mine is delta green
Very hard decision, I mean the one I played most and still play with a few friends is in fact “Shadowrun” (2e - 6e), but I have to confess, I never joked about Cyberpunk players, I even played Cyberpunk, sometimes both on the same weekend (weird, right).
Here are the three that I remember having the most fun with:
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“Magna Veritas” and “In Nomine Satanis” (originally from France, iirc), where you played Angels vs Daemons (think “Good Omens” just even more absurd).
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There was one called “Plüsch, Power und Plunder” where you played living plushies, and had to hide the fact that you’re alive from humans.
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“Paranoia”, a game where just surviving was the adventure in a dystopian social credit system, that executed you immediately with killer drones, when you got demoted to the lowest level “Infrared”, but you could just use a new clone and start again.
The most rounded rule system I ever expierienced is ERPS, no levels, no experience, just using the skills/attributes give you a change of increasing that particular attribute or skill (this is also free, but only available in German iirc).
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How could they not include EotW series?
Other than my various flavors of homebrew over the years, it was probably Empire of the Petal Throne.
Second to that would be the Albedo TTRPG.
GURPS fan here. yeah, the core game is really not that complicated, it’s only once you get into the supplements that- HOW DO YOU KNOW I’M BRAZILIAN
As another GURPS fan - do people really get into the settings? I always saw them more as cool worked examples. I guess Traveller took off
My favorite TTRPG is the homebrew system I made myself!
But besides that I’ve played D&D 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 5.5, Pathfinder 1 and 2, CoC, GURPS, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Traveler, Star Wars 5e, and Mini Six. I’m familiar with a lot of others through podcasts, like Paranoia, Toon, VtM, Fate Core, Fiasco, and Over The Edge.
I was very happy to see both my faves on this list! Lancer and Delta Green! Ive only ran them (one of the Forever GM’s in my group) but the systems are so cool and rich for my kind of storytelling!
LANCER is absolutely a vibe and I enjoy very much.
I think my favorite system to run is LUMEN especially with groups that want the freedom to do the coolest thing. I mostly end up running D&D 5e and I’m very tired of being the rules lawyer/ loremaster/ combat manager/ etc.
Rules-light systems like LUMEN actually give my players a chance to get what they want while still paying the cost in resources, with a touch of tactical combat that made a memorable game.
Also a fan of Kids on Bikes, and the exploding dice mechanic from games like Savage Worlds!
Holy crap I have spent so many deep nights/mornings diving into a homebrew world my buddy ran via Savage Worlds. That shit was so legendary
Star Wars 3.5 was my favorite campaign by far. I played an Ewok engineer that fixed things by banging on them with his rusty wrench. I can do a damned good Ewok voice. It was a riot. He also found and fixed a hoverdisc and just sat on it, floating behind the party wherever they went.
In addition to the other AD&D 1e fans, I did not see Gamma World on the list. Shout out to the other Sci Fi ttrpg!
Pathfinder is awesome, haters gonna hate
I’m considering becoming a professional GM, some of the more interesting games I’ve come across while planning out my game options include Knave, Ironsworn, Twilight 2000, and Dungeons & Kittens
Let’s not forget
…just to name a few legends adjacent to your listed gems. 🤘🏼
p.s. Pathfinder was, in its early days, a welcome alternative to D&D —for those that accepted a simple streamlining of the TSR/WotC SoP… Though millions of us OGs saw what it was aiming for: D&D in a LBD, but the underlying cray’s just better dressed. 🥲
My selection process was “this one sounds pretty neat”, I had no clue that I was picking legends! I’ll have to take a look at those games!
Love to hear it! 🤩🖖🏼
FWIW:
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Starforged is essentially Ironsworn 2.0 + scifi, as it fine-tuned most of what hindered Ironsworn 1.0 (the actual 2.0 came after, and even learned from Starforged in the process! 🤘🏼)
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PbtA & BitD have spawned dozens of distinct variants, to their credit. (pardon the latter’s redderp link)
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and ISDYSSM is an incredibly accessible game revolving around the group creation of a location, and I love using it as a Session 0 icebreaker to then incorporate said city/grove/etc. in the main game itself —now that the group (of any experience level) feels a personal stake in the story to come!
p.s. Honorable mention for those more interested in roleplay over roll-play:
- Worlds Without Number, and Stars Without Number, by Sine Nomine
- Numenara, Ptolus, Cypher, and Invisible Sun, by the amazing Monte Cook,
- Daggerheart, by Darrington Press of Critical Role fame
Just to name a few more of the absolutely 👨🏼🍳💋👌🏼 indie systems out these days. 🥰
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I guess D&D, but we never went beyond 2.5e. No critical role (or youtube) at that point.
We also played VtM and I think ran a couple other campaigns in the WoD (Mage and Changeling maybe? It’s been 25 years at this point). I was a theater kid, but didn’t really call into the rest.
Numenera/Cypher System by MCG, but mostly Numenera the far future setting. Solved the problems I had with D&D. It’s Earth 1,000,000,000 years in the future, and it has one of the best bestiaries to read through
I’m hard pressed to say what my personal favorite system is, but currently I’m saying Fabula Ultima.
Nobody’s mentioned Dungeon Crawl Classics (and variants), which is a shame.
I just did - cheers!
I really like DCC! Does the d20 without the bloat
Where Paranoia?
You dare talking about this in public???
Hah! Like anyone goes to jail in Paranoia. You’ll be shot dead by your fellow troubleshooters before you ever see the inside of a cell.
So you know how stuff works in Paranoia…. Curious….
