Want to try a new rpg

[Aerris]

Yup. Decided to try something new, and I'm open to suggestions. I'm looking for something not too rules heavy, with pre-written adventures if possible. Bonus points if my players don't have to read much (I dont mind it tho). Also, pls mention which editions you are talking about, as never know which one to choose :)

Previous group experience - every single player has played DnD 3.5. Some have played more, some less, some played lots of 3.5/AD&D/etc. video games, some didn't. The group is willing to take time and learn, provided the setting is interesting enough.

[Herabec]

Fantasy Flight's Star Wars RPG is pretty good, though they don't have any official PDFs so you'll need to find a copy of Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion or Force and Destiny to play. It's definitely more story-focused with only a light coating of mechanics.

There's also the Song of Ice and Fire RPG by Green Rhonin which is decent, but it's fairly crunchy.

[Aerris]

Oooops I forgot to mention that I'm looking for a new IP. So no Star Wars/Star Tracks/Cthulhu/you catch the drift. By all means, pls share and discuss your opinions on any of those games, I plan on trying them later on, but for this try, I'd like a completely fresh start.

[Yora]

Maybe Symbaroum? I've not played it yet but heard many good things about it. Seems pretty compact and not too complicated. The setting is the borderland on an ancient dark forest inhabited by hostile magical creatures. Looks a lot like Mirkwood (particularly from The One Ring RPG) or The Witcher.

[Mutazoia]

Well, there are a few systems you can try that don't make use of an existing IP, such as:

1. Teenagers From Outer Space (has a ton of adventure ideas in the back)
2. BESM (any anime/maga is a potential adventure)
3. Top Secret S/I (has a few pre-made adventures)
4. Any "Generic" system (I prefer D6)
5. Star Frontiers (has pre-made adventures)
6. Iron Heroes
7. In Nomine
8. Boot Hill
9. Dead Lands
10. Albedo
11. Car Wars/Auto Duel (the "original" Mad Max RPG)
12. Battletech/Mechwarrior

I could go on for ages here. It might be easier if you had an idea of the kind of game you were looking to run, and we could narrow down the list a bit.

[Koo Rehtorb]

Dungeon World. Think of it as rules light D&D.

Or, if you're looking for something new, Apocalypse World. Also rules light, but with guns and cars and psychic powers instead of swords and sorcery.

[Anonymouswizard]

Fate is good, although it is a very different experience to D&D. It's a generic system/game toolkit that uses 4 'fudge/fate dice' which are really just a d3-2 to resolve actions and short phrases called Aspects to help define characters. It's much more narrative than D&D and players are encouraged to design their own Stunts (think Feats from 3.5) as well as work to design Extras with the GM (Extras are anything that isn't covered by Aspects/Skills/Stunts, and can have or provide Aspects, Skills, Stunts, or other benefits).

As a bonus, the core rulebook, a lighter build, and a selection of setting/adventure hybrids (the World of Adventure line, no I am not going to link to them all) are available as Pay What You Want pdfs.

[Vauron]

You could give Godbound a try. The setting of Godbound is a fantastical post-apocalyptic realm where the world was shattered in the wake of the Last War, fought between the Made Gods over the halls of heaven. Now, with the engines that run reality for the world of Ancem sputtering and dying, men and women across the land are finding themselves endowed with the power of the Words of Creation. In Godbound, you play one of these men and women, inheritors of the divine fire. The peoples of the world will fall, unable to survive the fading of the world, nor the monsters that are coming in ever greater numbers. Will you be their savior, or their epitaph?

Godbound is generally a sandbox style game, where much of the plot is player driven, if that matters to you.

Most of the rules are available for free at the link provided. It has everything you'd need to run a game, it mostly skips variant rules such as how to make mortal heros or alternate magic systems.

[Belac93]

I would suggest D&D 5e. If your players liked 3rd edition, its a bit like that, but with more freedoms and lower power levels (more freedoms in that although there are technically less options, any combination works fine if you build it right).

