Thinking about making the switch to basic fantasy

[Dankus Memakus]

So, long ago I started gaming playing 3.5 dungeons and dragons, i then briefly moved on to 4e and then quickly to 5e. I have always felt like something is missing. Although 5e moved in the right direction adding more simplicity I hate the lack of death and grit. My party was once very cautious and smart and we have just slowly devolved into slaughtering everything due to the power level of 5e PCs. Awhile ago I stumbled onto the gem known as basic fantasy. Now I've never got into the old systems of d&d due to the fact that the rules were so different I was unwilling to learn. Looking at basic fantasy it seems to be exactly what I want. A perfect blend of old and new. My question is: I really wanna make the switch and have a grittier, harder system, will basic fantasy fulfill that need?

[Airk]

So, long ago I started gaming playing 3.5 dungeons and dragons, i then briefly moved on to 4e and then quickly to 5e. I have always felt like something is missing. Although 5e moved in the right direction adding more simplicity I hate the lack of death and grit. My party was once very cautious and smart and we have just slowly devolved into slaughtering everything due to the power level of 5e PCs. Awhile ago I stumbled onto the gem known as basic fantasy. Now I've never got into the old systems of d&d due to the fact that the rules were so different I was unwilling to learn. Looking at basic fantasy it seems to be exactly what I want. A perfect blend of old and new. My question is: I really wanna make the switch and have a grittier, harder system, will basic fantasy fulfill that need?

Depends; You're likely to lose a lot more than power level making the move, since BF is an OSR offering, it's probably going to be pretty light on stuff like "skills" that you might be accustomed to having in your game.

I don't really endorse "system chasing" where you bounce from system to system trying to find the one that is your personal holy grail - I think it's better to play systems and try to appreciate what they do. So yeah, run a one shot of BF and see what you think and form your own opinion instead of asking a bunch of clowns on an internet message board. The rules are free, for heaven's sake. What's the worst that could happen?

[Knaight]

I wouldn't think of it as a switch - you don't have to be committed to only one system at a time (beyond the context of one system per game, and even that can be pushed if you really want to). Instead, the system is one tool that you're looking to try out for a quick campaign. Basic Fantasy sounds like it would work for you, but there's a bunch of systems worth giving a shot in that same vein. For this particular niche, there's Basic Fantasy; Adventurer, Conquerer, King; Warrior, Rogue, and Mage; Torchbearer; Hackmaster; and Runequest as pretty obvious options worth giving a shot.

If gritty and lethal are your only criteria the game list opens up a fair bit, but I'm working on the assumption that you do still want a fantasy system which covers a fairly similar range of fantasy. Otherwise there's a couple of science fiction systems and a lot of modern action-horror worth looking into.

[Dankus Memakus]

I wouldn't think of it as a switch - you don't have to be committed to only one system at a time (beyond the context of one system per game, and even that can be pushed if you really want to). Instead, the system is one tool that you're looking to try out for a quick campaign. Basic Fantasy sounds like it would work for you, but there's a bunch of systems worth giving a shot in that same vein. For this particular niche, there's Basic Fantasy; Adventurer, Conquerer, King; Warrior, Rogue, and Mage; Torchbearer; Hackmaster; and Runequest as pretty obvious options worth giving a shot.

If gritty and lethal are your only criteria the game list opens up a fair bit, but I'm working on the assumption that you do still want a fantasy system which covers a fairly similar range of fantasy. Otherwise there's a couple of science fiction systems and a lot of modern action-horror worth looking into.

What is the sci f options?

[Anonymouswizard]

I like Basic Fantasy, although I personally prefer Lamentations of the Flame Princess for keeping the more weird bits of BECM D&D ('my class is elf').


What is the sci f options?

White Star is an OSR science fiction game, although I will point out that you really want the Companion. The core rules are pretty much for running the original Star Wars trilogy and nothing else, the Companion brings it into a more generic pulp science fiction with it's additional classes (primarily Men of Tomorrow and Technicians, but Bounty Hunters and Deep Space Explorers are nice). Still it's PWYW, the core book is here (http://drivethrurpg.com/product/148169/White-Star-White-Box-Science-Fiction-Roleplaying-Swords--Wizardry?term=white+star&test_epoch=0), the companion is here (http://drivethrurpg.com/product/175521/White-Star-Companion-Swords--Wizardry?cPath=8545_24145).

Traveller is a classic, although it's skill based and not class based.

EDIT: and Stars Without Number, but I dislike it as it puts everybody in the categories of 'fighting person', 'psychic', or 'everybody else', which annoys me as in my experience personal combat is relatively rare in science fiction games, so I'm going to let somebody else sell it.

I'm working on my own Science Fiction OSR game, based off BECM but deviating along the Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Basic Fantasy lines. However there's going to be more differentiation with noncombat characters, with scientists, technicians, 'agents', pilots, and so on being classes. The 'core four' are planned to be Soldiers, Technicians, Agents, and Diplomats (because Babylon 5), corresponding roughly to Fighters, Magic-Users, Thieves, and Clerics.

[Knaight]

What is the sci f options?

White Star and Traveler have already been mentioned, although I'd point out that early Traveler has a retroclone called Cepheus Engine worth taking a look at. D6 Space is also worth looking into - the slightly older version is available for free as part of a bundle, and while I don't think it's necessarily to your taste it's free and good enough to be worth looking at. Stars Without Number is another decent option. On the cyberpunk end there's always Cyberpunk 2020, and if you want large scale games Planet Mercenary is worth a look.

Then there's space fantasy - there's several Warhammer 40K roleplaying games (e.g. Rogue Trader), these seem a bit more likely to be up your alley. Shadowrun is in a similar genre, as a fantasy cyberpunk hybrid.

This isn't sci-fi, but I think you'd really like the One Roll Engine system, with Nemesis being it's free product. It can be pushed into early future science fiction easily enough, but far future sci-fi would need a proper overhaul.