i was thinking about a room made basically of projector screens the shine from the outside in on clear sheets like the monitor from the first invisible pc setup and making like a pip boy to roll when you are anywhere on the board with timers and health and more with pulleys to fly with and rc monsters that have projectors to show attack range and animations and then i would make spells and abilities working somehow
It would be cool to have a RPG of the month series. Where every month you do a deep dive on a different game. With as many RPGs as there are such a series could last decades.
We played 'the end of the world' this summer. It's an TTRPG where you play as yourself, and when deciding you scores there is a point buy system. After which everyone get's to vote if your stats in certain things should be higher or lower. You also get to choose 3 things per stat that you're extra good (or bad) at (like kicking in doors for strenght or solving sudoku puzzles for logic) When the characters are done you start the game at your table, ye ms the characters in game start where you start, wearing whatever you are wearing. And it goes from there. We raided our local DIY store for supplies, went to the amusement park to kill some zombie overlord. Stole a truck to get to the forest. Really fun game, we'll play it again sometime, at someone else's house :).
Sojourn, Worlds without Number, By this Axe, Savage Worlds, Wicked Ones, Fantasy Age, 13th Age, Mork Borg, Vast Grimm, and Red Giant are all worth a glance, too.
WWN is an incredible book and an all right system. Very easy to run and prep for since then book dedicated like 80% of itself to GM tools. I like how your characters are essentially random rolled and how the power scaling is pretty grounded. It feels like the sweet spot between 5e and DCC with the complexity of neither.
These are some great suggestions, really looking forward to a large 'database' of compiled systems just like this video. There's also the Champions TTRPG, to add to the list (3d6 roll below your own attribute), which also offers way more varied character creation.
@2:32 - Just as a practical matter... doubling spell range on a 20 is pointless because no player will try to cast a spell at an out of range target hoping for a 20.
Whoa I had no idea that was a thing! Looking forward to Stormlight RPG, but I haven't read any Mistborn haha, my wife and some friends have though, so maybe they'd jump in to run it :)
I would click that video so fast lol. And Bob, please do yourself a favour and read those books! You only need the first 3 if you want to cover the entire setting of the game.
The magic system in the Mistborn novels is quite cool and would lend itself to creative role playing. I don’t know how they implemented it, but I’m sure it won’t be like D&D.
@@danroberts007 The rules are qute fluid, very roleplay driven, if you wrote on your character sheat that you are were circus jugler, then a situation comes up where you need to trow a small object in a particular way, then you just say "actually, since I was a jugler I think I shuld get an extra die to do this" and the DM will be like: sure have another die! (It's a D6 dice pool system)
Hey Bob, great video! Given that you mentioned the PbtA family, I'd have also said that Candela Obscura is part of the "Forged in the Dark" one; helps with spreading the word about these big families of great games.
You took 15 for the team sir. "It's not easy, but I did this for my fellow gamers so they didn't have to endure the misery of trying out fun knew games and trust me if you are trying a game out that is not fun, and you committed, it feels like your brain is bleeding, but oh boy when its fun, you get that pure rush of gaming goodness.
Glad you finally took an opportunity to do a deeper dive into the Runehammer offerings, Index Card RPG and DM Scotty’s EZD6. Both are standouts for their ease of learning, versatility, player and GM empowerment, and overall high level of fun at the table. I hope you continue to explore and present these ruleset options.
Agree, cool to see ICRPG on here! Wish he gave a more detailed opinion on what he liked/didnt like. Especially how he views the Effort, inventory and progression systems.
Excited to hear that you're checking out Mausritter! It's one of my favorite physical products that I own. If you like the Mausritter/Cairn style of play, I highly recommend checking out Liminal Horror, which is an investigative horror hack of Cairn. The adventures for it are wonderful (I suggest checking out The Bloom).
ICRPG! EZD6! Monster of the Week! Cairn! Mausritter! Maze Rats! Knave 2e! The One Ring 2e! What a great list of game recommendations and to-play list! So happy to see this type of content, rather than more of that tire ol' ampersand game 😁👍
From what I gather PDM is going back to six stats, because 3 doesn't differentiate characters enough. PDM has mentioned running a Kickstarter for _Deathbringer_ but it sounds like he first needs to find time to revise the manuscript.
@@fmitchell238a from what he said in a recent video, I assume it's in the works but he'll run the Kickstarter before it's finished. After all, it's a great way to measure interest and get some feedback before everything is settled.
@@drillerdev4624 I'd prefer he get as much writing and playtesting as possible done before the Kickstarter, especially since _Deathbringer_ is the house rules of his long-running campaign. Kevin Crawford (Sine Nomine Games) has an essay about how he runs his Kickstarters, and one of his cardinal rules is to finish the writing *before* starting the Kickstarter: the money goes directly toward paying for art, production, and printing, with presumably a healthy profit. (I think that's what Kelsey Dionne did too.) It still amazes me that the MCDM RPG collected $4.6m even though it's in development ... but then I've been burned by Kickstarters that took years to complete and a few that simply took the money and delivered nothing.
@@fmitchell238a I'm the first one that tries to avoid overpromising kickstarters with no established base, but I don't think the Professor will launch his without showing at least a quickstart. That doesn't mean the game should be 100% finished at that moment. I'm expecting something along the lines of Knave or the Bastionlands. The base was done by the time the kickstarter launched but there was stuff to be done. After all, logistically a TTRPG project is easier than a boardgame, for example. Anyway, I think we'll know in a couple months at most.
SHADOWDARK!! DCC!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻 Cairn, Knave, Deathbringer and SkateWizards all sounds like a riot. Dang you logged so many games the past year. Awesome feat and another great vid Bob! 🙌🏻🙌🏻
I love to see you exploring the multitude of games out there. There really is too much goodness for one lifetime. I am preparing for an Avatar Legends one shot soon. This weekend I am at a convention running two Free League gems in Alien and Vaesen. So easy to learn and run.
