What's your favorite game that you've never played?
What's your favorite game that you've never played?
What makes it your favorite? Do you want to play it? If so, what's keeping you from doing it?
For me, it's Burning Wheel.
I bought it purely based on aesthetics back in 2008ish, then got the supplements, then Gold, then Gold Revised, with the Codex, and the anthology...
I blame it for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardcover RPGs. :P I also like the graphic design, I like the prose (even if it's divisive), and it has both interesting lessons you can plug into other games (like "let it ride," letting success or failure stand instead of making lots of little rolls) and arcane systems that pique my interest (like the Artha cycle, which makes roleplay, metacurrency, skill rolls, and advancement all intersect). I genuinely like reading it for its own sake.
I haven't played it because... well, since it's not D&D, that immediately makes it harder to get people interested, sadly. It's also a bit daunting, given its reputation as a crunchy system. But I have a group of players interested in trying new things, and fewer other games calling for my attention, so hopefully I'll get a chance soon. :)
GURPS
friend and I used to roll up characters but we never actually got a game going. Cool system though.
Making characters in GURPS is so fun. A friend was running a cyberpunk game one time and I brought like 3 characters so I could pick the one that fit the party the best. Sometimes we would just roll up character concepts to see how many points it would take.
I played a lot of GURPS too, but it’s probably my all time favorite character creation system
See, one of the things holding me back is getting overwhelmed by character creation. There's just so much to go through!
What makes me want to try GURPS is that it seems flexible (even light) in play, would adapt to just about any genre, and allows for incremental advancement. But since I'd be the one bringing it to the table, I'd have a heck of a lot to do to make it an easy entry, despite not having played the game yet.
Satasupe. It's a Japanese ttrpg. The name is a shortening of Saturday Night Special, and the game focuses on zany crime capers. I did a translation of it for a friend but nothing much came of it. If your character ever became too good or evil, they became an NPC, which was a nice mechanic to keep players from acting like saints or demons. https://d66roc.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/happy-15th-anniversary-satasupe/
Ah, that reminds me of City of Mist, where leaning too hard towards your mundane or supernatural side would do the same.
I've also found it interesting how vibrant the Japanese tabletop RPG scene seems to be, but how little of it makes its way over here. It seems like there'd be a huge market for it.
I have so many that I’ve come across over the years but never had a chance to try. Many of them have been mentioned by others so I’ll just throw in a fresh one: Mouseguard.
The setting just feels so cozy but also heroic. Something akin to a video game like Tunic. The rules are actually quite dense though, so I’ve never gotten buy-in from any players. But it’s one of those golden egg games that I’d really love to play some day
I actually want to check that out too, since it's in the Burning Wheel orbit. :P
That and Torchbearer, but as much as I loved the books, I think it's the last among the three. (Though I still really want to play it.)
Pathfinder 2
I've watched people play MOTW and Paranoia. Both look plenty fun.
I'd also love to try one of the WH40K RPGs, but they seem like a big commitment. And like you said, it's a lot harder to find people who want to go beyond D&D
I've had ambivalent feelings about Paranoia for a long time. I love the setting and it's inspirations (especially Terry Gilligan's Brazil). I have the XP edition, and the rules were confusing to the point of causing me drowsiness. I think they just put a rules section because they had to, and the GM is supposed to fly by the seat of their pants based on what is the most fun.
That said, I'd love to try it.
I've had the change to play Paranoia, actually! It was a ton of fun, and one of my favorite gaming memories. It ran great as a fun one shot.
Shadowrun. I love the idea and most of the mechanics. But all of these editions, all of them confusing and too crunchy for the lack of competent editing... Except Anarchy. I'll probably get around playing that one. Now if I could only get my hands on a physical copy...
Also Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game. I love the source novels, while the mechanics of the game seem like a lot of fun. But physical copies are worth a fortune and it's not easy finding a group who would be down with the setting. I might be able to give Lords of Gossamer & Shadow (Diceless) a go, though.
Anarchy is the only version I play now. I can recommend to read it.
Shadowrun really has been mishandled by Catalyst. :/ You also get big Shadowrun fans who genuinely love the setting actively discouraging people from using the rules sometimes. "Shadowrun is great, but it sucks, so if you want to play Shadowrun (which you should!) avoid using Shadowrun." :P
I've also heard Amber come up a bunch over the years. I keep meaning to check it out.
I've heard so many crazy stories about RIFTS that I've always wanted to play it. But none of my friends wanna play it, and I've also heard it's an absolute nightmare of a game system to actually play it.
Yeah, it's rough. I never liked the mechanics. I love the different settings and world building. However, it's not balanced in the slightest. You can play a glitter boy pilot or a Russian peasant in poverty. Same starting points. It takes a strong gm hand to balance it.
I collected nearly all the books for a long time and love the setting, but I've rarely been able to play it. I have heard there's a version called Savage Rifts that has better mechanics, but I've never looked into it myself.
