting, kickass system.

nielspeterdejong

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2022, 03:56:56 AM »
Try Quixalted Extended. Kickass setting, kickass system.

I looked it up, but I can't seem to find it on DrivethruRPG or another server, where could I find that?

S'mon

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2022, 03:57:31 AM »
That said, I also heard that ACKS is quite popular. Am I correct in that assumption? I never played 2nd edition D&D mind you, but I did truly love Baldur's Gate 2 and how intersting yet thematic the dual class system was.

It's fairly popular. The OSR as a whole is certainly popular. These are all games based on pre-3e D&D so highly cross compatible.

MeganovaStella

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2022, 04:24:17 AM »
Try Quixalted Extended. Kickass setting, kickass system.

I looked it up, but I can't seem to find it on DrivethruRPG or another server, where could I find that?

Hold on, I have the PDF, but I can't figure out how to upload PDFs on here. I'll give you my discord in DMs if that's okay with you

Slipshot762

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2022, 07:24:36 AM »
i use d6 for everything, as a core resolution system, and just tweak and add as needed:

https://ogc.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=OpenD6

S'mon

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2022, 07:33:52 AM »
i use d6 for everything, as a core resolution system, and just tweak and add as needed:

https://ogc.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=OpenD6

And Mini Six ofc - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144558/Mini-Six-Bare-Bones-Edition - free in pdf and absolutely jam packed with great stuff. I ran Mini Six Primeval Thule for most of 2020 https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-valley-of-scorn-palace-of-silver.html

Here's a text chat record of our first Roll20 Mini Six game https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/04/silver-princess-4-evening-412215.html

Me explaining how D6 works:

Jelly:Simon can I just check re combat:
"deducting 1 die from all rolls per action beyond the first."
Where do we see how many dice we have available for this?
Simon N. (GM):Apart from Rollo (Matt) I'm thinking the PCs came ashore at Tallas, an Atlantean ruled town to the east, and met up there, finding out they all had a common purpose in exploring the Silver Palace before the ice takes her for eternity.
>>Where do we see how many dice we have available for this?<<
It's in your stats, eg Blade 5D+2 gives you 5 dice.
always d6
You could attack once at 5D+2 or twice at 4D+2
WhiteValyrian:oh i see
Jelly:But twice at 4D +2 would be 8 dice total?
Simon N. (GM):Saya https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/8367684/ has Blade 5D so could slash once at 5D twice at 4D, thrice at 3D etc
Jelly:4D +4D = 8D? Sorry maths was never my strong point.
Simon N. (GM):Separate attacks, rolled separately
WhiteValyrian:no we lose a die for every attack so the 5th attack would be 1D rather than 5D
Simon N. (GM):Saya has Parry 19 with a shield so if attacking her clone could roll one attack at 5d6 needing 19 to hit, or two with 4d6 both needing 19 to hit, or three with 3d6, etc.
or four with 2d6 or five with 1d6
Jelly:I see, thankyou.
Is it better to split up attacks in your experience, or just blow all the dice on one?
Simon N. (GM):Against unskilled opponents multiple attacks may be more effective
Jelly:Got it.
Well it'll be a learning curve for me this session: apologies in advance everyone!
Rich W.:Me too!!
Simon N. (GM):You can typically incapacitate a lightly armoured foe with one strike, so whatever is likeliest to hit them
WhiteValyrian:well will be learning together then XD
Jelly:Does the same go for skill checks?
Simon N. (GM):yup
Jelly:eg I have Wit 2D.
So you only have a finite number of times to succeed on a skill check, equal to the dice?
Simon N. (GM):Yup, so roll 2d6 for any wit skills
Jelly:Unlike D and D.
But there wouldn't be a situation in which you'd split the dice, llike in combat?
Simon N. (GM):Skills work much like D&D, some might allow for retries
Generally only if doing several things at once
Jelly:Got it. Thanks.
Simon N. (GM):IME outside combat you generally roll all the dice
The FIRST die rolled in each roll is the designated Wild Die; on a 6 roll it again and add to total (keep rolling until it does not roll 6).
Jelly:Sorry for all the questions. I just didn't want to ruin the mood during the heat of battle!
Simon N. (GM):That includes damage, so anyone can die at any time (but probably won't) :)

Slipshot762

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2022, 07:44:38 AM »
i use d6 for everything, as a core resolution system, and just tweak and add as needed:

https://ogc.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=OpenD6

And Mini Six ofc - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144558/Mini-Six-Bare-Bones-Edition - free in pdf and absolutely jam packed with great stuff. I ran Mini Six Primeval Thule for most of 2020 https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-valley-of-scorn-palace-of-silver.html

