# So what's your Favourite RPG?



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

*So what's your favorite RPG?*

So who likes to play what?

I like to differentiate between my favorite game and my favorite system. My favorite RPG system for the moment is probably d20. It's nice and stable, easy to play...we'll see what happens then 4th edition comes out.

But my favorite game, setting-wise, would probably be Cyberpunk, or maybe Bureau 13 (I bet nobody;s heard of that one without google)


----------



## Katie Drake (Nov 28, 2007)

My favourite RPG is by far World of Darkness (and its extensions like Vampire, Mage, Werewolf and the like). I love the story, I love the mechanics and above all I love the mood. Excellent game.


----------



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

I've played WoD, and it can e a lot of fun...but I confess, I don't care for the mechanics. The rules are very light and loose, which works ok only so long as you have a whole group of dedicated RP/storytellers. But a loose system also has bigger loopholes for abuse. Most of the people I played with just made uber-twinked characters and stomped around obliterating things.

Not that d20 is perfect or anything. I just prefer a tighter set of rules.

WoD is fun though. I enjoyed Werewolf, and I played a bit of Aberrant and Mage...man, Mage is where you really have to watch out for people abusing the system.


----------



## Culler (Dec 27, 2007)

My favorite system atm is BESM 3.0. You can literally build any character with it, so you are in no way limited by concept. The system is such that it balances your concept against the other character in an efficient way. You are not restricted at all in what your character can do except by power level and genre constraints.

However, there are balancing issues (ones that can be easily fixed, thankfully). The biggest problem is that it has no support. There is only the core book (which includes some cool settings), and all monsters etc. must be created by the DM. It doesn't really need a lot of extra books for character options as everything a character could do is pretty much included in the main book.

It's about 2 steps away from the perfect roleplaying system (one step being some system rewrites like skills and some rebalancing issues and the other step being proper support).

You can literally run almost every other system printed under its umbrella.

To play in right now mostly I prefer 3.5 D&D. It's got lots of problems but it isn't bad and its the common denominator that people are familiar with. Savage worlds is also a fun system that's pretty quick and can handle a wide variety of characters, campaigns, and genres.

And 4th edition is pretty much like playing WoW on the tabletop. I'm prevented from telling you why by a legal agreement, but don't be surprised if 4e is full of the fail.


----------



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

I've played BESM as well, but it had the same problem as DoD for me, the loose and flexible system is far too prone to abuse. Bubblegum Crisis used the Interlock-based Fuzion system similar to Cyberpunk 2020. It was skill based, rather than level base, and there weren't many limitations on character creation, but it also had a solid core of game mechanics that were less prone to needing on the fly fixes and friendly interpretation. In a lot of ways it was like d20 before d20 was invented.

You can find the core fuzion system online for free from R.Talsorian if I recall.

d20 modern came close to the idea of freeform gaming with its genericized classes and pick your own class features sort of setup.

But yeah, I'm not optimistic about 4th ed.


----------



## Sword Slasher (Mar 9, 2008)

The Eldar Scrolls IV: Oblivion


----------



## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

Pssst, Slasher...
We're talking Pen & Paper RPGs, here.
Video games are thataway


----------



## ACoz (Oct 23, 2007)

I've played almost everything, in the 20+ years I've been an RPG-nerd.

Everything from the original Basic D&D, through Twilight 2000, to Rifts and beyond.

My preferences (and my moods) vary wildly with what I like playing and/or am currently deep into, but... for the last 12 or 13 years or so, I've got to say my favorite RPG's been Battlelords of the 23rd Century.

Oddly enough, I just don't like the d20 System (for many reasons I won't go into)...


----------



## Druchii in Space (Apr 7, 2008)

My main game is Werwolf the Apocalypse, although I find all the original WoD games are pretty good. However with Werewolf I find a strong connection in the idea of trying to save the world, well in their eyes, against almost unbeatable odds. With a good mix of spirituality, horror and social gathering thrown into the mix. 
As a StT I ran septs as they they where described, with politics that can easily match any Vampire game, and I loved the epic feeling the game gave as you fought often really long campaigns that could last for as long as you pretty much wanted.