I am my gaming group 🤣 💪🏻 Mine are Mork Borg (all related products like Pirate Borg, Forbidden Psalm etc..) DCC (MCC as well) Sacrifice A Insence and Iron RPG Across a Thousand Dead Planets. Have more on a list but havent used or played solo yet.
@@BobWorldBuilder ah nice I am about to run a funnel for DCC 8, 0 level characters with 4 more for back up 😅. Also solo shadwdark there are some people who have ran it and posted gameplay videos on UA-cam for their prep and how it went 😁 also of games are similar enough to the point you can run things in other systems. I just don't have shadwdark yet myself so this is why. I'd rather have a physical book of it.
THANKS! part 2 of this could be "my favorite is this" and the "easiest to learn for your group is this" would be great and helpful. I am almost done with my 3 year 5E campaign but would like to introduce another game when they party "sleeps" with my next campaign... just trying to find an easy and fun game to try this with.
My pleasure! I guess I meant to incorporate the recommendations by stating how similar they each game is to D&D, but what makes it different. But for just a fun and easy game that's a bit different, Cairn or Skate Wizards would be my personal favs
Also Shadowdark adventures work pretty well in DCC with little changing stuff around, use the gaming systems of DCC with the events of Shadowdark 😁 might need to check the nonsyer stats but they are decently close overall.
I have run Goodman Games DCC modules in Basic/OSE and 5e... the flavor is dope and they are designed to be system agnostic. In my view, most D20 D&D like games are pretty interchangeable w/out a ton of work, as long as your players don't expect perfect balance and accept that sometimes they need to run away to survive.
Nice! I am familiar with most of them, but a couple are new to me. Many or even most seem to be a variation, to one degree or another, of D&D. I'd love to see some other games like Savage Worlds or Fate get some love.
Awesome showcase! started playing different TTRPGs each month in the last quarter of 2023, including DC20 which is AWESOME, and looking to get to 12 new ones this year! May have to try a few of these out!
Yeah honestly that's the intimidating part for me. I tend to run a pretty comedic game, and while LotR has it's share of comedy, I want to make sure I get the tone right.
@@BobWorldBuilderThe Starter Set has a series of Shire adventures for Hobbits that can be spun to be more amusing than dangerous, at least at first. Of course, once you get to the last adventure, things can be quite serious. I hope you get a chance to try it out, and look forward to it!
It's worth noting that the Index Carg RPG _free_ rulebook is something like 150 pages of awesomeness. It's worth reading just for fun, and to make yourself a better GM in a general sense.
Some great games in here. Cairn and DCC are great. I don't agree with Pathfinder being "overly complex", at least not 2nd Edition, so I think that's a bit harsh and shows a hard bias against games that aren't perceived as "rules light." Compared to a lot of other high-crunch games, PF 2e is "rules light."
I gotta figure out how to get you on the Free League/Year Zero Engine train! Forbidden Lands is such a good game and needs more hype. Another honorable mention is Electric Bastionland, quirky and fast to learn/play. Same author as Into the Odd, which Cairn is based on. Good stuff, Bob!
@user-jt1js5mr3f yeah, I cheated the narrative there a little bit. Personally, I just much prefer FL's own games over the big IP stuff. There's such a glut of great games now a days it's hard to keep up.
Your video "My Top 2 D&D-Alternatives" introduced me to DCC and in honesty I love it! I am looking at integrating its magic system like you described because "cool" :) Thanks for all you do! Seriously looking at Patreon once I get more settled in my new house ;)
I love videos like this! There are so many TTRPGs out there now (which is fantastic) so getting a quick high level overview of each one helps get more games into the spotlight for more people to discover :)
Nice! I was deep into running a 5e campaign so i did not look into other systems or worlds until this christmas, but we tried Cyberpunk 2020. It took some getting used to but MAN the world and games are really interesting and deadly. We entered a new player and his character died instantly in a blaze of glory. The combat system is based on real life fights so they are short and deadly, making them super exciting. It is not for everyone and it is really crunchy, but i highly recommend this game :)
If you like Cairn so much, you also gotta test out the originals: not only Knave (which is amazing) but also especially the great Into the Odd (and other Bastionland games), which is also the base for Mausritter! A completely different beast (more akin to EZ D6) but also absolutely fantastic are the Free League games, which all have a beautiful production value
While I get wanting to stick to your roots and the desire to play familiar games, I do wish that more than half of these weren’t just D&D echo fighters
I really like that you specified that you have no previous experience with these, and ran them anyways. Too many people will sit on a game forever waiting for someone to magically appear that played it before.
I'm surprised you didnt do Pathfinder 2e. I enjoy it on it's own, but it's also great material for fixing issues in DnD5e. Their answer to multiclassing will be added to my next 5e campaign, and I'm hoping to port over some of the weirder classes, like Thaumaturge and Kineticist too.
I ran a one shot of EZD6 during the summer and my players loved the system so much I created a campaign for it. Definitely a banger for one shots and love the exploding dice mechanic
Thank you very much for this, sir. It's so good to hear about other options, but also to get some feedback on them, so I can sort of know what to expect, and decide which I want to try first.
I've written about it in the patron discord a lot and I'll probably mention it there but I really would love to see your review of overarms. It's one of my favorite ttrpgs to date that inspires creativity in players and the dm
I gmed many Monster of the Week Oneshots the last two years for DnD players and most of them were absolutely blown away by the system and setting. It plays very different from DnD, Cthulhu etc and gives player much more narrative power. Once you wrapped your head around it, there is no going back. It will I influence every single game you will ever gm after that. It's a must play.
I want to see more Dagger Heart videos and I would love to learn more about the One Ring (I used to play the old school M.E.R.P. game many many years ago)
Massive respect to you. That's a ton of systems to try out. I was really happy to see your Cypher one-shot. It's my system of choice these days. I love the flexibility and ease of narrative flow. I ran some games for teens at a local high school game convention and they loved it.