Other than that, I would suggest Kobolds ate my Baby for comedy or World of Darkness for angst and horror. Both are fun games, and KAMB is very rules light.

[Knaight]

Pre written adventures are mostly not happening, although some of these have one. A bit rules lighter on the other hand is easy, so that gives us this (far from comprehensive) list.

The Generics - I suspect you're not looking for these, as they don't even have a pre written settting in the core rules, but Fudge, Fate, GURPS, Savage Worlds, d6 Open, Cortex, and HERO should all probably at least be mentioned in passing. GURPS and HERO fail the not too rules heavy criteria.

Warbirds - Warbirds is a game set in the Carribean islands, after they are swept away by a giant storm and put around what it subtly implied to be the eye of a gas giant planet. It's a dieselpunk setting focusing on plane combat, and the PCs are by default members of a prestigious mercenary group, flying cutting edge planes on dangerous missions and handling being minor celebrities. It's complex enough to be engaging, but mostly the rules are there to support the setting, which is really cool.

Chronica Feudalis - Chronica Feudalis is a historical medieval game, and what really makes it is two things. One is how it's written - the conceit is that it's a found document from some monks who came up with an RPG, and because of that it's actually really engaging to read it instead of feeling like a textbook. The other is that it is built around four core subsystems, only one of which is combat. It does chases, subterfuge, and parleys as well, and things like tool use crop up in all of them. It's excellent.

Nemesis - Nemesis is an action horror game in the Lovecraft mold, kind of like Delta Green. It's good at what it does, but it also introduces the One Roll Engine, which I'd consider the best part. Said one roll engine then gets used in...

REIGN - REIGN is a fantasy game, with a focus on organizations. The character side of it is solid, and it has an interesting setting. What really sets it apart though is the rules for handling large organizations and conflicts between large organizations, which include rules for taking the actions of individuals (e.g. the PCs) into account at the group conflict scale.

Qin: The Warring States - Qin is a game about wuxia heroes in warring states china, with a dash of conventional fantasy via magic and monsters, both of which are still pulled from Chinese lore. It's one of relatively few games in that niche, and part of the reason it's getting mentioned is that it does have an adventure built into it, and quite possibly more elsewhere - I haven't kept up with the splat situation.

Microscope - Microscope is on the list to pull in some of the fringe. It's a GMless cooperative timeline building game, it's heavily non-chronological (in that you build the chronology by jumping around in it, not in that there isn't one), and it's absolutely brilliant. If you only play one of these games on the list, give Microscope a try. If you're looking for something traditional though, it's not it.

[Anonymouswizard]

For Fate, there's also a few games which use the system available with fully detailed settings (not included is The Small Folk, who I couldn't find a DriveThruRPG link for).

Qin: The Warring States - Qin is a game about wuxia heroes in warring states china, with a dash of conventional fantasy via magic and monsters, both of which are still pulled from Chinese lore. It's one of relatively few games in that niche, and part of the reason it's getting mentioned is that it does have an adventure built into it, and quite possibly more elsewhere - I haven't kept up with the splat situation.

There are more adventures, the entire line was pretty much designed around a campaign (which hasn't been released in full yet). I believe most of the splats include an adventure, The Art of War includes two.

[Knaight]

For Fate, there's also a few games which use the system available with fully detailed settings (not included is The Small Folk, who I couldn't find a DriveThruRPG link for).

That's true for all of the generics. Just off the top of my head:

Fate: Dresden Files, Age of Arthur, Diaspora, Legends of Anglerre, Bulldogs,
Fudge: Deyrini Realms, Terra Incognita, Oz, Hack n' Slash, Psipunk, Heartquest, Gatecrasher, Fudge Fantasy
Savage Worlds: Necessary Evil
GURPS: GURPS China, GURPS Crusades, GURPS Fantasy
d6 Open: d6 Starwars

[Aerris]

So many great recommendations :O Ty all! It will take me quite a lot of time to check all this out :) My mate somehow stumbled upon "Fiasco", so we decided that's gonna be the first thing we try - sessions are supposed to be short and easy to set-up, so i figure it can't hurt to give it a spin before we jump into something more serious.