Other faves have included Dark Sun, perhaps my fave D&D setting of all time, don't know what it was but something just clicked with me and that game. 
If I'm honest I have had a real trouble with D20 due to the horrible in my eyes 'feats' system. Mainly as I don't agree with giving Humans more just to attract players to them. If folks play an Elf for the rules, change the players mind not the rules to try and make him pick what many see as a weaker race. I was just of the opinion they should have made classes that would make folks rather play Humans, or trust in players to play what they wanted, rather than jangle rules in front of them as a reason to play a Human.

Although it does occur to me I should probably just pick up D20 again to try one more time, if feats still annoy me I can always Doctor the rules. :grin:

The other reason to look at D20 is I am a fan of Forgotten Realms, and there are quite a few D20 lines out now that look quite interesting.


----------



## Nato13 (Aug 9, 2008)

My favorite would have to be Cyberpunk 2020, we've had some epic campaigns over the 
years. Nothing else i've played gives the atmosphere and overall feel that Cyberpunk 2020 does.


----------



## LVix (Oct 18, 2008)

Druchii in Space said:


> Although it does occur to me I should probably just pick up D20 again to try one more time, if feats still annoy me I can always Doctor the rules. :grin:


Damnit and I was just getting attached to out current game! 

I've had limited experience with different systems myself but I have to say I prefer the WoD system by far. Mainly as I like the freedom of it (I... hate... feats...): I do bow however to the fact it is extremely open to abuse; so I just have to console myself that I keep it to a minimum myself. (Though with Mage tbh I wouldn't have stood a chance as my lateral thinking is way below par.)

As for setting I'm a Fantasy girl at heart so its pretty much anything with Elves and Dragons. I don't have much of a view on D&D's various worlds as I've played a lot of homebrew settings through the years, almost to the exclusion of the pre-existing ones. I have to say though Werewolf comes in a very close second here and might have overtaken the fantasy side if it were not for a bad group or two.

...need to find more (any) roleplayers in my area. *twitch*


----------



## ACoz (Oct 23, 2007)

Coming out of the printer's from Palladium on November 14th is Dead Reign!

zombie apocalypse gaming with Palladium's system... should be neat.


----------



## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

1: Cyberpunk 2020
2: WoD (before the world ended and began again). Played a formidable Glass Walker Hacker known as "the chrome God" (my alias is the result of a misspeaking of his name.) - primarily Vampire and Werewolf. Never played Mage or Wraith (but had books) - but had the girlfriend of a player want to play something, so I wrote up a wraith character for her (with 7 pages of notes so she could understand bits of the game) for my vamp game.

I've also played Bureau 13, rifts, Merc2000, Star Trek RPG (klingons subrules) and Shadowrun (currently playing 4th ed). Never really got into any of the 'fantasy' games. So, no MERPS, or D&D etc. Couldn't stand the mechanics of Gurps.


----------



## Epic Fail (Jun 23, 2008)

My first and favourite is Shadowrun. I really like what they did with the 4th edition. I was horribly worried about life without combat pool but it works. Really really well.

I enjoy Dark Heresy, the rules system allows a group to easily fudge and attempt things not described in the rules in detail. The experience system in that is interesting too, but it does suffer from railroading if you follow the career paths as writ.

DnD 4E has been a big surprise for me. I never got into 3E, but we've got a bunch of people pllaying 4E now, which I suspect is due to the simple and accessible rules system. The RP/storytelling side has suffered, and it gets to feeling like a tabletop MMORPG.


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Used to be DnD 3 and 3.5 but now it probably is Vampire and all of its off shoots.


----------



## Leatharnak (Mar 20, 2008)

Legend of Five Rings has one of the most interesting and unique storylines ever. Immersive and ever changing with player interaction via the collectible card game, L5R has a deep east asian mythology to it. The rules mechanics are one of the best as well. L5R incorperates a heroic system of roll and keep along with "dice booming" that is unrivaled in my mind. WoD does this same thing but L5R does it better than any other.

Rune also has an interesting system that could have work with a little more play-testing. Overall a great setting in Viking Europe but bawls rules.