Ooooh, Shadowdark seems interesting. Have been on the look-out for an RPG that is a bit more "down to earth" and grittier game than 5e but a bit more magical than The Dark Eye, so if Shadowdark is somewhere around there, I might check it out (the physical book looking rad also helps).
Bob’s number one is his own homebrewed 5e rules? This is always how it starts, and the way it ends is with another new system. Excited to see what you come up with!
I got to playtest The Stormlight game at Dragonsteel con last year. My favorite thing about it was that there are no classes, you pick and choose feats to build your character. I've never played a game like that so it was exciting
Shout out to JP Coovert! I got Ghosts and Goons, too and I also have his Teenage Mutant Tunnel Goons. Great simple fun. If you want a fun PBTA game and are a wrestling fan, check out World Wide Wrestling. It's crazy fun for people that really lean into the roleplaying side of the hobby.
following your recommendation and when one player couldn't make it to the regular campaign session, I suggested I'd run a one-shot of Skate Wizards. it was hilarious, and despite being not only the first game of Skate Wizards I ran but the first game EVER, the players enjoyed it immensely.
I have monster of the week, but haven't played it yet. The thing that really interests me about it is it's kind of designed to be played in the real world so you can use an actual map of where you live and that way the players(if you're playing in person) are all familiar with the area.
For those who want some other TTRPGs from a "collective librarian", here are some games to keep eyes open for. Games I Play Regularly: D&D 5e [WotC] Shadowdark [The Arcane Library] Everyday Heroes (5e OGL) [Evil Genius Games] Soulmist (5e OGL) [Black Lantern Productions] Call of Cthulhu [Chaosium] Games I Have Played (but not in a long time): d20 Modern (3.5e OGL) D&D 3.5e [WotC] Adventures in Middle Earth (5e OGL) [Cubicle 7] Dishonored RPG (2d20) [Modiphius] Games on My Shelf Yet to be Played: Old Gods of Appalachia (Cypher System) [Monte Cook Games] The One Ring 2e [Free League Publishing] Blade Runner RPG [Free League Publishing] Candela Obscura [Darrington Press] Paleomythic [Osprey Games] Household [Two Little Mice] Salvage Union [Leyline Press] Basic Fantasy [Open Source / Chris Gonnerman] Old School Essentials [Necrotic Gnome] Delta Green [Arc Dream Publishing] Cowboy Bebop RPG [Mana Project Studio] Avatar Legends (PbtA System) [Magpie Games] Beneath Hallowed Halls (PbtA System) [Spilled Coffee Creatives] lofi Bards to Study and Relax to (PbtA System) [Ross Eaglesham] Orbital Blues [SoulMuppet Publishing] Urban Mages [Max Jowett] Harrow: The Blighted Plane (Cypher System) [Underground Oracle Publishing] Games I am Anticipating For: Tales of the Valiant [Kobold Press] Relic [Bandit Camp] Knave 2e [Ben Milton] Dream City Knights RPG [Edge of Mythos] Tainted Grail RPG [Studio Agate] And there you go. Some games, (the system they use, if known), and [their publisher] so you can add them to your collection.
great to see Cairn & Mausritter. You might try and take a look at: 2E Knave coming out from Ben Milton-Questing Beast, there is a KS and free quick start for Ruincairn Wardensaga, "Hollows" from Rowan Rook & Decard in play test, and the jampacked full of content Runequest starter. :)
This is an awesome video! I just went and backed JP Coovert's Patreon to get the PDF of Goons & Ghosts - I cannot wait to run this for my group. And because I saved so much money compared with buying a paper copy and having it shipped, I backed your Patreon, too, Bob :D I'm excited to see my first 5e pack.
Oh man, I've been on the prep mission for Masks of Nyarlathotep, like a 700 page campaign, gonna be so awesome, but damn it's the most work I've done to prep anything I've done yet.
I think you'd like Fabula Ultima. It's made for theatre of the mind combat which most systems don't, but has enough GM tools to make it still feel fun and tactical. it's simple to learn and play (literally two of my players had their character sheets fail to save and remade their characters before we ran the oneshot without needing my help a second time), has deep characterbuilding options, and has a lot of those collaborative story elements built into it that you seem to enjoy. I will advise to NOT use the "Press Start" / starter kit it has though. ime new TTRPGs are best experienced with full character creation rules. Your players are much more likely to know what their capabilities are and be more excited to play when they themselves are the ones driving forward the character, rather than whatever pre-gen exists. Two of my players kept it simple, two went complex. If it was the pre-gen it'd be only complex with a lot of rules I'd have to introduce as they pick out pre-gens, rather than picking what they're genuinely interested in playing. I also tend to judge a system based on its character creation mechanics, because if I can't figure it out, I can't play the game because I as the GM have to walk everyone through it and even if I'm not, as a player I have to go through it. So if I can't understand it, I hang it up. (Looking at you 3.5 and Pathfinder 1E). This year I picked up Fabula and ran it, and looked extensively through Farsight (think DnD's Starfinder but made by a 3rd party), as well as DC20. Poked a bit around Fantasy Age as well before deciding against it.
Hey, good video! Just got my copy of Shadowdark! I'm looking foward to run my group thru a nice dungeon for a one shot next week. I like EZD6, but I love even more playing hacks of it, like StarWarsEZD6, GhostbustersEZD6 (this one I made myself by combining WEG Ghostbusters, some Ghost & Goons, but with the EZD6 engine). And I'm looking foward to play this new Deathbringer!!
I'm very curious if you can recommend anyone giving Savage Worlds a try. The most recent edition (SWADE) has been a lot of fun for my table! Wickedly easy to go between settings and rig up a character of almost any concept you can RP, imo! HP is tricky but once you get the hang of it, id argue it's on equal footing with 5e. There's the Pathfinder setting available for it too! Happy building, Bob!