Here's a text chat record of our first Roll20 Mini Six game https://simonsprimevalthule.blogspot.com/2020/04/silver-princess-4-evening-412215.html

Me explaining how D6 works:

Jelly:Simon can I just check re combat:
"deducting 1 die from all rolls per action beyond the first."
Where do we see how many dice we have available for this?
Simon N. (GM):Apart from Rollo (Matt) I'm thinking the PCs came ashore at Tallas, an Atlantean ruled town to the east, and met up there, finding out they all had a common purpose in exploring the Silver Palace before the ice takes her for eternity.
>>Where do we see how many dice we have available for this?<<
It's in your stats, eg Blade 5D+2 gives you 5 dice.
always d6
You could attack once at 5D+2 or twice at 4D+2
WhiteValyrian:oh i see
Jelly:But twice at 4D +2 would be 8 dice total?
Simon N. (GM):Saya https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/8367684/ has Blade 5D so could slash once at 5D twice at 4D, thrice at 3D etc
Jelly:4D +4D = 8D? Sorry maths was never my strong point.
Simon N. (GM):Separate attacks, rolled separately
WhiteValyrian:no we lose a die for every attack so the 5th attack would be 1D rather than 5D
Simon N. (GM):Saya has Parry 19 with a shield so if attacking her clone could roll one attack at 5d6 needing 19 to hit, or two with 4d6 both needing 19 to hit, or three with 3d6, etc.
or four with 2d6 or five with 1d6
Jelly:I see, thankyou.
Is it better to split up attacks in your experience, or just blow all the dice on one?
Simon N. (GM):Against unskilled opponents multiple attacks may be more effective
Jelly:Got it.
Well it'll be a learning curve for me this session: apologies in advance everyone!
Rich W.:Me too!!
Simon N. (GM):You can typically incapacitate a lightly armoured foe with one strike, so whatever is likeliest to hit them
WhiteValyrian:well will be learning together then XD
Jelly:Does the same go for skill checks?
Simon N. (GM):yup
Jelly:eg I have Wit 2D.
So you only have a finite number of times to succeed on a skill check, equal to the dice?
Simon N. (GM):Yup, so roll 2d6 for any wit skills
Jelly:Unlike D and D.
But there wouldn't be a situation in which you'd split the dice, llike in combat?
Simon N. (GM):Skills work much like D&D, some might allow for retries
Generally only if doing several things at once
Jelly:Got it. Thanks.
Simon N. (GM):IME outside combat you generally roll all the dice
The FIRST die rolled in each roll is the designated Wild Die; on a 6 roll it again and add to total (keep rolling until it does not roll 6).
Jelly:Sorry for all the questions. I just didn't want to ruin the mood during the heat of battle!
Simon N. (GM):That includes damage, so anyone can die at any time (but probably won't) :)


excellent on th explanation, i cannot seem to do that w/o re-editing over and over lol, you managed to get it out and not sound insane like i do, lol!

Trond

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #8 on: November 23, 2022, 08:41:05 AM »
I really think more people should try Artesia. It does have some strong females but certainly won’t strike you as woke. I also hear a lot of good things about Barbarians of Lemuria.

APN

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #9 on: November 23, 2022, 09:12:19 AM »
Tunnels and Trolls. It's been around forever, plays well solo or in group. I run a play by post on Trollbridge and combat is fast and to/fro. We run a couple of house rules the usual bog down in combat play by post hasn't happened.

Face to face you'll need a bucket for all the D6s, mind.

ForgottenF

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2022, 09:33:58 AM »
It sounds like your chief reason for wanting to switch games is less about mechanics, and more about the player base. If so, then yeah going OSR is probably a good move. The OSR scene is mostly made up of two types of players: old veterans who just want to play the way the game they used to, and newer players dissatisfied with the direction mainstream roleplaying is going in. In either case, the scene tends to vary between non-woke and actively anti-woke. In general, I find that the less popular a game is, the higher the average player quality is. The act of seeking out obscure or independent games to play pretty much requires that someone have a passion for the hobby in and of itself. People who view roleplaying as a vehicle for political messaging or self-indulgence usually won't go to the extra effort.

If you hang around this forum for a while, you'll get dozens of OSR games recommended to you. Mechanically, they're all pretty similar to each other, so it's really just a question of which features you do or don't want in your version of D&D. From what I've seen, the following games seem to have the largest numbers of people actively playing them.