WoD is also pretty good but I find that the people who play are way too emo or goth for my tastes. I much prefer players who want heroic deeds sung rather than crying in a basement while a vampire steals your soul.


----------



## Druchii in Space (Apr 7, 2008)

Aye that is a sterotype I've heard about Leatharnak, not seen it myself though, though that might be because my core group came from AD&D first, Werewolf was the main game for us as well, The few Vampire games I ran where interesting, its the best way I can describe it. I think some of the group had a real issue with the idea of working for their own interests over the others.

Legend of the Five Rings is an excellent background and game, I used to have loads of the books but sold them after moving up here as LVix was never into the game as much as some of the other group members down in Cornwall. I still have thousands of the cards in a box somewhere though, and a good dozen decks made up.


Interesting comment about 4E there Epic Fail, as someone one who hasn't got the books yet, what would you say is causing that. The decline in the storytelling I mean, have they focused harder on using figures to represent the players due to the Collectable minatures game or do the combat rules just feel more clunky? 
I did notice this with the Star Wars RPG reload a year or so back, and I was a little bit dissapointed they had fudged the RPG to just try and sell more of their collectable figures. Although if thats the problem, I'll be honest and say that I'll do what I always do and ignore the figures part anyway. 

Oh and Chromedog I do wonder how many of us there are, like you I have not moved into the nWoD. I did get some of the new books but I saw it for the PC edited, wimpy version it was and was extremely dissapointed. Well no that's an understatement, I am very annoyed that the many books that could still have been made will never see the light of day due to this poor reload of one the best RPG's out there. But oh well.


----------



## Col. Schafer (Apr 15, 2008)

The way I see it, the simplified and beefed up combat rules in 4th ed D&D just make the combat encouners get over faster, so the players can converse with the mysterious scorcerer. So right now 4th ED is my favorite.


----------



## Druchii in Space (Apr 7, 2008)

Starting to sound that I at least owe it to myself to actually order the game then, see how much has changed sinced 3rd. I never picked up 3.5 in the end.


----------



## WoRLoKKeD (Apr 1, 2008)

Definately Shadowrun, and I agree with Epic Fail that 4th works really, really well. 
Dark Heresy is also fun, as are the Fallout rules. (A bashed together set of rules availiable from No Mutants Allowed)


----------



## Cadian81st (Dec 24, 2006)

I play 3.5 occasionally through school, but it's strictly player only with DnD fantasy for me, as the game mechanics don't really work the way I want them too, and I don't like fantasy systems as much as I like sci-fi. I have played and GM'd d20 modern a few times, which was an improvement, but the only games I can speak with authority on (and therefore actually GM worth a damn) are really the Starship Troopers roleplaying game (by mongoose, brilliant game if you ever get a chance to play it, and fully compatible with their minis too), the new d20 Star Wars d20 rpg, and Dark Heresy of course. Played a fair bit of WHFRP too, but I think DH fixes a lot of what was broken with WHFRP. So yeah, I play a fair amount of rpgs now that I look at it.


----------



## Lord Lucius (Sep 18, 2008)

I like WFRP cos of its easy D100 system.
I also try and invent my own system in MY D20 format.
IS there any ware i can post it up?
& is there a place for rules queries?


----------



## Druchii in Space (Apr 7, 2008)

With your own system you might want to start a thread abut it and let people discuss it there. As to a queries thread, aye I think we need one.


----------



## Chaos&Beer (Apr 6, 2008)

ACoz said:


> to Rifts and beyond.



ZOMG! Rifts was freaking awesome, totally slipped my mind until you mentioned it. Wow... I wish I could play my Glitter Boy again. If I had played more of it, I would probably like it more than DnD.


----------



## Alexander Darkblade (Sep 16, 2008)

First ed AD&D FTW! and you can play oblivion in pen and paper, least i have >_> along with WoW and guildwars and even tried final fantasy (which failed)

i usually DM but i sometimes let my freinds have a go at it


----------



## Red Corsairs (Jun 8, 2008)

I haven't actually played all that many myself to be honest but of those played it's definitely D&D 2nd Edition I believe. I've also played the more recent ones a bit but they didn't seem _as_ enjoyable to me. But all D&D is still very good.


