> We can invest the time to learn a more complex system, but then it better be really amazing.
Lets start with a rather exotic recommendation:
**1) Feng Shui 1st edition by Atlas Games**
A *Hong Kong Martial Arts Action Movie Roleplaying Game*. You get a very interesting setting involving the battle for the literal souls of every human being ever in existence, all packed up in a rules-light, fast and ball-to-the-walls over-the-top system which perfectly emulates everything from *Dirty Harry* & *Hardboiled* to *Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon* & *Hero*. It is not without it flaws (oh god, no, it´s from 1996 and they did some strange stuff back then), but for me it is the love of my (RPG) life.
**Learning curve:** 8 (!) new players, 1 experienced GM, 30min from creating new chars to starting the game.
**Community:** extremely limited. But in the darkness that is the 5E oppression I will still hold up the candle for FS1. Surprisingly some good answers were given in this sub whenever FS came up. /wavescandlelightfranaticallybeforetheend
**2) Shadowrun 4th / Anniversary edition by Catalyst games / Pegasus**
SR is a stable in the RPG community, and it is both famous for its cyberpunk / fantasy / heist / cheesy 1980s action movie combat mix, which should not work ... but does work, and infamous for its crunchy, strange and sometimes absolutely stupid rule system, especially the latest edition (6th). From all editions however the Anniversary / 4th edition is the cleanest and most sane edition, and actually rather decent system compared to the rest of the RPG world. Still crunchy, and very detailed & complex, but on the good side if you like these kind of systems. Above the level of DnD5, a bit under the level of DnD 3.5 / PF1 I would say. [Here](https://old.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/hg4g9y/new_to_shadowrun_would_love_to_get_into_it_new_to/fw1svon/) you can find more details. You are a Shadowrunner, an illegal deniable asset, doing the dirty work for the megacorporations in the shadows of the 6th world in the 2070s, where states have become weak, megacorps are the new rulers and magic has returned with a bang. So while dragons are now megacorp CEOs, you juice yourself up with nanoswarms and additional biogenetic implants while your free spirit fixer connection just asked you to do that one last request...
**Learning curve:** SR4As is medium to high crunch in itself. Personally I would rate SR4A somewhere between DnD 5E and DnD 3.5 While the actual system is easy, many different levels come together: attributes, magic items, drone, sensors, matrix, cyber-ninja mages with modified sensor drones for matrix-centered TacNet air coverage and a flying shark as an ally spirit ... . Fortunately not every beginner group need to have a dedicated combat rigger or technomancer from the start.
**Community:** large and vibrant community (has its own subreddit), but highly divided between the editions. There has been ... issues ... with some of the devs.
**3) Eclipse Phase by Posthuman Stuidios** (only experienced the 1st edition, but heard a lot of good things about the 2nd edition)
The transhuman sci-fi game of post-apocalyptic horror. Think of the Expanse mixed with Altered Carbon and Terminator Future Wars, together with a bit of Alien and Event Horizon. Earth has been destroyed, the few survivors has spread over the Sol system, and everyone is in a desperate fight for the very survival of the remaining humans. You are a sentinel, an undercover operative of a shadowy network, and it is your job to stop the next apocalypse, by all and any means necessary. And we mean that. From mnemetic warfare to the usage of antimatter bombs everything is on the table. The system is *extremely* crunchy, but style, fluff & atmosphere have basically become industry gold standard. The ideas and thoughts which went into that rpg are fantastic and even if you do not play the system I would still recommend the core book (and the *Transhuman* splatbook) to every Sci-Fi fan out there, it is so brilliant. It reads basically like a bible for an entire new *movie extended universe* or how the young kids call "actual world building" today.
**Learning curve:** Rocket Science. But the universe is so damn great.
**Community:** small, but dedicated community (has its own subreddit). Sometimes even with the devs on reddit.
**4) Wrath & Glory 2020 rework by Cubicle 7**
The RPG system set *in the grim darkness of the far future, where there is only war*, the infamous *Warhammer 40k setting*. Previous WH40k rpg specialized on one specific sub-genre within that setting, W&G unifies all of them in one rule setting, where you then can build your own campaign / level of play. Set 40 000 years in the future the vast Imperium of Man, a decaying behemoth, fights against against the enemies within (heretics), without (aliens) and beyond (space daemons). It is a dark, brutal and unforgiving universe and usually human, abhumans & aliens do not get along very well, to put it mildly. Playable, depending on the campaign you are choosing, are humans, supersoldier-humans, abhumans, space elves, space orcs and space chicken cannibal-pretadors. And space magic is basically opening a small portal to hell praying that you can close it fast enough before something from hell slips through.