I love Cypher! Hope you get to play it soon Bob. I've been running a Numenera campaign for the last year and it's been a blast. Mausritter and The One Ring are also on my shortlist! Here's to a 2024 full great games
My gaming group has just started playing Mausritter this past weekend. We absolutely love it !! It takes about 5-6 minutes to roll up a character, easy game mechanics, and everyone enjoyed the idea of being a small mouse in a huge world (and all of the nuance that comes with it).
DCC sounds really fun. We’ve just finished our main D&D 5e campaign and now we’re going to try Dolmenwood, but we also rotate Shiver and Blades in the Dark.
I would argue a one shot might be a quick check if a new system might be fun, but I think a few more sessions might be needed to determine if the system is a good fit for your group.
I’ve heard about in I’m just in love with the art! It seems like it might be a good system for the campaign I have in mind so I wonder what are the highs and lows of the system compared to 5e in a long-running campaign?
Nice video! Love the visibility you keep bringing upon TTRPGs out of the mainstream. A few more that you could check are Vaesen, Dragonbane, and Symbaroum. Delve deep into Free League content in general!
Great reviews on a good range of games. I for one would love to hear more about this D&D game with DCC Spells! For the last little while I've just been trying to bring two non D&D games and 1 new to me RPG as part of my gamer resolutions for the year. 15 is amazing (but one shots help) I'm going to share this video with my players as part of my attempt to convince them to try some new stuff.
Coming to the end of the campaign I'm running and I'm planning to just ask the group what sort of world or theme they want to play in and finding the system from there. There is a system for pretty much anything we could want. That being said the mouse one you showed looks too cute not to give it a go!
Deadlands from 1996 is a alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements that is quite good. It uses a D20 system. But The most interesting part of the game is how you "roll" your character. Instead of spending character points, or randomly rolling dice, a character's abilities are determined by drawing cards from a standard 54-card poker deck (jokers included). PS: The Video game Wierd West is based on this PnP RPG.
Awesome video! Its so nice to have this as a reference for my group as we explore other games. Most of our play has been either 5e or games from the White Wolf family. I'm curious what you think of those games.
I started running Stars Without Number a few months ago. Sci-Fi game with a B/X base, with some modern concepts, the free version on drivethrurpg is a complete game, with the paid version (and sourcebooks) having some additional material.
Last 6 months...D&D 3.0, Lexoccultum, When Worlds Collide, Cyberpunk Red, Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th Ed. All great games with very different rules and dice systems, genres etc. Actually just role-playing in common !!! But Great !
Sounds like a kick ass year of gaming! There are so many good games out there to play, or at the very least steal ideas from to make your games even better. Video idea: How about an actual play of one of these? Something totally diffirent like Skate Wizards. Or if not, maybe a session recap video of one?
I did sixty different systems over the course of about 220 game sessions last year. I cannot recommend this kind of thing highly enough-taking some time to break out of ampersand programming is endlessly delightful.
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i was thinking about a room made basically of projector screens the shine from the outside in on clear sheets like the monitor from the first invisible pc setup and making like a pip boy to roll when you are anywhere on the board with timers and health and more
with pulleys to fly with and rc monsters that have projectors to show attack range and animations and then i would make spells and abilities working somehow
Thanks Bob for mentioning my little game. Great exposure for all the fantastic games out there.
My favorite game purchase last year. I can't wait for the Wastes!
My pleasure! Thank Runehammer for running a fun one shot of it at the cabin! :)
I’ve been playing EZD6 and it is sooo much fun! The crit chains are amazing and magic is dangerous and powerful
By far my favourite game. Would love a full review of it Bob!!
The only game i play right now. Truly a gem
0:37 D&D
1:30 Shadowdark
2:43 Dungeon Crawl Classics
3:45 X Crawl Classics
5:20 Index Card RPG
6:00 Deathbringer
6:38 DC20
7:30 Daggerheart
8:37 Cairn
9:33 EZD6
10:17 Skate Wizards
11:02 Goons and Ghosts
11:53 Candela Obscura
12:43 Monster of the Week
13:24 The Cypher System
Thanks for mentioning Deathbringer. I had a great time playing with you!
I ran a Mausritter campaign that lasted 62 sessions and was truly the most heart felt and thrilling campaign I’ve ever been apart of!
It would be cool to have a RPG of the month series. Where every month you do a deep dive on a different game. With as many RPGs as there are such a series could last decades.
We played 'the end of the world' this summer. It's an TTRPG where you play as yourself, and when deciding you scores there is a point buy system. After which everyone get's to vote if your stats in certain things should be higher or lower. You also get to choose 3 things per stat that you're extra good (or bad) at (like kicking in doors for strenght or solving sudoku puzzles for logic)
When the characters are done you start the game at your table, ye ms the characters in game start where you start, wearing whatever you are wearing. And it goes from there.
We raided our local DIY store for supplies, went to the amusement park to kill some zombie overlord. Stole a truck to get to the forest.
Really fun game, we'll play it again sometime, at someone else's house :).
That sounds really fun!
It warms my heart that you tenaciously keep on pushing DCC. It's a fantastic game that deserves all the love.
DC20 looks promising!
Sojourn, Worlds without Number, By this Axe, Savage Worlds, Wicked Ones, Fantasy Age, 13th Age, Mork Borg, Vast Grimm, and Red Giant are all worth a glance, too.
I would love to see Bob's review on Worlds Without Number!
WWN is an incredible book and an all right system. Very easy to run and prep for since then book dedicated like 80% of itself to GM tools. I like how your characters are essentially random rolled and how the power scaling is pretty grounded. It feels like the sweet spot between 5e and DCC with the complexity of neither.
Big same! Particularly for Fantasy AGE and the other AGE based games.
These are some great suggestions, really looking forward to a large 'database' of compiled systems just like this video. There's also the Champions TTRPG, to add to the list (3d6 roll below your own attribute), which also offers way more varied character creation.
