What's your favorite game that you've never played?

What makes it your favorite? Do you want to play it? If so, what’s keeping you from doing it?

For me, it’s Burning Wheel.

I bought it purely based on aesthetics back in 2008ish, then got the supplements, then Gold, then Gold Revised, with the Codex, and the anthology…

I blame it for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardcover RPGs. :P I also like the graphic design, I like the prose (even if it’s divisive), and it has both interesting lessons you can plug into other games (like “let it ride,” letting success or failure stand instead of making lots of little rolls) and arcane systems that pique my interest (like the Artha cycle, which makes roleplay, metacurrency, skill rolls, and advancement all intersect). I genuinely like reading it for its own sake.

I haven’t played it because… well, since it’s not D&D, that immediately makes it harder to get people interested, sadly. It’s also a bit daunting, given its reputation as a crunchy system. But I have a group of players interested in trying new things, and fewer other games calling for my attention, so hopefully I’ll get a chance soon. :)

zero_spelled_with_an_ecks,

Satasupe. It’s a Japanese ttrpg. The name is a shortening of Saturday Night Special, and the game focuses on zany crime capers. I did a translation of it for a friend but nothing much came of it. If your character ever became too good or evil, they became an NPC, which was a nice mechanic to keep players from acting like saints or demons. …wordpress.com/…/happy-15th-anniversary-satasupe/

Lianodel,

Ah, that reminds me of City of Mist, where leaning too hard towards your mundane or supernatural side would do the same.

I’ve also found it interesting how vibrant the Japanese tabletop RPG scene seems to be, but how little of it makes its way over here. It seems like there’d be a huge market for it.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I’ve heard so many crazy stories about RIFTS that I’ve always wanted to play it. But none of my friends wanna play it, and I’ve also heard it’s an absolute nightmare of a game system to actually play it.

Perrin42,

I collected nearly all the books for a long time and love the setting, but I've rarely been able to play it. I have heard there's a version called Savage Rifts that has better mechanics, but I've never looked into it myself.

GrayBackgroundMusic,

Friends of mine have played both and prefer Savage by farrrrrr.

acockworkorange,

That was converted to Savage Worlds and it’s a great high adventure system.

GrayBackgroundMusic,

Yeah, it’s rough. I never liked the mechanics. I love the different settings and world building. However, it’s not balanced in the slightest. You can play a glitter boy pilot or a Russian peasant in poverty. Same starting points. It takes a strong gm hand to balance it.

Graycliff,

RIFTS does now come in Savage Worlds flavor! Simpler, more cohesive… Still a little imbalanced, but what’s RIFTS without imbalance?

RebekahWSD,
@RebekahWSD@lemmy.world avatar

Exalted! I did get to play…one game before that group imploded. Also any of the World of Darkness settings. No one here wants to play them, the only people that do get way way way too into it and are very unnerving to actually be around. Great for them, but I just rant to meet one a week, not a life of it.

NoYouLogOff,
@NoYouLogOff@hexbear.net avatar

Vampire the Masquerade, if only because I’m not into being bad guys. Love the vibes, vamps are fun, but I find it just a little too dark to want to RP as or write about.

Lianodel,

It also kind of sucks that 5e apparently makes it mandatory to be bad guys. One of the announcements pretty much said that if you’re not playing miserable and truly irredeemable monsters, you’re having bad wrong fun.

For what it’s worth, apparently the older editions can be played as “goth superheroes.” You’d still grapple with dark themes, but get to, you know… succeed against them.

dialectical_analysis_of_gock,
@dialectical_analysis_of_gock@hexbear.net avatar

You could look into Hunter: the Reckoning same vibes but you are a urban fantasy / paranormal investigator fighting the evil while trying to keep hold of your humanity / reason to hunt.

I’ve run VtM a good bit and it can be difficult hence the important of a session zero to establish lines/veils, for me I had to say I’m going to veil the hunt scenes.

