What's Your Favourite Tabletop RPG System?

[McClaud]

My friend just introduced me to Pathfinder... it seems like pretty much the greatest thing since sliced cheese. Takes all the mistakes of 3.5 AD&D (except the idiotic complexity level) and fixes them.

But 1.0 AD&D is still the best.

There is no such thing as 3.5 AD&D. It stopped being AD&D after second edition. They actually went BACKWARDS for 3.0.

 

[Alex_P]

I like tight, focused games that deliver a specific feel. I like concise texts with simple but tailored rules and good play advice. Which particular game happens to be my favorite changes over time.
 

Right now, it's 3:16 - Carnage Amongst the Stars. Players play space marines purging the galaxy of alien life. The foundation of the game is a light and quick combat system that rewards tactical decision-making and competition between players. The real meat of the game, however, is in the "Flashback" mechanics -- you discover new facets of your character in play, and this in turn moves the story from kill-happy machismo to one about the disenchantment of a life of endless, pointless war.

I like that the game flexes easily between black comedy and a serious war narrative in the style of Old Man's War or The Forever War. I like that I can squeeze a satisfying mission into about an hour of play. I like that it's no-prep. I like that the game gives you some good structure but encourages you to go more and more freeform as you play. The mechanics create a natural end-game but it's very much up to the group to define what form that really takes.

Rolling for total enemies killed instead of points of damage is oddly cathartic, too.
 

My other go-to game is The Shadow of Yesterday, stripped down a bit because there's some bits in there that I don't need. It's a very adaptable system. Just write down a few short descriptions (pretty much all prose) and you're to go with a variety of different styles and settings. The mechanics really focus on characters' passions and identities. Unlike some other games with "roleplaying" rewards, the experience system pretty much drives itself without GM intervention, and it actually lets you improve a character through growth and change rather than just hitting the same note over and over again. A fairly open-ended, easily-modified game that works characters' motivations and culture right into the game-mechanical representations of those character? Yum!

-- Alex

 

[Smitty of the Tolchocks]

I suppose I'll go with AD&D but I like almost every Pen and Paper RPG I've ever played,and I've got some rare ones like Star Ace and Toon.

It's really hard to beat a homemade AD&D Campaign with a good DM who knows how to balance his/her creation between what (s)he wants to happen and what actually happens.
It can be great theater of the mind for the players and DM alike.In short order the story starts to take on a life of its own and the smallest insignifica can seem like the means to all ends.
I shit you not,Marcel Proust would goggle in awe at the deep level of characterization we'd build before our characters ever hit level 6.

This applies to all RPG's really.Homemade Campaigns or free-form adaptation of some setting(The World of Greyhawk,for instance) will trump the Computer versions for a long time to come because they are not programmed.A Human GM can roll with the punches and deal with any unexpected situation.
I chose D&D as my favorite because "everyone" who plays RPGs is passingly familiar with it.

Others that are hard to beat:
-Twilight 2000(GDW)
-Battletech(FASA)as an RPG,not just a miniatures game.
-Gangbusters(TSR)make your own adventures though.

-Hybrids....We combined Dawn Patrol* and Gang Busters(both TSR)for a "Terry and the Pirates" type game.

-Completely new---We also made a space marine game based on the film "Aliens" when it came out.It got a little stale so we made our own monsters for it.Years later a buddy who saw the game "Space Hulk" thought they had ripped us off.They didn't.I mean hey,we ripped off "Aliens" right?"Predator" wasn't made yet or we'd have robbed it too.

Maybe I don't really have a single favorite.But Pencil,Paper and Dice combined with a GM and players who really care what they're doing (having fun/creating a story) will beat the programmed module or even the MMORPGs like liquid usually beats solid.----Have fun.

*Once when I was shot down in "Dawn Patrol" we used the "Boot Hill"(TSR) rules until I got killed trying to reach friendly lines.Gang Busters worked better but we didn't own it yet.

 

[AceDefective]

my system

all players-me hungry
monsters-pancakes

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Cyberpunk 2020 (Interlock) since it's the only one I've played a decent amount of. Like it because it's comparatively easy to relate to the world.