@2:32 - Just as a practical matter... doubling spell range on a 20 is pointless because no player will try to cast a spell at an out of range target hoping for a 20.
Can you try "Mistborn Adventure Game" and make a video about it, so I can use that video to convince my friends to play with me? :D
Whoa I had no idea that was a thing! Looking forward to Stormlight RPG, but I haven't read any Mistborn haha, my wife and some friends have though, so maybe they'd jump in to run it :)
I would click that video so fast lol.
And Bob, please do yourself a favour and read those books!
You only need the first 3 if you want to cover the entire setting of the game.
Bob you definitely should read Mistborn. I love Era one!
The magic system in the Mistborn novels is quite cool and would lend itself to creative role playing. I don’t know how they implemented it, but I’m sure it won’t be like D&D.
@@danroberts007 The rules are qute fluid, very roleplay driven, if you wrote on your character sheat that you are were circus jugler, then a situation comes up where you need to trow a small object in a particular way, then you just say "actually, since I was a jugler I think I shuld get an extra die to do this" and the DM will be like: sure have another die! (It's a D6 dice pool system)
Hey Bob, great video! Given that you mentioned the PbtA family, I'd have also said that Candela Obscura is part of the "Forged in the Dark" one; helps with spreading the word about these big families of great games.
Thanks and good point!
the era of the handheld mic has come. and i love it
You took 15 for the team sir. "It's not easy, but I did this for my fellow gamers so they didn't have to endure the misery of trying out fun knew games and trust me if you are trying a game out that is not fun, and you committed, it feels like your brain is bleeding, but oh boy when its fun, you get that pure rush of gaming goodness.
Glad you finally took an opportunity to do a deeper dive into the Runehammer offerings, Index Card RPG and DM Scotty’s EZD6. Both are standouts for their ease of learning, versatility, player and GM empowerment, and overall high level of fun at the table. I hope you continue to explore and present these ruleset options.
Agree, cool to see ICRPG on here! Wish he gave a more detailed opinion on what he liked/didnt like. Especially how he views the Effort, inventory and progression systems.
I've been playing non-D&D games for about 20 years, and Bob's excitement at discovering there's more to the hobby than WotC is just very wholesome.
Wooo! So happy to hear you ran some Goons & Ghosts!!!
Excited to hear that you're checking out Mausritter! It's one of my favorite physical products that I own.
If you like the Mausritter/Cairn style of play, I highly recommend checking out Liminal Horror, which is an investigative horror hack of Cairn. The adventures for it are wonderful (I suggest checking out The Bloom).
Goons and Ghosts sounds like a blast and a good excuse to break out my Ghostbusters boardgame miniatures!
ICRPG! EZD6! Monster of the Week! Cairn! Mausritter! Maze Rats! Knave 2e! The One Ring 2e! What a great list of game recommendations and to-play list! So happy to see this type of content, rather than more of that tire ol' ampersand game 😁👍
Didn't realize Deathtbringer was in the works and I follow Professor DM too. Looking forward to it.
From what I gather PDM is going back to six stats, because 3 doesn't differentiate characters enough. PDM has mentioned running a Kickstarter for _Deathbringer_ but it sounds like he first needs to find time to revise the manuscript.
@@fmitchell238a from what he said in a recent video, I assume it's in the works but he'll run the Kickstarter before it's finished.
After all, it's a great way to measure interest and get some feedback before everything is settled.
@@drillerdev4624 I'd prefer he get as much writing and playtesting as possible done before the Kickstarter, especially since _Deathbringer_ is the house rules of his long-running campaign. Kevin Crawford (Sine Nomine Games) has an essay about how he runs his Kickstarters, and one of his cardinal rules is to finish the writing *before* starting the Kickstarter: the money goes directly toward paying for art, production, and printing, with presumably a healthy profit. (I think that's what Kelsey Dionne did too.)
It still amazes me that the MCDM RPG collected $4.6m even though it's in development ... but then I've been burned by Kickstarters that took years to complete and a few that simply took the money and delivered nothing.
@@fmitchell238a I'm the first one that tries to avoid overpromising kickstarters with no established base, but I don't think the Professor will launch his without showing at least a quickstart. That doesn't mean the game should be 100% finished at that moment.
I'm expecting something along the lines of Knave or the Bastionlands. The base was done by the time the kickstarter launched but there was stuff to be done. After all, logistically a TTRPG project is easier than a boardgame, for example.
Anyway, I think we'll know in a couple months at most.
SHADOWDARK!! DCC!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Cairn, Knave, Deathbringer and SkateWizards all sounds like a riot.
Dang you logged so many games the past year. Awesome feat and another great vid Bob! 🙌🏻🙌🏻
I love to see you exploring the multitude of games out there. There really is too much goodness for one lifetime. I am preparing for an Avatar Legends one shot soon. This weekend I am at a convention running two Free League gems in Alien and Vaesen. So easy to learn and run.
This video is amazing, Bob. You went on a fantastic tour of the TTRPG world this year!
Watched this video just because I saw the ShadowDark RPG book cover. Loving ShadowDark more than 5e! ❤
I am my gaming group 🤣 💪🏻
Mine are Mork Borg (all related products like Pirate Borg, Forbidden Psalm etc..)
DCC (MCC as well)
Sacrifice A Insence and Iron RPG
Across a Thousand Dead Planets.
Have more on a list but havent used or played solo yet.
I've only ever done Call of Cthulhu solo, but I know Shadowdark is developing a tool for it that I might try
@@BobWorldBuilder ah nice I am about to run a funnel for DCC 8, 0 level characters with 4 more for back up 😅. Also solo shadwdark there are some people who have ran it and posted gameplay videos on UA-cam for their prep and how it went 😁 also of games are similar enough to the point you can run things in other systems. I just don't have shadwdark yet myself so this is why. I'd rather have a physical book of it.
Definitely waiting on DC20 myself - I loved your one-shot with Coach.
Thanks for checking it out!
