Quote from: Marchand on November 11, 2020, 08:09:18 PM
Depending how you feel about the 2d20 system, there is Modiphius's Conan. The storygamey Momentum/Doom mechanic isn't universally popular.

The Modiphius 2d20 Conan rules are designed for sword & sorcery, but they can't really do other flavors of fantasy very well. For example, the rules for spellcasting don't really cover much of what players expect wizards to be capable of in games.

I'm suggesting World's Without Number anyways. It's d20, but if you are making that decision based off of WotC D&D, then you are wrong.

I'm guessing you need a game that runs quicker but has all the fixings with plenty of customization. That's going to be World's Without Number. The beta is free and freely available. It'll be in print within the year.

Elsewise, play Savage Worlds or Cypher System.

Against the Dark Master.

Dragon Warriors.

WFRP 1e or 2e.

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on November 11, 2020, 10:28:50 PM
WFRP 1e or 2e.

The 4e version of WFRP is in print and very much like 2e (which itself is much like 1e) but with some added mechanical options. However, WFRP is very much tied into it's own setting & flavor and thus might not do what the OP is asking. That's the same reason I didn't suggest Earthdawn (3e being my favored version, but it's out of print).

Quote from: Rhedyn on November 11, 2020, 10:11:04 PM
I'm suggesting World's Without Number anyways. It's d20, but if you are making that decision based off of WotC D&D, then you are wrong.

I'm guessing you need a game that runs quicker but has all the fixings with plenty of customization. That's going to be World's Without Number. The beta is free and freely available. It'll be in print within the year.

Elsewise, play Savage Worlds or Cypher System.

I'm not making the decision based on WotC D&D. I have a ton of different games that are based on d20. So I feel I have enough in that catagory already. What I'm looking for now? Something new. Something beyond my current experience. Something that can get me excited about the fantasy genre again.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on November 11, 2020, 08:16:28 PM
I loathe Traveller. The one game I have that uses that system I want to get rid of.

I'm also going to restate this. I only want physical versions of the games recommended. If there is no physical version of a system, it does exactly no good for me.

Physical. As in print. As in a book I can hold in my hand. Nothing else is acceptable or wanted.

Fair enough on Traveller I suppose (although I struggle to see what's so offensive about 2d6 for 8+), but as somebody else said, my suggestions are available in deadtree.

More generally, if you ask for suggestions and then shit on ones you're given without bothering to check them out, it kind of feels like you're wasting everyone's time.

Quote from: David Johansen on November 11, 2020, 05:23:41 PM
Tunnels and Trolls perhaps, it's latest incarnation is quite nice.  It's not really any lighter than D&D though it is more rulings over rules in its approach.

Arduin, is Arduin Eternal available in print now?  I'd have to look.  Gonzo percentile D&D spin off,

Chivalry and Sorcery just had a new edition which has caught some flak for being a bit too woke but third edition was good and fourth built on that.  Fifth should be really solid and crunchy.

My Arcane Confabulation rules are available for free on my website.  I'm not quite sure what "full featured" means to you but when I get around to finishing the companion volume it will cover a lot of crazy stuff from realm management, to mass combat, to playing gods and creating the world.

Honestly? Tunnels & Trolls has long been on my "to buy" list for quite some time. I have memories of programming in and playing T&T adventures on a Commodore Pet. So yeah. I have experience with that system. But my experience with it was in the mid-1980s. So I have no clue what the current rulebook for it is like. Or what options it covers for character types. It's an unknown at this point.

If anyone has such knowledge, I would appreciate some summary of it.

Arduin is something I have some passing familiarity with. My last GM has a homebrew game system based on D&D, Rolemaster, Arduin, and some other sources I really don't recognize. His home system is big and very complex. Too much for me. Since I own all of the rulebooks for that homebrew game system. So yeah. I'm definitely looking for a lighter game than the between eight and ten rulebooks for that homebrew system.

As I just mentioned. I'm not really looking for crunch in a system. So your description of Chivalry & Sorcery creates some doubts with me. With a strong impression that it may not be for me.

I will check out My Arcane Confabulation on your website just out of curiosity's sake. Keep me posted on when you get the second book finished and available in print.

I spent time looking at the websites for Genesys and The Cypher System. Both of which made a huge impression on me. To the point that I want to try both games out. They both sound really good.

A system and setting that I am really finding myself falling in love with myself is Advanced Fighting Fantasy and the world of Titan.

Based on what I've read, you seem to be looking for something rules-lite and AFF certainly fits.  It's a very simple system, but not lacking in depth.  AFF is well supported with supplements with many different options for character creation.  It's a simple D6 only system which uses only 3 or 4 stats: Skill, Stamina, Luck and Magic if your character is a magic user.  Onto this you can add skills which are added to your Skill stat for rolls which are either 2d6 roll lower than Skill + Special skill, or 2d6 + Skill+Special skill < or = 15.  Combat is 2d6 + Skill + Special skill and whoever rolls highest wins.  Combat also uses a unique system where instead of rolling for initiative, you declare actions and all actions happen simultaneously.