Son_of_dad,

I guess Witcher 2. I’ve been trying to slog through Witcher 1 first when I have time, and when I’m finished that I’ll jump into part 2.

b_crussin,

You’re in for a treat. It’s a classic

Son_of_dad,

It was one sale for like $4 so can’t go wrong with that

funkyb,

Star wars FFG and Deadlands. I love the flavor of both. I doubt I’ll ever play star wars, but some of my current groups will probably give deadlands a try.

RebekahWSD,
@RebekahWSD@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve played a lot of Classic Deadlands and its quite fun! Combat can take forever though, with an even moderately small group.

funkyb,

Yeah, I think if I do end up playing it’ll be the newest version. I have the patience for crunchy systems but most of the people I play with don’t. And the thought of playing anything more complex than 5e with some of them terrifies me.

RebekahWSD,
@RebekahWSD@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, it’s not for the faint of heart, the Classic system. Flavorful though, starting poker hands for magic (well. One of the magics), all those dice types! And character creation that still makes me slow down.

Not as slow as making a character in Mutants & Masterminds though.

dialectical_analysis_of_gock,
@dialectical_analysis_of_gock@hexbear.net avatar

Deadlands is so cool, the Weird West genre has such potential!

dialectical_analysis_of_gock,
@dialectical_analysis_of_gock@hexbear.net avatar

Ars Magica but Burning wheel is a close second. I run and play modern/sci-fi 90% of the time as I got burned out on fantasy setting but I hold a candle for running/playing a theme campaign of a Mage Guild in ars Magica or a Theives guild in Burning Wheel.

Lianodel,

Ah, Ars Magica is another one. I found it as a teenager browsing the internet. I even downloaded the free PDF they offered and started printing it out, before realizing just how much paper that would be. :P

dialectical_analysis_of_gock,
@dialectical_analysis_of_gock@hexbear.net avatar

There is a ttrpg youtuber that did a video on Harnmaster mentioning he uses the Ars Magica magic system in that game which sounds like an absolute delight. Me, Myself & Die is the channel name. I love crunchy systems (I’ve been gamemastering Shadowrun since 3rd edition) and I’ve wanted to get into a fantasy crunchy system but stars have not aligned … yet. I’ve played and ran PF2e a lot and while the three action economy is fantastic and the world-building is delightful (Golarian’s kingdomds of Geb & Nex are so unique) I really don’t care for Vancian magic or class systems.

Lianodel,

Huh, I hadn’t thought of that, since PF2e is mostly poised as a D&D alternative rules system, but the setting must be popular given the existence of Savage Pathfinder… I’ll have to do more digging into the lore!

I’ve also had this thought that I was burnt out on crunchier RPGs, before reading PF2e and realizing, no, I’m just tired of fighting against a rules system. :P I’d love to get in some crunchier games, too, so long as they work properly and deliver on their design goals.

and I’ll have to check out Me, Myself & Die! I think I’ve heard the name before.

sammytheman666,

Pathfinder 2

CubbyTustard,

deleted_by_author

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    pikasaurX4,

    Making characters in GURPS is so fun. A friend was running a cyberpunk game one time and I brought like 3 characters so I could pick the one that fit the party the best. Sometimes we would just roll up character concepts to see how many points it would take.

    I played a lot of GURPS too, but it’s probably my all time favorite character creation system

    Lianodel,

    See, one of the things holding me back is getting overwhelmed by character creation. There’s just so much to go through!

    What makes me want to try GURPS is that it seems flexible (even light) in play, would adapt to just about any genre, and allows for incremental advancement. But since I’d be the one bringing it to the table, I’d have a heck of a lot to do to make it an easy entry, despite not having played the game yet.

    pikasaurX4, (edited )

    Totally understandable. When I first started playing, the GM made us all premade characters to learn the rules on. Then he made templates for us when we played for real so we just had to pick a “class” and spend a few character points for customization.