THANKS! part 2 of this could be "my favorite is this" and the "easiest to learn for your group is this" would be great and helpful. I am almost done with my 3 year 5E campaign but would like to introduce another game when they party "sleeps" with my next campaign... just trying to find an easy and fun game to try this with.
My pleasure! I guess I meant to incorporate the recommendations by stating how similar they each game is to D&D, but what makes it different. But for just a fun and easy game that's a bit different, Cairn or Skate Wizards would be my personal favs
awesome! maybe ill grab those and see which might be best for the group@@BobWorldBuilder
The overviews were great. Definitely would love to hear more opinions as well - especially from someone I trust and respect.
Awesome list! The One Ring is very thematic. I love it.
Also Shadowdark adventures work pretty well in DCC with little changing stuff around, use the gaming systems of DCC with the events of Shadowdark 😁 might need to check the nonsyer stats but they are decently close overall.
I have run Goodman Games DCC modules in Basic/OSE and 5e... the flavor is dope and they are designed to be system agnostic.
In my view, most D20 D&D like games are pretty interchangeable w/out a ton of work, as long as your players don't expect perfect balance and accept that sometimes they need to run away to survive.
Nice! I am familiar with most of them, but a couple are new to me. Many or even most seem to be a variation, to one degree or another, of D&D. I'd love to see some other games like Savage Worlds or Fate get some love.
Let's go! I'm gonna pick a few of these systems to try with my homies. I've been a bit bored by just DnD.
Nice video as always Bob!
Thanks very much! Enjoy
Awesome showcase! started playing different TTRPGs each month in the last quarter of 2023, including DC20 which is AWESOME, and looking to get to 12 new ones this year! May have to try a few of these out!
Thank you for giving digestible and awesome run downs of these systems!
Oh my gosh I'm excited! 😍
I just put together a group to try new systems, so this is perfect!
Love you and your channel. And really enjoy these excerpts into other systems. I hope they become regular additions to your channel.
Can confirm that The One Ring is a lot of fun! It captures the Tolkien vibe very well.
I've been pouring through the Core Book and Ruins of the Lost Realm. I'll finally be running my first session at the end of February and I'm stoked.
Yeah honestly that's the intimidating part for me. I tend to run a pretty comedic game, and while LotR has it's share of comedy, I want to make sure I get the tone right.
@@BobWorldBuilder Perhaps something more Shire oriented? Let that Brandybuck and Took energy flow xD
@@BobWorldBuilderThe Starter Set has a series of Shire adventures for Hobbits that can be spun to be more amusing than dangerous, at least at first. Of course, once you get to the last adventure, things can be quite serious.
I hope you get a chance to try it out, and look forward to it!
It's worth noting that the Index Carg RPG _free_ rulebook is something like 150 pages of awesomeness.
It's worth reading just for fun, and to make yourself a better GM in a general sense.
Can confirm, game is great.
Some great games in here. Cairn and DCC are great. I don't agree with Pathfinder being "overly complex", at least not 2nd Edition, so I think that's a bit harsh and shows a hard bias against games that aren't perceived as "rules light." Compared to a lot of other high-crunch games, PF 2e is "rules light."
I gotta figure out how to get you on the Free League/Year Zero Engine train! Forbidden Lands is such a good game and needs more hype. Another honorable mention is Electric Bastionland, quirky and fast to learn/play. Same author as Into the Odd, which Cairn is based on. Good stuff, Bob!
Seeing as One Ring is on his “to play” list, that’ll at least make the name Free League stand out!
@user-jt1js5mr3f yeah, I cheated the narrative there a little bit. Personally, I just much prefer FL's own games over the big IP stuff. There's such a glut of great games now a days it's hard to keep up.
@@dirigoallagash3464 I may try the others at some point, but Tolkien is by and far my favorite, so the One Ring is made for me
Your video "My Top 2 D&D-Alternatives" introduced me to DCC and in honesty I love it! I am looking at integrating its magic system like you described because "cool" :) Thanks for all you do! Seriously looking at Patreon once I get more settled in my new house ;)
I love videos like this! There are so many TTRPGs out there now (which is fantastic) so getting a quick high level overview of each one helps get more games into the spotlight for more people to discover :)
Way, way more than people realize, amd there always have been, there's just enough people getting bored of / frustrated by D&D 5e to notice :)
Nice! I was deep into running a 5e campaign so i did not look into other systems or worlds until this christmas, but we tried Cyberpunk 2020. It took some getting used to but MAN the world and games are really interesting and deadly. We entered a new player and his character died instantly in a blaze of glory. The combat system is based on real life fights so they are short and deadly, making them super exciting. It is not for everyone and it is really crunchy, but i highly recommend this game :)
If you like Cairn so much, you also gotta test out the originals: not only Knave (which is amazing) but also especially the great Into the Odd (and other Bastionland games), which is also the base for Mausritter!
A completely different beast (more akin to EZ D6) but also absolutely fantastic are the Free League games, which all have a beautiful production value
Thank you Bob, this is perfect timing.
While I get wanting to stick to your roots and the desire to play familiar games, I do wish that more than half of these weren’t just D&D echo fighters
I really like that you specified that you have no previous experience with these, and ran them anyways. Too many people will sit on a game forever waiting for someone to magically appear that played it before.
I'm surprised you didnt do Pathfinder 2e. I enjoy it on it's own, but it's also great material for fixing issues in DnD5e. Their answer to multiclassing will be added to my next 5e campaign, and I'm hoping to port over some of the weirder classes, like Thaumaturge and Kineticist too.
I ran a one shot of EZD6 during the summer and my players loved the system so much I created a campaign for it. Definitely a banger for one shots and love the exploding dice mechanic
Great listen for the ride to work!
If you’ve not tried it already, Vaesen is really good. Scandi horror set in 19th Century. Cool monsters without the bulky statbloc noise. :)
Just did Vaesen recently on our channel. We've played three sessions now and definitely intend to return to it again. One of my favorite games to run.
