You mentioned you have a history with D&D, but one thing I'd recommend is that someone play every main branch of D&D: Classic D&D (any), AD&D (1st or 2nd), 3.X/PF, and 4e. Four different games that deliver four different gaming experiences.

On that note, everyone needs to play Rolemaster at least once. Its play experience is considerably different from its reading experience and its formidable reputation for density. You will learn to either love or hate the charts, and RM is the best game for getting a real taste of randomness.

Quote from: Tyndale;678952Howdy all!  Long time lurker here . . .

Welcome to the adult swim.

Quote from: Tyndale;678952What do you believe are the must-do games?

Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, Marvel Super Heroes (that's the FASERIP version), Vampire: the Masquerade, 1e Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and GURPS (1e if you enjoy maths, 3e if you prefer ease of use).

Quote from: Bill;679310*ahem* HERO, but not GURPS  (sorry could not resist)

Fah!

YOUR 3d6 roll low point buy system is for losers!

MY 3d6 roll low point buy system is for refined and handsome folks!

Quote from: FaerieGodfather;679764You mentioned you have a history with D&D, but one thing I'd recommend is that someone play every main branch of D&D: Classic D&D (any), AD&D (1st or 2nd), 3.X/PF, and 4e. Four different games that deliver four different gaming experiences.

What about the Basic D&D games?

Thanks for the ideas and input everyone.  It would appear that there is a lot of ground to cover in my effort to expand my gaming experience - which is not necessarily a bad thing.  I just picked up a copy of BRP and just need to decide on which variant to run with (FBRP and COC being the front runners).

Quote from: robiswrong;679467Find people that *do* play that game a ton, and play with them.  If something seems weird, just go with it, and try to understand it rather than change it to be more like what you're expecting.

Great advice.

First, let me suggest that an RPG collection need not be accessed only on an all-or-nothing, "playing Game X" basis. Indeed, that was in my experience rare in the 1970s and early '80s. As a GM, you can mix and match materials as they suit your style (and, back then, texts such as RuneQuest explicitly mentioned this).

Chaosium's Basic Role Playing framework is the pioneering and archetypal "skills based" system. The combination of training and "on-the-job" experience in the original RQ is notably different -- more free-form, more geared to simulating characters' living development and less to abstract balances -- from most other rules sets.

Champions/Hero System and GURPS are the grand-daddy "point based" systems. Less innovatively, they also epitomize the adoption of boardgame (as opposed to miniatures) approaches to tactical action.

Classic Traveller is a product of deep appreciation of how the original D&D game worked, along with an impulse to do much more than simply copy the superficials. CT has a flavor all its own, more distinctive than later Traveller rules sets that drew more on convergent lines of development in an older hobby/industry.

Quite apart from 'mechanics,' a campaign in the early style -- to some degree what people usually mean by 'sandbox' -- is something I would recommend trying as one has opportunity.

These are all things that have had significant influences. Some experience of them should help round out one's RPG 'education.' There may also be more recent developments in (or nearly in) the same league.

In answer to the OP: D&D (in any edition before 3e; or just about any of the central OSR-rulebooks) is the only "must-do" game to understand the fundamentals of the RPG hobby.

Aside from that, the only other game I'd recommend as essential to make a really well-rounded player is Amber (or one of its variants).  The rest are all steps in-between and there are certainly many others mentioned here which are more or less worth looking at, but I wouldn't say "must-do".

RPGPundit

Also.

I would throw in Kenzer & Co. Games; Aces and Eights/Hackmaster. Just started these games and really enjoying them.

Palladium Books is old school type of game good setting/ wonky mechanics (but I love it); plus Dead Reign is an interesting game.

GL