That was converted to Savage Worlds and it's a great high adventure system.
Friends of mine have played both and prefer Savage by farrrrrr.
RIFTS does now come in Savage Worlds flavor! Simpler, more cohesive... Still a little imbalanced, but what's RIFTS without imbalance?
Genesys. Technically. I've played the Star Wars FFG system that eventually became Genesys (and loved it), but I haven't played Genesys itself. I even own the Genesys dice, but I lack anyone else to roll them with.
I finally got a physical copy of the Genesys rules last year, but I’m in the same boat. I played in a Star Wars game for a couple years and I love the system but I doubt I’ll ever have a group to play Genesys with
GURPS
friend and I used to roll up characters but we never actually got a game going. Cool system though.
Ars Magica but Burning wheel is a close second. I run and play modern/sci-fi 90% of the time as I got burned out on fantasy setting but I hold a candle for running/playing a theme campaign of a Mage Guild in ars Magica or a Theives guild in Burning Wheel.
Ah, Ars Magica is another one. I found it as a teenager browsing the internet. I even downloaded the free PDF they offered and started printing it out, before realizing just how much paper that would be. :P
There is a ttrpg youtuber that did a video on Harnmaster mentioning he uses the Ars Magica magic system in that game which sounds like an absolute delight. Me, Myself & Die is the channel name. I love crunchy systems (I've been gamemastering Shadowrun since 3rd edition) and I've wanted to get into a fantasy crunchy system but stars have not aligned ... yet. I've played and ran PF2e a lot and while the three action economy is fantastic and the world-building is delightful (Golarian's kingdomds of Geb & Nex are so unique) I really don't care for Vancian magic or class systems.
I want to play a lot more Chronicles of Darkness, but most people prefer fantasy or sci-fi and those who want urban horror prefer World of Darkness. They don't market it well.
I've also never played Blades in the Dark game. I think I need someone else to DM it for me first. I don't really have PBTA down, my mind hasn't quite grasped it yet.
I also want to check out a BitD game, or at least one of the other genres that make use of the system. I've read it, and it does break new ground in TTRPG design but it just hasn't happened yet.
I’m curious… what is it about CofD that you feel is missing from WoD? I’m actually on the other boat but since I’m often the storyteller, I get to decide. And my choice is mostly because I like WoD’s lore more and because I don’t own CofD books.
Regarding PbtA, I thought I’d recommend the Dungeon World Guide. The early sections apply for any PbtA:
That's a good question. I think I'm just more familiar with the CofD lore and rules having first come in to these lines around nWoD. But I do like a lot of their mechanics, the themes, and feel of it all. It's very mysterious and X-Files to me, versus WoD which always felt more punk. I'm sure I'd enjoy playing in a WoD game, too, but I've got all these CofD books I need to use if I got the chance to ST lol.
Why is it so hard for people to read the blurb on the right?:
This community is for meaningful discussions of tabletop/pen & paper RPGs
Do not submit video game content unless the game is based on a tabletop RPG property and is newsworthy.
Off-Topic: Book trade, Boardgames, wargames, video games are generally off-topic.
(Emphasis entirely mine.)
Vampire the Masquerade, if only because I'm not into being bad guys. Love the vibes, vamps are fun, but I find it just a little too dark to want to RP as or write about.
It also kind of sucks that 5e apparently makes it mandatory to be bad guys. One of the announcements pretty much said that if you're not playing miserable and truly irredeemable monsters, you're having bad wrong fun.
For what it's worth, apparently the older editions can be played as "goth superheroes." You'd still grapple with dark themes, but get to, you know... succeed against them.
Permanently Deleted
Exalted! I did get to play...one game before that group imploded. Also any of the World of Darkness settings. No one here wants to play them, the only people that do get way way way too into it and are very unnerving to actually be around. Great for them, but I just rant to meet one a week, not a life of it.
From way back in the days, Valley of the Pharaohs. While not my first game that attempted to be historically accurate (that honour falls to Chivalry & Sorcery) it was the first such game I found that not only tried to be historically accurate but also supplied loads of supporting material for it. (This was more important pre-Internet than it is now because it was both time-consuming and hard to find good, solid historical information that was usable in play.)
But I could never interest anybody in playing it.
So there's this Spanish rpg called The Door of Ishtar, which takes place in Mesopotamia after Zargon the Great defeats the Sumerians and founds Akkad. Such a rich world that I had to buy. I know I'll never get to play it though.
@acockworkorange @ZDL Not with that attitude.
Star wars FFG and Deadlands. I love the flavor of both. I doubt I'll ever play star wars, but some of my current groups will probably give deadlands a try.
I've played a lot of Classic Deadlands and its quite fun! Combat can take forever though, with an even moderately small group.
Deadlands is so cool, the Weird West genre has such potential!