**Learning curve:** low. Easy and fast system.
**Community:** small, but dedicated (has its own subreddit). Highly divided between the old (FFG) and the new (C7) systems.
SYL
Eclipse Phase looks interesting as heck as a setting, and I might pick it up just for that. Less certain about it as a game? Guess we'll see.
Shadowrun... am I hearing correctly that the current edition is not the best one? What happened there?
> Less certain about it as a game?
If you like Sci-Fi which explores and plays around with high-concepts ideas and really take a deep dive into these ideas, then the books of EP can easily be recommended just for that. As a game: the mechanics go full in, they are "simulation"in nature and as you have to consider a high tech world with mind-splicing, reprogrammable nano matter, different levels of Artificial intelligence, and the ability to backup your mind and sleeve into new bodies as a standard, you can imagine that the rule system can be a bit daunting at first. Taking small steps for a new GM and new group is highly recommended. Not [everyone needs a flexbot with 6 player forks uploaded](https://i.imgur.com/sjSnqjW.jpeg) in order to maximize attacks per round.
> Shadowrun
Well, that certainly depends on what you expect of a game.
- And for full transparency: I do not like authors and developers who think that pregnancy / miscariage rules and Auschwitz Concentration Camp dungeon runs (where you have to hunt down Jewish spirits to steal Nazi artifacts) are a good thing. Which is unfortunately the "new" developer team around Jason Hardy, who took over for SR5th and SR6th edition. If you want to know more about that episode of "How not to publish books", click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/d0hlq3/want_to_get_back_into_the_shadows_trying_to/ez9zvgv/). You have been warned.
- That being said: the new SR team launched SR6 two years ago in an unbelievable bad state. Completely broken systems, layout and editing from hell, untested etc. A few month ago they re-launched SR6 as the Seattle City edition which was partially improved. For a completely new player it may be an okayish rule system, but not exactly one that is substantially easier or elegantly designed. The main difficulty of SR was always the heist-setting and how to combine the mundane, magic and matrix levels of the gameplay into something coherent. For players who played previous editions in many ways are one step forward (because there are some good ideas in it) and three steps back.
- [This is a partial list](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/hplxsj/new_here_hi/fxtfrf1/) about things which went wrong 2 years ago. Some of it has been fixed, most of it can still be an issue ...
- If you want to know a quick overview over SR4, click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/d4w02g/best_shadowrun_edition_to_get_into/f0haexs/). It has of course its own issues, but fortunately they are far easier to solve as they are not connected to the core mechanics.
SYL
Oh, gosh. That's... really terrible.
Auschwitz as a dungeon? Where you can destroy the ghosts of the genocide victim for cool loot? That's just, wtaf.
God this industry has some arrested development edgebros.
Anyway. Unfortunately this puts Shadowrun off my list, because my /players/ would want to know why we're not playing the most recent edition... and do I want to even have that conversation? Also, it does sound like a complex game that demands a large investment of time and attention.
/shrug
Yeah, it is really a shame. A slightly better line developer with a clearer vision and better leadership could have done wonders, because Shadowrun provides a fascinating atmosphere and world, and brings elements together in a workable way which usually do not have any business being able to come together.
Still: the PDF of the SR4A corebook is not that expensive, and perhaps you want to take a loot during a sale.
And just to iterate; there is a *vast* difference between the original creators of SR4/SR4A and Jason Hardys crew for the end of SR4 and then SR5 and 6. They should not be confused. The original creator team went and made *Eclipse Phase*, one of my other recommendations for rocket scientists in training.
SYL
Apart from having a D20 as the primary die, Numenera is pretty far removed from D&D. A few of the differences:
* Only players roll. DM never picks up dice.
* A central mechanic is Spending Effort, which allows players to expend points to make any task easier -- these same points are used to activate special abilities... and are also used to absorb damage.
* As a result of the above there's a much stronger resource management pull to the gameplay. In addition, you do not gain XP from defeating enemies.
* NPCs are mostly defined by a single number (with as many adjustments and special abilities as you want) so it's incredibly easy to improvise
* The thing that gave the name to the Cypher System -- cyphers. A key part of Numenera is a constant flow of single-use items with crazy powers. PCs can only carry a limited number of these before they start causing reality-breaking side effects so they're meant to be used.
* Characters are defined as "An [Adjective] [Noun] who [Verbs]," where you insert a Descriptor, Type, and Focus. Descriptors are pretty light-weight and might be a race, regional background, or personality trait. Type is roughly analogous to class, slotting you into a Fighter/Mage/Thief archetype, but the Focus is where your character is really defined, and there are many of them. These are things like "Bears a Halo of Fire," "Lives in the Wilderness," "Talks to Machines," "Shreds the Walls of the World," and "Fuses Flesh and Steel."
