Looking for a good system.

[Space Pumpkin]

My group has played a mixture of GURPS and Call of Cthulhu and it's now my turn to GM. I am looking to run a fantasy campaign for the first time! I'm looking forward to it but I don't really know about any good fantasy systems. Any suggestions?

[Geostationary]

There are quite a lot when you get down to it! Are you looking for a specific sort of setting/style of play, or do you just want general recommendations?


Some general recommendations; if you want to know more you have but to ask:
D&D 5e- The new system from Wizards of the Coast; I've generally heard good things about it, but haven't played it myself. You've gotten this far in the hobby so I'm presuming that you have a general idea as to what it is.

New World of Darkness- Good for modern fantasy, and it has a variety of splats from Vampires to Changelings to Mummies to Demons and more; it also supports cross-splat play should you be so inclined. If you do look at/use it, you should also get the God-Machine rules update.

FATE and derivatives- it's a generic system that runs on more narrative principles, but it's super flexible. The official Dresden Files rpg uses a version of FATE, and you can get FATE accelerated (a simplified but entirely function version of the full system) for free.

Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine- a personal favorite, it's also more generic but it's excellent if you want a large focus on roleplay and character interaction and less on granular combat. It's a diceless system that uses xp mechanics to guide and pace the narrative and is generally pretty brilliant.

Nobilis- it's my list so I get to add my pet systems. If you want to play high powered games about gods over specific aspects of reality (ranging from Time to Instant Ramen- trust me, it's balanced) and their fights against the void and each other, this is the system & setting for you.

[SouthpawSoldier]

I know it's bad form to quote oneself, especially in a chain, but I can't resist; I love this flowchart.

To quote myself from this thread that was asking a similar question;

[aspekt]

There are a number of systems tgat are cross genre which have specific settings developed for them. Of ciurse these systems can also be used to create your own setting.

d20 SRD
Savage Worlds
Fate
Fudge
d6 or Mini-six


All of the above, except Savage Worlds, have free core rules that you can download and use.

I'm of course assuming you know about the fantasy options for GURPS.

[LibraryOgre]

A lot depends on what you consider "Good", but I'll toss out Hackmaster Basic. Combat is opposed d20 rolls, with second-by-second action (once your turn comes up, you can use every second to move, and can attack or cast every X seconds, depending on what you did last).

[kyoryu]

FATE and derivatives- it's a generic system that runs on more narrative principles, but it's super flexible. The official Dresden Files rpg uses a version of FATE, and you can get FATE accelerated (a simplified but entirely function version of the full system) for free.

Both Fate Core and Accelerated are available on a Pay-What-You-Want basis, not just Accelerated.

[Knaight]

If you're going light on the magic, Chronica Feudalis is a really good system. It's solid, it's built around four subsystems that give it actual support to chases, subterfuge, parley, and combat (which includes things like modeling some clothing worn during a parley as tools using the general purpose tool rules, wherein you actually can exploit looking important through clothing mechanically), and it's written as if it was a found document originally made by some bored monks in a monastery, which gives it a lot of style.

I'm also going to second Fudge here. Fantasy Fudge is developed as an example complete setting in the 10th Anniversary Edition, and there's The Deryni Adventure Game if you like the Deryni setting in particular.

[Mr Beer]

OP, if you're familiar with GURPS, their Dungeon Fantasy supplements deal exclusively with fantasy.

But I second thinking about exactly what you want and go from there.

[Songtress]

Lords of Gossamer & Shadow by Rite Publishing, ha Fantasy, and traversing the Multiverse (ala Kingdom Hearts). It's highly Diceless so it might not appeal to many, but you could read pick up the books and take it to any system you like.

[nrg89]

I will try Savage Worlds for the first time tomorrow. Mainly because every single player I'm having over is a beginner and the last time I tried to teach the rules behemoth that is DnD to new players did not turn out that good. I'll let you know how it went.

But, since you have experience with RPGs since before, maybe you can try DnD out. In that case, I would recommend Pathfinder.

[Songtress]

As a Note: Lords of Gossamer and Shadow is 'rules lite'. The highest number wins (unless other narrtive factors change things, but its really interpretation.

[kyoryu]

Lords of Gossamer & Shadow by Rite Publishing, ha Fantasy, and traversing the Multiverse (ala Kingdom Hearts). It's highly Diceless so it might not appeal to many, but you could read pick up the books and take it to any system you like.

Isn't it mostly Amber Diceless without the IP attached?

[flame12]

For a relatively easy system to pick up, I honestly find Pathfinder is the easiest. That being said, it depends on how much combat you want versus storytelling. Fantasy Hero is my preferred for a more flexible story telling in fantasy settings.

[kyoryu]

For a relatively easy system to pick up, I honestly find Pathfinder is the easiest. That being said, it depends on how much combat you want versus storytelling. Fantasy Hero is my preferred for a more flexible story telling in fantasy settings.

Pathfinder may be a lot of things. Simple and easy to pick up I don't think are really on the list.

[dream]

OP, if you're familiar with GURPS, their Dungeon Fantasy supplements deal exclusively with fantasy.

But I second thinking about exactly what you want and go from there.

+2 this & ask your group what kind of expectations they have in regard to "Fantasy"

[Geostationary]

Isn't it mostly Amber Diceless without the IP attached?

It is, up to using the same system. I'm not sure how different the settings are as I'm not terribly familiar with either, but I've always heard good things.