    GURPS is great for any setting and really shines in settings that involve many tech levels, like time traveling (that’s the default setting, in fact). It can be quite simple and elegant, but there are rules for just about any situation you can think of, and the calculations aren’t always simple because of it. Luckily, all rule blocks are optional. Playing GURPS “Lite” is supported/recommended in the base rulebook and it’s a fully functional system on its own.

    Anyway, I just love GURPS. After playing for a while, I started loving the character creation but I agree, it can be quite the barrier to entry. Also, running games and planning sessions is a lot of work for the GM. More than most systems I’ve played. If you’re playing rules-light or don’t mind handwaving a few specifics when building enemies, it’s not as bad. But if you’re going all in and trying to make reusable stat blocks, the joys of character creation will come back to bite you lol

    Lianodel,

    Ah, on the topic of templates, they’re also in Dungeon Fantasy, which helps a lot. Though I do wish the “default” settings on DF were a bit lighter.

    I know that GURPS Lite is secretly the real core rulebook. :P It’s easier to build off of that than go through the Basic Set and sift through everything. How to Be a GURPS GM, IIRC, also helps with things like skill lists.

    I think if I ever get a chance to play it, I’d probably start super simple, maybe even with Wildcard skills and some GURPS Action rules to smooth things out, then dial up the complexity until it’s at a point I’d like. I appreciate modular systems that let me do that.

    Shyfer,

    I want to play a lot more Chronicles of Darkness, but most people prefer fantasy or sci-fi and those who want urban horror prefer World of Darkness. They don’t market it well.

    I’ve also never played Blades in the Dark game. I think I need someone else to DM it for me first. I don’t really have PBTA down, my mind hasn’t quite grasped it yet.

    roflo1,

    I’m curious… what is it about CofD that you feel is missing from WoD? I’m actually on the other boat but since I’m often the storyteller, I get to decide. And my choice is mostly because I like WoD’s lore more and because I don’t own CofD books.

    Regarding PbtA, I thought I’d recommend the Dungeon World Guide. The early sections apply for any PbtA:

    drive.google.com/file/d/…/view?usp=sharing&re…

    Shyfer,

    That’s a good question. I think I’m just more familiar with the CofD lore and rules having first come in to these lines around nWoD. But I do like a lot of their mechanics, the themes, and feel of it all. It’s very mysterious and X-Files to me, versus WoD which always felt more punk. I’m sure I’d enjoy playing in a WoD game, too, but I’ve got all these CofD books I need to use if I got the chance to ST lol.

    roflo1,

    I never stopped to think that they have a different feel. Worth pondering. Thanks for the insight.

    dialectical_analysis_of_gock,
    @dialectical_analysis_of_gock@hexbear.net avatar

    I also want to check out a BitD game, or at least one of the other genres that make use of the system. I’ve read it, and it does break new ground in TTRPG design but it just hasn’t happened yet.

    Seryph, (edited )
    @Seryph@lemmygrad.ml avatar

    Blade of Arcana, an untranslated japanese game with a tarot card gimmick. From my understanding it’s a mostly standard d20 only game but I’m really curious how they managed to incorporate the cards into its gameplay. Unfortunately I don’t speak Japanese so I can’t read it.

    Lianodel,

    I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but I find it wild how few Japanese RPGs make it over with a translation. It seems like there’s a vibrant tabletop RPG scene there, and I’d bet there’s a huge market here, but it just rarely happens.

    Susaga,
    @Susaga@ttrpg.network avatar

    Genesys. Technically. I’ve played the Star Wars FFG system that eventually became Genesys (and loved it), but I haven’t played Genesys itself. I even own the Genesys dice, but I lack anyone else to roll them with.

    pikasaurX4,

    I finally got a physical copy of the Genesys rules last year, but I’m in the same boat. I played in a Star Wars game for a couple years and I love the system but I doubt I’ll ever have a group to play Genesys with

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