Otherwise WHFRP 1 (&2)...because I like the warhamer fantasy setting.

I really like the Twilight 2000 setting if not the actual game system, because it has nuclear apocalypse and commies! Twilight 2013 is a better system and better written as far as I can tell from just reading the book rather than playing, but it just isn't the same without the Reds.

I prefer settings to systems or actually playing the games.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I quite liked the old Deadlands system. It was pretty wysiwyg in terms of dice rolling (I like wysiwyg rolling) but needed every kind of dices under the sun, and a deck of cards.

It fit the theme quite well though, especially the magic system based on poker hands.

 

[McClaud]

-Gangbusters(TSR)make your own adventures though.

Oh man. I still have that boxed game on my shelf. I love the free-form style of it. I also love that they did all the calculations for you for running criminal enterprises (if you don't play the law) so you don't have to try and figure that out yourself.

I think these download links are still viable if you want to take a look at it -> PM ME.

*Once when I was shot down in "Dawn Patrol" we used the "Boot Hill"(TSR) rules until I got killed trying to reach friendly lines.Gang Busters worked better but we didn't own it yet.

Geez, I have Boot Hill as well. Did you shop at the same FLGS that I did back in 1980?

I quite liked the old Deadlands system. It was pretty wysiwyg in terms of dice rolling (I like wysiwyg rolling) but needed every kind of dices under the sun, and a deck of cards.

It fit the theme quite well though, especially the magic system based on poker hands.

I loved the Deadlands original game. You can still get it - I think it's being reprinted by Pinnacle, who is also doing all the Savage Lands stuff.

You know what I haven't seen mentioned? Earthdawn. Did anyone actually try Earthdawn [http://www.earthdawn.com/] when it first came out? It was fun, if not intricately complex. And uber-deadly to PCs. I still have it on my shelf.

 

[Smitty of the Tolchocks]

To McClaud:
Thanks for the link to DMSD,I'll talk to him this weekend.I have to say that I'm surprised that Hashmo..err.. Hasbro hasn't tried to shut him down.
I go by Smitty of the Tolchocks on the WOTC boards as well and I hassle them every now and then(contact us,my ass) about some incomplete(brand new) games I bought from Avalon Hill in the 90s,before the buyout.I still have receipts showing they owe me money as well.They consistently ignore me and won't even tell me if the parts are laying around somewhere in a warehouse or something.They won't tell me how to get the parts even if I wanted to pay for them again.They don't reply,period.

My point is (I'm talking to you Hasbro) I'll download all of the out-of-print stuff I can from your companies until I get a framed apology.I declare your old stuff to be in the Public Domain.Furthermore I shall....excuse me,I got carried away.

 

[Anachronism]

I seem to be one of the few who actually likes D&D 2nd Edition. I realise it's murderously complicated, but I enjoy it all the same. I do want to give 4th Edition a try, though. Everyone I've talked to about it either loves it or hates it, so I figure it deserves a shot.

For pure fun, though, I do really like Risus. It's really simple, and just makes for a good, fun game. Very few complicated rules, so it becomes all about the story and the roleplaying, not attack rolls and saving throws.

 

[dweomermaster]

AD&D 2nd edition

 

[KBKarma]

... Mummy? WoD had a Mummy race? I never knew that.

<url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy:_The_Resurrection>Mummy: The Resurrection.

Backstory was interesting, expansion in player's guide included Chinese and Andean mummies, plenty of room for both action and roleplay, inherent and acquired powers were fun to use and read about, and most importantly...you can come back from the dead. And even when you're dead, you can still accomplish things as a ghost.

My word, a White Wolf game my gaming society doesn't have. Considering that we have most of the earliest editions of their games, that's rather surprising.

Then we have Paranoia. The only system I've ever run games in. A post-apocalyptic game that ran the gamut from slapstick to satire, depending on your chosen style of play; where everyone was a traitor, while thinking themselves the only ones. A cross between 1984, Catch-22, and the Marx Brothers, where knowing the rules was against the rules (of the 250+ pages in the book, players could only read 26), and accidents always happened to those people who were a threat to you. It was also a wonderfully simple system, requiring only a d20. And mentioning that it's perfectly feasible for the GM to roll for everything the PLAYERS do.