I just treated myself to it and the Wicked secrets book. It’s ace!
Would love to see more EZD6, Cairn and Shadowdark videos
Thank you very much for this, sir. It's so good to hear about other options, but also to get some feedback on them, so I can sort of know what to expect, and decide which I want to try first.
I've written about it in the patron discord a lot and I'll probably mention it there but I really would love to see your review of overarms. It's one of my favorite ttrpgs to date that inspires creativity in players and the dm
jp coovert's creations are so lovely to look at.
yay Monster of The Week! did a couple of short one-shots of it last year, i really like the rules and character options. Thanks for the video!
MOTW is great. There some excellent sessions of it on the Dungeon Dudes channel.
If you’re looking for more content using Monster of the Week, I recommend the Crit Show podcast.
I gmed many Monster of the Week Oneshots the last two years for DnD players and most of them were absolutely blown away by the system and setting. It plays very different from DnD, Cthulhu etc and gives player much more narrative power. Once you wrapped your head around it, there is no going back. It will I influence every single game you will ever gm after that. It's a must play.
I want to see more Dagger Heart videos and I would love to learn more about the One Ring (I used to play the old school M.E.R.P. game many many years ago)
I’m prepping for my first One Ring session and I’m so excited. They have a 5e version, but so far I’m REALLY glad I went with their original system.
Massive respect to you. That's a ton of systems to try out.
I was really happy to see your Cypher one-shot. It's my system of choice these days. I love the flexibility and ease of narrative flow. I ran some games for teens at a local high school game convention and they loved it.
Oh hell yeah DC20, can't wait for that release. I would love to hear your thoughts on all these games in its own video
Would love to see your take on Shadow of the Demon Lord.
JP Coovert! I love goons and ghosts and my current dnd game is his “Flik Silverpen’s Guide to Dragon Town” campaign!
Ooooh, Shadowdark seems interesting. Have been on the look-out for an RPG that is a bit more "down to earth" and grittier game than 5e but a bit more magical than The Dark Eye, so if Shadowdark is somewhere around there, I might check it out (the physical book looking rad also helps).
Bob’s number one is his own homebrewed 5e rules? This is always how it starts, and the way it ends is with another new system. Excited to see what you come up with!
I got to playtest The Stormlight game at Dragonsteel con last year. My favorite thing about it was that there are no classes, you pick and choose feats to build your character. I've never played a game like that so it was exciting
Shout out to JP Coovert! I got Ghosts and Goons, too and I also have his Teenage Mutant Tunnel Goons. Great simple fun.
If you want a fun PBTA game and are a wrestling fan, check out World Wide Wrestling. It's crazy fun for people that really lean into the roleplaying side of the hobby.
following your recommendation and when one player couldn't make it to the regular campaign session, I suggested I'd run a one-shot of Skate Wizards.
it was hilarious, and despite being not only the first game of Skate Wizards I ran but the first game EVER, the players enjoyed it immensely.
Great to see so many amazing games featured. This hobby is vast and exciting!
Woah! I made the list! It was a blast playing with ya man! Loved seeing you talk about it! 💜
Ironsworn is a great game as well. Pretty simple mechanics. Originally developed with solo play in mind but has great tools for group or guided play.
I have monster of the week, but haven't played it yet. The thing that really interests me about it is it's kind of designed to be played in the real world so you can use an actual map of where you live and that way the players(if you're playing in person) are all familiar with the area.
Awesome video as always!
Thanks!
For those who want some other TTRPGs from a "collective librarian", here are some games to keep eyes open for.
Games I Play Regularly:
D&D 5e [WotC]
Shadowdark [The Arcane Library]
Everyday Heroes (5e OGL) [Evil Genius Games]
Soulmist (5e OGL) [Black Lantern Productions]
Call of Cthulhu [Chaosium]
Games I Have Played (but not in a long time):
d20 Modern (3.5e OGL)
D&D 3.5e [WotC]
Adventures in Middle Earth (5e OGL) [Cubicle 7]
Dishonored RPG (2d20) [Modiphius]
Games on My Shelf Yet to be Played:
Old Gods of Appalachia (Cypher System) [Monte Cook Games]
The One Ring 2e [Free League Publishing]
Blade Runner RPG [Free League Publishing]
Candela Obscura [Darrington Press]
Paleomythic [Osprey Games]
Household [Two Little Mice]
Salvage Union [Leyline Press]
Basic Fantasy [Open Source / Chris Gonnerman]
Old School Essentials [Necrotic Gnome]
Delta Green [Arc Dream Publishing]
Cowboy Bebop RPG [Mana Project Studio]
Avatar Legends (PbtA System) [Magpie Games]
Beneath Hallowed Halls (PbtA System) [Spilled Coffee Creatives]
lofi Bards to Study and Relax to (PbtA System) [Ross Eaglesham]
Orbital Blues [SoulMuppet Publishing]
Urban Mages [Max Jowett]
Harrow: The Blighted Plane (Cypher System) [Underground Oracle Publishing]
Games I am Anticipating For:
Tales of the Valiant [Kobold Press]
Relic [Bandit Camp]
Knave 2e [Ben Milton]
Dream City Knights RPG [Edge of Mythos]
Tainted Grail RPG [Studio Agate]
And there you go. Some games, (the system they use, if known), and [their publisher] so you can add them to your collection.
Nice breakdown Bob. Appreciate the lean towards free/low cost and easy to learn angles.
great to see Cairn & Mausritter. You might try and take a look at: 2E Knave coming out from Ben Milton-Questing Beast, there is a KS and free quick start for Ruincairn Wardensaga, "Hollows" from Rowan Rook & Decard in play test, and the jampacked full of content Runequest starter. :)
This is an awesome video! I just went and backed JP Coovert's Patreon to get the PDF of Goons & Ghosts - I cannot wait to run this for my group. And because I saved so much money compared with buying a paper copy and having it shipped, I backed your Patreon, too, Bob :D I'm excited to see my first 5e pack.