----------



## TimberWolfA (Jan 12, 2010)

Star Wars: Saga Edition (corebook only) is probably my favorite RPG. Let me start by saying that my personality demands that I analyze things to death by way of tearing them apart and putting them back together. Since beginning to tabletop RPG in the fall of '07 I have played D&D 3.5 (but really, I had no time to learn the system, the guys I was playing with had been playing for a decade), D&D 4th, Legend of the Five Rings 3rd, Star Wars: SE, WEG: Star Wars, Hero 4th, Psion: Hero, Exalted 2nd, oWoD, nWoD, MC:WoD, and the classic Battletech RPG. 

I've been to hell and high water figuring out the advantages and disadvantages of simple dice systems vs. complex dice systems, loose rules vs. strict rules, storytelling intense systems vs. combat intense systems, etc. I just might be obsessed. I've had the handicap of playing with a lot of power gamers and/or with a really awesome storytelling GM that always has a personal NPC (his PC) that's better than everyone else's PC at just about everything. I've tried to rise above the power gaming and taken up the mantle of StT/GM on a few occasions and practice is starting to make 'not bad' if I do say so myself.

Back on topic, SW:SE edition really claims my top spot because it's got the privilege of really being D&D 3.5 in space, finely honed by a decade of play testing. It's simple to teach/learn, has specific rules that are almost never ambiguous, is rather well balanced (with a few exceptions), and has a very satisfying pace. 

Taking a close second for me is L5R (Legend of the Five Rings) with its incredibly right skewed bell curve 'Roll and Keep' system. The new 4th edition helps to remove a lot of balance issues that were horrible detractors from the ability to enjoy 3rd, but loses none of the flavor or the incredible flexibility. I'll admit that it's not for everyone. Your group has to want to play in the incredibly rigid, romanticized Samurai setting that the game occurs in, but the book covers everything you'll really need to know somewhere in its pages and has great mechanics to go with it.


----------



## Red Corsairs (Jun 8, 2008)

Didn't see this old thread but as it's been bumped up to the top again I've merged mine with it


----------



## gothik (May 29, 2010)

world of darkness excellent system, i had the original whfrpg years ago and i quite liked twilight 2000 nd shadowrun although i found cybrpunk a little bleh for my tastes.


----------



## LuLzForTheLuLzGoD (Apr 3, 2010)

3.5 is pretty good.Never really liked much others gurps was good for the realism, world of darkness? is that the one with thousands of d10s?


----------



## atatjacob1 (Jul 9, 2010)

i like D&D


----------



## Red Corsairs (Jun 8, 2008)

Played Dark Heresy the other night. Not played many RPGs before but this one was good fun.


----------



## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

What? Nobody mentionned The Riddle of Steel? Shame on all of you 

I like how fights are cool, and how you need to actually dodge attacks instead of just happening to carry a sufficiently magical armor. 

I also like throwing lots and lots of dices at the same time.

And I like how the game is built in to create dramatic situation, which is achieved by loose rules for spaces and time in combat : after a couple of rounds you make a roll and you just happen to be where and when that will make optimal drama ( a collapsing bridge, a running river, just in time to save the girl/right after she fainted, etc.)

TROS is my game.

As for the settings, I like historical medieval. Not unlike the setting of Ivanhoe and Robin hood. I like having no magic, but the characters think there is. Once I had a player playing a witch in a no magic setting. The other players were really confused as to wether she was a "just" a very good herborist or if I made an exception and give her supernatural powers.


----------



## Grins1878 (May 10, 2010)

I alwasy love Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, mainly because it was set in the world everyone knows and loves, and I thought the detail was incredible. I think it was mainly because I loved all the background and information and detail that I got into it so much, so saturdays used to be rpg day (not the explosive kind).

From halfling thieves to highwaymen and assassins (heh, see my book for the kind of adventures we ran ;-)), down to dwarfs who failed terror tests, gained insanity points and ended up an alcoholic... A character I was glad eventually died as he became pretty much useless.

Also played a lot of Star Wars RPG second ed which was ace, used to love that as I'm a bit of a SW nerd, and had a dabble at MERP donkeys ago, but never really got into that.