The Computer loves you too, Citizen. The Computer wants you to know that you've been promoted for saying such nice things about the Alpha Complex, but you were then quickly demoted because you revealed sensative information to potential mutant Commie traitors. You're not a mutant Commie traitor, are you, Citizen? ARE YOU?

Of course not, Friend Citizen! I love Friend Computer with all my heart!

However, your false accusations, for false they are, have led me to believe that you yourself are not the happy clone you say you are. What sensitive information have I revealed? I know I have not revealed

Spoiler: This is not for your eyes, Citizen

You looked. Please proceed to the nearest Termination Booth. Have a nice day, Friend Citizen

, or even

Spoiler: What is your security clearance, Citizen?

Not high enough. Please report to the Nuclear Power plant, where you shall be used as reactor shielding. And have fun.

. So, it leads me to believe you saw some kind of secret IntSec code in my sentence. And since only IntSec would know that, and you are not IntSec, you know information you should not, which you are planning on leaking to the Commies, who are your employers, nay, your "comrades". You disgust me.

I don't think it necessarily got less epic, just that you got less in one book. Which made it feel less epic. Once you own the other two major books for 4th Edition, you'll see that it's still as complicated and epic as the first version.

Except they retconned a huge amount of the cosmology and fluff. The system itself is rather decent (I'm going to a 4e game today, where my party shall finally hit Paragon), but I pay little to no attention to the cosmology anymore. It makes me cry, remembering the Great Wheel and what was (did I mention that I love Planescape?).

 

[GruntOwner]

NWoD. Nice and simple. I'd go for Exhalted too for the stunt rules, but the way they beefed up combat rules kinda puts me off. Well, beefed them up compared to WoD.
WH40K Dark Heresy does a fairly good job of showing just what kind of setting you're in, with even a simple watch costing half as much as some light armour. Light armour which you then wish you had when someone goes and pulls out the previously laughable lasgun.
DnD 3.5 was good, though the classes were difficult for some things.
The Generic Sci Fi System used by Serenity and BSG isn't half bad either.
Paranois is... Screw the system, it's the setting that makes it.

 

[Micah Weil]

Paranois is... Screw the system, it's the setting that makes it.

This, right here...especially if everyone playing - player and GM - are completely out of their minds.

My personal favorite system? Hmm...this is a hard one.

BESM (d6 tri-stat, if the idea of calling it BESM scares ya) has a lot going for it, what with it's endless customization of characters and settings.
I like how the Palladium system as a whole for handles things such as skill rolls and combat. That and their settings are always awesome (Rifts, Heroes Unlimited).
The most fun I've had was a Cyberpunk 2020 game with custom bits. God, that was interesting.

 

[Lost Leader]

DnD 3.5 is currently my favorite, but Pathfinder, which is essentially DnD 3.75, will probably take it's place when there is enough material published. Pathfinder looks to be taking the best parts of 4e, but keeping 3.5 as the core. I am liking the blend thus far.

We played a steady couple of campaign in 4e over 6 months. We all really tried to like it. And then one day one of the guys just randomly said.. dudes, 4e just isn't doin it for me. We all started talkin about how much we didnt like it and how much we missed 3.5. The next game was spent making new 3.5 characters and we have happily put the 4e books at the back of the cabinet.

 

[DreamKing]

I first exposed to DnD 4e but I played a variation on DnD 3.5 at a recent convention and I like 4e because I am kind of new to the whole DnD universe. I can understand why some people prefer 3.5 to 4. The second player's handbook for 4 allows players to make characters with races and classes missing from the the first one. I prefer 4 because I feel the combat is more sreamlined and the skills are nicely condensed so I don't have to worry about making a Spot or Listen check when one Perception check would do both. But the real pet peeve is a bad DM for either system.

 

[Baby Tea]

I started with Rifts, and therefore like the Palladium system the most.
I'm just used to it!

 

[GonzoGamer]

Palladium.

You could do anything with it fantasy, contemporary, scifi. It also doesn't overcomplicate stuff. Haven't played in a while but I made some epic frikin sagas with those rules.