Blade of Arcana, an untranslated japanese game with a tarot card gimmick. From my understanding it's a mostly standard d20 only game but I'm really curious how they managed to incorporate the cards into its gameplay. Unfortunately I don't speak Japanese so I can't read it.
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I find it wild how few Japanese RPGs make it over with a translation. It seems like there's a vibrant tabletop RPG scene there, and I'd bet there's a huge market here, but it just rarely happens.
Alien, that's a game that caught my attention.
And also Aquelarre, is a game set in medieval Spain, where legends and gods are real. The game describes itself as a "Demonic medieval rpg", and their rules are based on BRP, so it's quite familiar on the basics.
I would like to give Scum & Villainy a go. Have the book, but not managed to get a game. Yet! I won't give up. :)
Dragonbane.
yet...
It looks like it should work perfectly fine for a campaign like B/X DandD, but without character levels, spell slots, the weird attack roll system, and with skills. All the rules for wandering monsters, reaction rolls, and morale that make B/X great can just be added to Dragonbane almost as is.
I got the game, mostly for the things you mentioned. A lot if it is familiar D&D, in an old-school style, with some tweaks I like. It seems really flexible, and probably compatible with a lot of OSR stuff I already have. Plus the box set seems like it'd be a great kit for on-the-fly games.
So I'd also love to get it to the table sometime!
@Lianodel Spire. We we're like 80% close twice to set up a group though.
I bought Factorio like four years ago. I'm just waiting for a six-month period in my life where I can do nothing but play that game, because I know that as soon as I start it, that's what the next six months of my life will be.
FNAF. Love the theory vids.
Starwars 1313. The fact that Disney cancled it after saying they wouldn't is why I'm not playing it.
And baldur's gate 3. I just don't have the money cuz I got a lot of dentist bills coming real soon.
Guilty Gear. No particular one, but I do own Strive. The characters have a ton of personality, and the story seems like it doesn't necessarily take itself seriously, but most importantly, the soundtrack is absolutely banging. Some of the songs made it into my personal playlists. Problem is, I don't play fighting games, and even for a fighting game it seems pretty difficult.
Last of Us (both) for me. I am extremely scared of playing it but watched someone playing on YT without commentary. The narrative is truly amazing.
Also my spouse is playing Silent Hill 3 after finishing 1 and 2 and I also loved him playing those!
pretty much a 3rd of my steam library...
If I had to pick one, maybe Kerbal Space Program
Persona 5 looks amazing. So does dragon quest 11. I must play all games In a series in order. Its... and autistic thing I think but like, I really can't bring myself to play a game if I haven't played the previous... so persona itself was a spin off of the main shinmegami tensei series, which itself was a continuation of the megami tensei games. I played and beat megami tensei 1, megami tensei 2, and am currently playing shin megami tensei. The original persona was a bit hard to get into but now that I've played the predecessor I'm looking forward to playing it properly after I finish shin megami tensei 1 and 2, I think that's about the time persona started. Shin megami tensei 3 nocturn also looked cool and I'll be ready to play that one as well after SMT2. Soul Hackers 2 looks cool too but I have to play devil Summoner first which doesn't have an English translation, so I'm having to play it with Google lens which is slow going cause my Japanese isn't really that good.
I'm also a completionist... playing dragon quest 5 currently and I'm in the final dungeon and only have TWO monsters to catch but goddammit the Hyperanemon just WILL NOT JOIN ME. I've spent something like 12 hours trying to get him. Probably more. I sat on the entire plane ride from Baltimore to LA for 5 hours grinding the same battle over and over and didn't get him, and also watched several marvel movies. Frustrating... but everything I think, just go beat the game and move on, I'm like, but this is the second to last monster and I'll have them ALL.
Edit: God I wasted so much time. Thinking about it again, I did a search and found out you can't catch the Hyperanemon on Mt. Zugzwang, only in the post game dungeon. Fml.
Cool, however this is a community for tabletop roleplaying games.
Whoops. My bad. Well my top board game pick is Gloomhaven. I even bought it, and my friend bought the stickers and we were gonna play it but instead she just played it with a different group and I never got to play it, even though I payed for it, and not too long after we had a falling out and I find it hard to justify spending another $100 on it.
Minecraft.
I enjoy a good builder game and 'Minecraft' seems to be among the best of them. But I reached a point of being fed up with having to sign-up for various things and creating accounts, just to be able to play a silly game, years ago. And 'Minecraft' is still, for some reason, locked behind Microsoft Account Creation.
It's the same with Obsidians 'Grounded' and X-Com 2.
And I simply refuse it.
Even more so if it requires a separate storefront launcher than the one I'm using to pop-up and launch the game. (Looking at you, 'Origins'..) That's an instant refund.
I guess Witcher 2. I've been trying to slog through Witcher 1 first when I have time, and when I'm finished that I'll jump into part 2.
You’re in for a treat. It’s a classic
It was one sale for like $4 so can't go wrong with that