Pundit seems to think that it's incomplete but I disagree. The base book comes with lots of character options and the supplements add much more.  There are tons of optional rules to make your game as simple or as crunchy as you like.  There are rules for turning just about any monster race into a player race.  AFF being based on a series of Choose your Own Adventure books is very narrativist, but without the weird Forge Theory baggage that usually accompanies storygames. There's no attempt to formalize "the RPG social contract" with a DM vs Players story point economy or any weird crap like that.  Instead, it does favor a refreshingly OSR-friendly "rulings over rules" method.  The GamesMaster or "Director" is encouraged to think of things narratively "what sort of enchantment would make sense here?"  Magic items or Potions are often described in narrative terms rather than being given stats. 

As a setting, Titan is a fun, pastichey and very very 80's Sword and Sorcery setting.  Quite often you'll be kicking down the door of a fortress dungoen of a Wizard with a name like "Zagor" and looting the place.  The game world is divided into three continents: Allansia (the "Default" setting,)  The Old World (a more Warhammer-esque setting of royal intrigue and horror) and Khul (the exotic "Dark Continent" filled with tribes, danger and a Feudal Japan kingdom for that extra lemon twist of Martial Arts exoticism.)  Titan is slowly recovering from a magical cataclysm some 248 years ago, so the world is very wild.
There's lots of land unclaimed by anyone, filled with monsters and abandoned ruined fortresses and cities filled with loot. Overall, the world is mostly unchanged from how it was presented in the original Fight Fantasy gamebooks from the 80's.  You can really see how this game's setting and worldbuilding influenced early Warhammer Fantasy.  If I had to compare it to other settings I would call it Warhammer Fantasy meets Conan.

I find the world is refreshingly unconcerned with Culture Warring.  There's no virtue signalling to be found of either the Woke variety nor of the James Raggi/Venger Satanis "write the most offensive thing you possibly can for those sweet, sweet outrage sales" variety.  It just presents a pastiche of different settings and stories you can use to run your characters through different stories spanning multiple genres.  One week you're exploring an ancient, ruined city brimming with traps and danger, the next your players are pirates on the high seas.

AFF is well supported with supplements, almost all of which are available Print on Demand at DTRPG

Advanced Fighting Fantasy sounds absolutely great. Something I definitely need to take a closer look at.

Actually, AFF is excellent! Easy system on the surface but it contains pretty much you could ever need. As OP said it cotains that old FF flavor but is easy to chop and change.

Good range of books for it too.

Savage Worlds.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on November 12, 2020, 01:51:54 AM
I will check out My Arcane Confabulation on your website just out of curiosity's sake. Keep me posted on when you get the second book finished and available in print.

Cool, thanks.  I can get a book printed and bound and mail it to you easily enough but it's just as easy on your end and if you're in the United States you'd save a lot of money.  That's the problem I see with going to print, international shipping.  I'm not overly fond of kickstarters because failing to deliver on a kickstarter is like a nail in your coffin, people will never forgive you.  I also feel the traditional publishing model is actually very unhealthy for rpgs.  The endless supplement and edition churn inevitably bogs down and encumbers the game until it is no longer recognizable as what it started out as.

As for Tunnels and Trolls I've looked through a friend's copy.  They've changed the level pardigim to reflect the character's best attribute and attributes are now bought with experience points.  There are two new careers, craftsman and entertainer or some such.  Stuff like the Magic and Speed attributes are core instead of optional now as is spite damage.  It's not really where I'd have gone with it but it's Ken St Andre's baby and he's run it a lot more than I ever have.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on November 11, 2020, 08:51:34 PMI have a problem with ebooks. My brain doesn't react to them in the same way as physical copies.

Agreed. It's why I've paid for my copies of various "PDF only" games to be printed and bound. Otherwise, I wouldn't use them at the table.

I should contact Stargazer Games and see if they'd be willing to do a one-volume version of Warrior, Rogue & Mage and put it on Amazon and POD via DriveThruRPG because its such a great game, but without the option for a dead tree version that's easily accessible via a couple clicks and a credit card, it's never going to enjoy the audience it deserves.

And really, considering Amazon and DTRPG have POD, that option should be a no-brainer for even non-commercial fan projects.

As mentioned, Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Edition is great.  I love the flavour of Titan.
the Arion forum has a small but dedicated group that have tinkered away on the system to do their thing.

Arion will soon be releasing a book for solo play if you're looking for something quiet to do in the evenings.
Actually it's pretty easy to solo already as the system is based on the original Fighting Fantasy solo books.

Also mentioned, Warlock! and DragonWarriors also have that similar old British RPG vibe that I just love.

All are POD on Drive Thru if physical books are your requirement.  I picked up the Advanced Fighting Fantasy Deluxe hardcover and AFF Heroes Companion softcover a while back: happy with the purchases.