I want to play DnD But i dont want to play DnD~!

[Kaun]

Ok confusing title maybe but the general gist is this;

I like the DnD style game but i dont particularly like any of the DnD systems (this included all the 3x spin offs).

What im asking of the play ground is to tell me about non DnD fantsy systems which you think are worth playing and why!

What im looking for in a system is;
I am not massivly set on a class or classles system but i do like flexability.
I like Grity too a certain extent but not scared of paper cuts gritty.
I love systems with powerfull magic but i want there to be drawbacks and risks to it.

Anyway, thanks in advance playgrounders!

[Serpentine]

The only other one I've had any experience with is White Wolf games. Specifically Vampire, but you might like to have a look at Mage?

[Sillycomic]

Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing works pretty well for a gritty DND without the D&D feel.

There aren't classes, but careers that you can easily jump in and out of to get cool things. Boost your toughness by being a laborer for a while, or get more Weapon Skill by being a bodyguard, or even learn how to track by being a bounty hunter for a while.

There's no levels, just every time you get 100 XP from the game, you can buy a new skill or put up some points in your attributes.

Warhammer is not Cthulhu gritty, but it's far from easy. 1 death per story arc seems about what my group went through when we used to run it.

With the chaos system, there are risks to magic. Not sure how powerful magic is... nothing compared to 9th level spells, but if you know a few spells you are actively able to tell the laws of physics to sit down and shut up.

Considering there's only a few attributes to have, skills to learn, and everything is fairly clear on your character sheet, it's also very easy to learn and start playing.

[The Rose Dragon]

Unisystem is probably good enough for you here. While Witchcraft is free, you need something along the lines of All Flesh Must Be Eaten + Dungeons and Zombies.

[Xefas]

Burning Wheel meets all of your requirements. If you have further questions, the community is very friendly, and the creator, Luke Crane, is very active there as I understand it.

[Balain]

War Hammer Fantasy, Ars Magicka, Hmm maybe something older, Tunnels and Trolls, Rolemaster.

[elpollo]

Mongoose Runequest II, as it's awesoooome.

[ghost_warlock]

Seconding Burning Wheel. I think the next game I run, after my 4e Dark Sun campaign concludes, is going to use Burning Wheel.

[sailor_grenoble]

Possibilities include:

• GURPS: it can do everything, and does Dungeon Fantasy extremely well

• MRQ II

• HARP: characters feel like "people" (decent amount of skills, including "everyman skills" dependant on culture), even at level 1. there are classes and levels, but classes are "what skills are easiest for you to buy" and levels are "when you can spend your points to increase your skills"

• Dragon Warriors: for a bit of Old School goodness

• Legends of Anglerre: uses the FATE system

• Earthdawn: the principle behind Earthdawn was "let's take all the tropes of AD&D and have them make sense in-setting"

And if you're willing to wait a bit, Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2 is due out sometime in 2011

[grimbold]

FUDGE or GURPS are very generic and worth learning

[Totally Guy]

Wow, I guess I'm thirding Burning Wheel. That's cool.

It's got a lot more emphasis on what you are fighting for, be it freedom for your people or petty vendetta.

At the moment our game is about orcs trying to unite the tribes into a horde. But the grudges of all the characters keep coming to the forefront, winning one victory would wound another character's personal stake in the situation.

[Noneoyabizzness]

I'll second afmbe/witchcraft it is a fine system

[Tyndmyr]

Call of Cthulu fills those requirements, albeit having a bit different gameplay than D&D.

Really though, Id suggest trying a number of RPG systems, and broadening your horizons. There's a number of good RPGs out there, and human preferences being what they are, you probably wont know what all you like unless you try em.

[Kaun]

Thanks for the replies people!

I have played a few of these.

Gurps i am a fan of but i strugle to get my players interested in the system. We have played a few times but never for very long.

I played Earthdawn back in 1e and liked it but havn't played it in like 10+ years, has much changed? I bearly remember the rule system but i liked the fluff back then.

Burning wheel i have heard a lot of good stuff about so i might give it a look.

As for Warhammer fantsy i am sort of intrested in it, i have played a fair bit of Dark heresy and dont mind the system and aparently they have similarities.

I have played a few games using the story teller system over the years and dont mind it, i just cracked open the nWoD books today and game them a look.

-other games i have played that arn't dndish:
Deadlands 1e
L5R 1e
Champions (hero system)
Shadowrun (2nd and 4th)