Recently bought a load of D&D stuff to read through and see what the score was with that, but haven't had a game yet (also got the Warcraft edition D&D... ;-)), looks good though


----------



## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

I don't buy RPGs for the world. I'd rather build my own, with my players.

I play RPGs to tell stories. WFRP is well built in all, but I don't like crapsack worlds, I guess it's just a matter of taste.


----------



## Grins1878 (May 10, 2010)

crapsack worlds?

It's a cool world man, everything you need to go questing, building your own or the ones they released and tonnes of fluff so it has plenty of depth


----------



## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

Exactly : Crapsack worlds

Worlds where the bad guy wins, and heros are either hopelessly naive and useless, or die in horrible ways right from the start. Worlds in which it would suck to live in.

The warhammer world is probably the best crapsack world out there, that and the world of 1984. It's just not my taste.

I like world based either on the Robin hood mythos or the King Arthur mythos. Mount and Blade's Caldradia is also a world full of potential, there are hints of depth everywhere. Good inspiration for a campaign.


----------



## Grins1878 (May 10, 2010)

That's a very negative take on it, but I can see what you mean  I think that's why I liked it though, you're truly fighting the good fight and trying to bring the hope which is also great depth for a campaign.

Goes to show, everyone likes something different without either being wrong (in the case of gaming like! I wouldn't push that idea too far!)


----------



## Major Strombardt (Feb 22, 2009)

Galahad said:


> So who likes to play what?
> 
> I like to differentiate between my favorite game and my favorite system. My favorite RPG system for the moment is probably d20. It's nice and stable, easy to play...we'll see what happens then 4th edition comes out.
> 
> But my favorite game, setting-wise, would probably be Cyberpunk, or maybe Bureau 13 (I bet nobody;s heard of that one without google)


Well..call me an 'Oldie' but it has to be Dungeon and Dragons! I grew up on this and was in right from the beginning. I still even have an old copy of 'Chainmail' rules from when the game came out as well.

I have not read the thread through as my time is limited but I like the 3.5 version best. Should have stayed there.

:so_happy:


----------



## Cadian440th (Jul 20, 2010)

Something about Cthulutech has always made me happy and I usually hate games that try to impose horror as a major element.
Never been a big fan of D&D but i have also never had a good group for the game so that may affect my opinion a bit.


----------



## Initiate (Mar 25, 2007)

Thieves' Guild and 2nd Ed AD&D are my favorites.

I'd be surprised if you've heard of Thieves' Guild. I'd be even more surprised if you actually had the books, since the first five were sold as loose leaf papers to be hole punched and put in a binder, and the others have been out of print for almost thirty years. 

The makers of the game came up with this system of d1000 rolls when creating characters to randomly generate character "inborns". Some have benefits (like Animal Affinity, or Nimble) and some are not so great (Butt Ugly, Clumsy) and they provide buckets of RP material to work with. 

I run an adaptation of Thieves' Guild and 2nd Ed, and it's the best system I've ever tried.


----------



## Captain Galus (Jan 2, 2008)

Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Exalted, and Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader. My absolute favorite, of course, was Werewolf. The old World of Darkness (or oWoD) rules were straight awesome, as was the fluff. My friends and I had more fun playing WtA than any other RPG we've tried.

DH/RT are pretty sweet too. Exalted is badly written, but extremely fun.


----------



## Gervesius (Jul 9, 2010)

Captain Galus said:


> ...Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader....


Fun you said it, I've gotten the core book for Rogue Trader, and trying to whip up a character from it. Interestinc character creation system I think! 

Other than that, I've played a lot of d20 (Dnd 3.5, don't really feel like relearning for 4.0), WoD with it's various sub-games, and a swedish game called EON. Ridiculous system I think, you roll OBd6 (stands for Unlimited d6, if you roll a 6, you add another dice. Good for damage, BAD for everything else), and it's got rules for everything, and some more. Another game I really wanna try out is Mutant: Undergångens Arvtagare (Mutant: The Heir of the Apocalypse, swedish game). 1d% system, that is.


----------



## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

I like die pools better than D20, and D20 better than D%.