On a side-note, this thread reminded me how i know nothing about history/development of tabletop games. Any good books/articles/whatevers that would improve my knowledge a bit?

[Koo Rehtorb]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnjA4D0Z4pM

[Jay R]

If your friends like musketeers movies, I strongly recommend Flashing Blades. It's a simple d20-like combat and skill system (but you want to roll low). There are four classes, but this is "class" in the period sense. It's really just the background you grew up in (Noble, Gentleman, Soldier, Rogue). This is expanded in the Caribbean expansion (Sailor, Marine, Pirate, Colonial Rogue, etc.). And to make female characters work better, I invented one, out of one of the only backgrounds of the time in which women could move around independently - Actor. The class primarily affects what skills you have had easy access to. Each character has one Advantage (Land, Lackey, Favor, Contact, etc.) and one Secret (Secret Loyalty, Sworn Vengeance, Code of Honor, etc.).

For a real change of pace, there's always TOON. Experienced role-players take a little time to get into it, but once they lose their bad rpg habits like trying to bad things, and go ahead and accept falling off cliffs and being hit by anvils, it can be hilarious. One delightful rule is that if you try to do something clearly impossible (an elephant going through a mousehole), you roll on your Smarts. If you fail the roll, you successfully accomplish the impossible task.

[Reynaert]

I'm not sure if it fits your 'new IP' rule, but Titansgrave seems nice (Fantasy AGE system) and reasonably close to D&D-style games.

And then there's Feng Shui rpg, which is way more different.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

And then there's Feng Shui rpg, which is way more different.

Yeah, Feng Shui's always fun. Either edition, though personally I'd recommend 2nd.

[SirBellias]

What does IP mean?

The new Monster of the Week handbook comes with 2 or 3 example scenarios, if that counts. Powered by the Apocalypse, too. I'd recommend any of those, actually (Apocalypse World, Dungeon World...).

[Anonymouswizard]

That's true for all of the generics. Just off the top of my head:

Fate: Dresden Files, Age of Arthur, Diaspora, Legends of Anglerre, Bulldogs,
Fudge: Deyrini Realms, Terra Incognita, Oz, Hack n' Slash, Psipunk, Heartquest, Gatecrasher, Fudge Fantasy
Savage Worlds: Necessary Evil
GURPS: GURPS China, GURPS Crusades, GURPS Fantasy
d6 Open: d6 Starwars

Yep, but for most of them you don't tend to get the basic rules completed (although Fate games have a tendency to be a lot longer than they need to be, a good deal of that is setting). Now I don't have experience with FUDGE books because it's before my time, I don't really like Savage Worlds anymore because characters felt samey, and GURPS has the problem of being potentially sourcebook heavy for a lot of settings, and so on. The thing with Fate is it's the only one I know still available where all the settings have the core rules included, so I thought I'd mention it (note I said 'game' not 'setting', that was on purpose).

[Knaight]

Yep, but for most of them you don't tend to get the basic rules completed (although Fate games have a tendency to be a lot longer than they need to be, a good deal of that is setting). Now I don't have experience with FUDGE books because it's before my time, I don't really like Savage Worlds anymore because characters felt samey, and GURPS has the problem of being potentially sourcebook heavy for a lot of settings, and so on. The thing with Fate is it's the only one I know still available where all the settings have the core rules included, so I thought I'd mention it (note I said 'game' not 'setting', that was on purpose).

The Fudge ones have the core rules included too. At least some of the Savage Worlds ones do, although I'm not sure which - it's not a system that appeals to me either.

[Jay R]

What does IP mean?

Intellectual property. It's Star Wars, or The Three Musketeers, or Ravenloft, or King Arthur, or whatever the background of your game is based on (if anything).