--Old School Essentials: Pretty much the premier Basic D&D retroclone. Good if you want a game which is very simple and easy to use.
--Castles and Crusades: A bit of a mishmash of 3rd and 1st edition AD&D. Probably the easiest game to pick up if you are familiar with 3rd-5th edition.
--Lamentations of the Flame Princess: Another Basic D&D retake. best known for its horror aesthetic and extensive library of modules.
--Dungeon Crawl Classics: Like Castles & Crusades, a game that combines old-school playing styles with newer design sensibilities, but with an added dose of weirdness and a fondness for random tables.
--Hyperborea (formerly known as Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea): an AD&D based game. Uses THAC0, but popular for it's wide variety of class options and well developed pulp science-fantasy setting.
--ACKS: This is the one I know least about, but it appears to be another AD&D based game, and it does get recommended around here quite a lot.

Here are some non-OSR games which also get a lot of recommendations:

--Barbarians of Lemuria: A rules-lite, low magic sword-and sorcery game. Not strictly OSR, but in the same spirit. Most people will recommend the Mythic Edition over the base game.
--Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition: Generally regarded as the best WFRP edition. The current (4th) edition is pretty well liked as well, but as it is a current mainstream game, you may encounter the same player types you do in 5th edition D&D.
--Mythras: A spinoff of 6th edition Runequest (much like the way Pathfinder was from 3.5). Designed to be much more setting-neutral than Runequest itself, and still being supported by the publisher.
--Talislanta: A relatively rules-lite science fantasy game. Known for it's unique world setting, large number of race/class options, and the fact that the author makes most editions of it available for free on his website.
--D6 games: I don't know much about these, so someone else will have to fill in the details. West End Games Star Wars in particular seems to have a rabid following.
Traveller: Generally regarded as the premier hard science-fiction game. Around here, most people are playing "Classic Traveller", but the most recent edition from Mongoose publishing seems to be well-reviewed as well.

weirdguy564

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2022, 09:37:15 AM »
Palladium Books has a large line of games in lots of genres.  However, starting with Fantasy 1st edition is the easiest game to learn their system.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/60661

It’s main difference is that combat is an opposed roll of your D20+Strike skill vs the Enemy D20+Parry skill.  A roll of 1-4 is a miss.  5-20+ is a hit.  So, you can see that parrying is pretty important to combat. 

Armor is treated as extra hit points, but does have an Armor Rating number. If you roll over the A.R., you hit the meat inside.  Armor have their own hit points.  Drop armor to half, A.R. goes down by 2.  When armor gets to 1/3 of its hit points, A.R. goes down by 2 more.

Example combat stats.  I have 13 hit points, a broadsword that does 1D8 damage that I strike and parry with a +2 skill, full chain mail armor with 44 hit points and an Armor Rating of 13.

« Last Edit: November 23, 2022, 09:47:11 AM by weirdguy564 »
I’m glad for you if you like the top selling game of the genre.  Me, I like the road less travelled, and will be the player asking we try a game you’ve never heard of.

Tasty_Wind

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #12 on: November 23, 2022, 09:54:44 AM »
What is it you’re looking for in a new system? You mentioned both D&D 5E and Pathfinder 2. Is that just because those are just the two biggest ttrpgs on the scene at the moment, or do you want something that emulates the style?

I ask because at a glance, one could consider them similar, but in reality 5E is the most “okayest” system ever and Pathfinder 2 is an amalgam of D&D 3.5 with some 4e thrown in (which has led me to jokingly refer to it as D&D 3.75).

weirdguy564

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2022, 11:11:54 AM »
If D&D and Pathfinder are the #1 and #2 games, I think it’s plausible that Savage Worlds is #3. 

It’s not for me, though.   I like other games.

The D6 games series is another good choice.  Star Wars is always popular and 1st edition in particular. 

Both Savage Worlds and D6 series can cover multiple genres.  If you want to switch from swords, castles, and orcs to biplanes and bolt action rifles, to starfighters and plasma swords, to pirates on the high seas, both can do that.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2022, 01:56:20 PM by weirdguy564 »
I’m glad for you if you like the top selling game of the genre.  Me, I like the road less travelled, and will be the player asking we try a game you’ve never heard of.

Steven Mitchell

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Re: Looking for a new roleplay system
« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2022, 11:44:41 AM »
--ACKS: This is the one I know least about, but it appears to be another AD&D based game, and it does get recommended around here quite a lot.


ACKS is more B/X based, instead of AD&D.  It notably expands on "race as class" with several variant classes for each race.