The die pools gives a nice probability bell, so even at lower levels there is at least _some_ things you can reliably do. I like d20 because it allows for absurdly awesome stuff at higher levels if you're into that kind of thing (like stopping your 20' fall on a single leaf of grass) and I absolutely HATE d% die because of the low, low sucess rate of just about _anything_ unless you consider every test to be super easy and give everyone a bonus 50%


----------



## hippypancake (Jul 14, 2010)

I play the pokemon RPG that my friends and I made it is pretty awesome


----------



## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

Wrong forum dude, this is for pen and paper RPG, Video games is there


----------



## rodmillard (Mar 23, 2010)

Gervesius said:


> Other than that, I've played a lot of d20 (Dnd 3.5, don't really feel like relearning for 4.0).


I'm in the same boat - I really don't see the point in making the jump to 4th, especially since other companies (ie. not Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro) are still producing material compatible with 3.5 under the open gaming license. Besides, my all time favourite setting is Dragonlance, and the latest "proper" incarnation is 3.5 (Weiss & Hickman no longer own the rights to produce gaming material for it, and if it isn't at least editted by one of those two then it isn't proper dragonlance!)


----------



## hippypancake (Jul 14, 2010)

Jack Jack said:


> Wrong forum dude, this is for pen and paper RPG, Video games is there


I know...its a Pokemon pnp my bad xD


----------



## Jack Jack (Nov 16, 2008)

PnP ? What's that ? (open to anyone)


----------



## hippypancake (Jul 14, 2010)

I use it to say pen n paper quicker would it make it easier if I say it is a Pokemon Pen and Paper DnDesque game?


----------



## Daz (Sep 26, 2010)

HERO system is my favourite for sheer variety. I don't actually like playing it as much as a lot of other games, I just have more fun making silly characters.

L5R is my favourite for setting. Sadly the game is a little bit broken. For the most part its fine, but a couple of the classes are hilarious.

Earthdawn is my favourite die system.

Pathfinder is my favourite overall game system. It's like 3.5, but more perfect. It can be just a little bit annoying to get used to after playing 3.5 for so many years, as its MOSTLY the same, with minor little things changed. Little things, that you just do automatically in d20 games...


----------



## C'Tan Chimera (Aug 16, 2008)

I've never actually played an RPG game before (well, okay I once spectated a DnD game and thought while it looked fun there were quite a few odd jobs)- but I just got myself a big fat copy of Trail of Cthulhu and I can tell what my favorite is going to be.


----------



## Blammer (Nov 17, 2009)

The only thing I have played is a few sessions of 3rd ed Dungeons and Dragons. 

But it was great fun and I was GM.

It involded lots of computer hacking and using robots to fight enemies armed with laser beams, grenades and plasma cannons.


----------



## Klomster (Oct 9, 2008)

The one i'm playing now is awesome.

The game is "Burning wheel" which is a bit of like nothing else, it uses skill values that decide how many dice you roll, and the dice are D6 which are a success on a roll of 4+ (this can be improved)

It doesn't use exp and is generally simple to use and cool!
The character creation is simple for the player too as long as the GM read up on the rules.

It's fantasy and the campaign is based upon some pre-written stuff the gm found, it's awesome.
I'd say that is my favorite for now.


----------



## Overbear (May 10, 2011)

By far? 

Old school WoD, I dislike the new version. After that I would say traveler/gurps as I run a group that uses nearly every gurps book out, and do a modified kind of non cannon warhammer 40kish RP.


----------



## Erik_Morkai (May 2, 2011)

My favorite of all time remains Heavy Gear from Dream Pod 9.

The setting is very original with a crapload of easter eggs. Look it up on http://www.dp9.com

Shadowrun is a close second

Played many RPGs back in the days, so many fond memories
GURPS Black Ops hehehe "The truth is out there...find it and kill it."


----------



## BiOHaTe (Nov 19, 2009)

D10 games without the percentile dice


----------



## Fire Tempered (Dec 16, 2010)

D&D 3.5. Haven't tried other systems than D&D. Still haven't played 4th edition, my friends and I were very reluctant to play, but we might try it in the future.


----------