Oh man, I've been on the prep mission for Masks of Nyarlathotep, like a 700 page campaign, gonna be so awesome, but damn it's the most work I've done to prep anything I've done yet.
Well, but it's also one of the best campaigns in RPG history. Up there with Enemy Within. Have fun prepping, it will be worth it! 🙂
Been enjoying cthulu and monster of the week, also trying to learn shadowrun 6e
I think you'd like Fabula Ultima. It's made for theatre of the mind combat which most systems don't, but has enough GM tools to make it still feel fun and tactical. it's simple to learn and play (literally two of my players had their character sheets fail to save and remade their characters before we ran the oneshot without needing my help a second time), has deep characterbuilding options, and has a lot of those collaborative story elements built into it that you seem to enjoy.
I will advise to NOT use the "Press Start" / starter kit it has though. ime new TTRPGs are best experienced with full character creation rules. Your players are much more likely to know what their capabilities are and be more excited to play when they themselves are the ones driving forward the character, rather than whatever pre-gen exists. Two of my players kept it simple, two went complex. If it was the pre-gen it'd be only complex with a lot of rules I'd have to introduce as they pick out pre-gens, rather than picking what they're genuinely interested in playing.
I also tend to judge a system based on its character creation mechanics, because if I can't figure it out, I can't play the game because I as the GM have to walk everyone through it and even if I'm not, as a player I have to go through it. So if I can't understand it, I hang it up. (Looking at you 3.5 and Pathfinder 1E).
This year I picked up Fabula and ran it, and looked extensively through Farsight (think DnD's Starfinder but made by a 3rd party), as well as DC20. Poked a bit around Fantasy Age as well before deciding against it.
Hey, good video!
Just got my copy of Shadowdark! I'm looking foward to run my group thru a nice dungeon for a one shot next week.
I like EZD6, but I love even more playing hacks of it, like StarWarsEZD6, GhostbustersEZD6 (this one I made myself by combining WEG Ghostbusters, some Ghost & Goons, but with the EZD6 engine).
And I'm looking foward to play this new Deathbringer!!
I'm very curious if you can recommend anyone giving Savage Worlds a try. The most recent edition (SWADE) has been a lot of fun for my table! Wickedly easy to go between settings and rig up a character of almost any concept you can RP, imo!
HP is tricky but once you get the hang of it, id argue it's on equal footing with 5e. There's the Pathfinder setting available for it too!
Happy building, Bob!
I love Cypher! Hope you get to play it soon Bob. I've been running a Numenera campaign for the last year and it's been a blast. Mausritter and The One Ring are also on my shortlist! Here's to a 2024 full great games
My gaming group has just started playing Mausritter this past weekend. We absolutely love it !! It takes about 5-6 minutes to roll up a character, easy game mechanics, and everyone enjoyed the idea of being a small mouse in a huge world (and all of the nuance that comes with it).
DCC sounds really fun. We’ve just finished our main D&D 5e campaign and now we’re going to try Dolmenwood, but we also rotate Shiver and Blades in the Dark.
I would argue a one shot might be a quick check if a new system might be fun, but I think a few more sessions might be needed to determine if the system is a good fit for your group.
One I would suggest is Dragonbane by Free League . I'm using it for a gritty, low-magic Conanesque campaign and my group is enjoying it.
I’ve heard about in I’m just in love with the art! It seems like it might be a good system for the campaign I have in mind so I wonder what are the highs and lows of the system compared to 5e in a long-running campaign?
Great video :) would love to hear your take on Dragonbane!
Nice video! Love the visibility you keep bringing upon TTRPGs out of the mainstream.
A few more that you could check are Vaesen, Dragonbane, and Symbaroum. Delve deep into Free League content in general!
Ah man, Monster of the Week!!! One of the coolest on this list; love that Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe!
Great reviews on a good range of games. I for one would love to hear more about this D&D game with DCC Spells!
For the last little while I've just been trying to bring two non D&D games and 1 new to me RPG as part of my gamer resolutions for the year. 15 is amazing (but one shots help) I'm going to share this video with my players as part of my attempt to convince them to try some new stuff.
I’d enjoy watching you delve into other TTRPGs monthly if not more often!
Bob’s chill vibes are it
Coming to the end of the campaign I'm running and I'm planning to just ask the group what sort of world or theme they want to play in and finding the system from there.
There is a system for pretty much anything we could want.
That being said the mouse one you showed looks too cute not to give it a go!
Deadlands from 1996 is a alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements that is quite good. It uses a D20 system. But The most interesting part of the game is how you "roll" your character. Instead of spending character points, or randomly rolling dice, a character's abilities are determined by drawing cards from a standard 54-card poker deck (jokers included).
PS: The Video game Wierd West is based on this PnP RPG.
Sounds cool!
Awesome video! Its so nice to have this as a reference for my group as we explore other games. Most of our play has been either 5e or games from the White Wolf family. I'm curious what you think of those games.
I started running Stars Without Number a few months ago. Sci-Fi game with a B/X base, with some modern concepts, the free version on drivethrurpg is a complete game, with the paid version (and sourcebooks) having some additional material.
Last 6 months...D&D 3.0, Lexoccultum, When Worlds Collide, Cyberpunk Red, Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th Ed. All great games with very different rules and dice systems, genres etc. Actually just role-playing in common !!! But Great !
Excellent guidance and commentary, as always Bob. You are forever an invaluable resource for players and new GMs alike!
Sounds like a kick ass year of gaming!
There are so many good games out there to play, or at the very least steal ideas from to make your games even better.
Video idea: How about an actual play of one of these? Something totally diffirent like Skate Wizards. Or if not, maybe a session recap video of one?
I did sixty different systems over the course of about 220 game sessions last year. I cannot recommend this kind of thing highly enough-taking some time to break out of ampersand programming is endlessly delightful.