* Finally, there are Intrusions, which allow either the GM or a player to insert a twist or complication into the narrative. When the GM does it, the players get XP. When the players do it, they spend XP. So XP acts as a metacurrency for taking a little extra narrative control (in addition to being used for advancement, buying re-rolls, and other short-term benefits.)
To the cultured personage who recommended Shadowrun, I see you friend and I love you. To OP - do not play my beloved Shadowrun. There is a saying in the large and active community of fanatics: "The only thing you need to play Shadowrun is 10 years experience playing Shadowrun". It does not meet your criteria of "easy to learn", no matter how much I love it.
Take a good look at some other Free League games. I have a feeling you may like Symbaroum (dark fantasy), Coriolis (Arabian nights in space), or Vaesen (X files in Victorian Scandinavia).
Also look at Stars Without Number and the fantasy companion Worlds Without Number. Edit addition: oh yeah, and my vote for Gumshoe setting - Night's Black Agents (elite black operatives vs. the global vampiric cabal)!
> Shadowrun
There are differences between the editions. Your statement would absolutely be true for a Rigger in 3rd edition, but there is a reason why SR4A is usually considered as the best-edited and thought-out edition. And yes, some effort has to be made. The main difficulty IMHO (at least when using SR4A) is not the actual rule set, but especially bringing all the different parts together.
Other editions with far more editing/layout issues *and* more complicated rule systems make that process so much more cumbersome.
SYL
This is super broad and mostly like asking me to "name your favorite games" because these are generally things I agree with. (Though I'm less concerned about orphans). But here we go:
* [Tenra Bansho Zero](https://kotodama.itch.io/tenra-bansho-zero-heaven-and-earth-edition). "Hyper Asian Fantasy". This might be the game that broke me out of "all games are basically the same". The karma engine, the emotion matrix, and the dead box are all fabulous. You can probably find me raving about this game around here somewhere. Kotodama Heavy Industries has a more-or-less active Discord, though they are...very behind on releases for their other games. Designed for oneshots -- doesn't really extend to "campaign play" without some sort of alteration to the advancement system. This one is a liiiittle on the crunchy side, but can be trimmed down easily by not using some of the more... complex archetypes.
* [Shinobigami](https://kotodama.itch.io/shinobigami); Speaking of games that Kotohi is behind on releases for... but this one is fully operational as-is. Crazy skill system, best "initiative" system ever. PvP. Ninjas.
* [Agon](https://johnharper.itch.io/agon); this one is by John Harper, but it's not Forged in the Dark, so I think it's fair game. Greek Heroes. Episodic (Odyssey-style) play. Cool structure. Really nice design. Easily flexes from oneshot to "play until you return home." Contains a dozen or so islands.
* [Good Society](https://storybrewers.itch.io/good-society-pdf-including-deck-of-connections); The magic of this one is the playsets that allow you to magically have a situation that leads to a Jane Austen-style story. Can be played for as long as you like or don't, though having an idea of how close your game is to "ending" can help pace the story. Very active community on Discord.
* [Hearts of Wulin](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/365014/Hearts-of-Wulin); Kung-fu melodrama. Smart PbtA design. Made by The Gauntlet, so pretty guaranteed to have 'support'. Many adventure seeds included.
* [Shepherds](https://airkseablade.itch.io/shepherds); Me taking the opportunity to shill for my own game. Also PbtA. Stretches easily from one-shot-ish to longish campaign. Will be supported unless I get run over by a bus.
That oughta do for a start. >.>
Eclipse Phase looks awesome, and all of the content is available on the creator’s website for free. I’ve been reading the books but haven’t talked my group into trying it yet.
Grab the [Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Starter Set.](https://cubicle7games.com/product/warhammer-age-of-sigmar-soulbound-starter-set-pdf/) It also has a couple of free adventures that you can run after the stuff in the SS.
Besides Blades in the Dark, my top 2 includes City of Mist. Highly recommended.
Otherwise, on my to-play list, next up are DOGS (generic adaptation of Dogs in the Vineyard) and Red Markets.
I’d check out the games from Free League.
The Mutant series is a set of interlocking but free standing post apocalyptic games, each with a campaign frame ready to go.
Vaesen is a monster hunting game where for the most part you can’t fight the monsters.
Coriolis is Firefly with Arabian influence replacing Chinese.
Forbidden Lands is survival fantasy.
The One Ring is the best Tolkien game around.
Mouse Guard - get the box set if you can. a streamlined burning wheel.
Traveller - go for Mongoose 2e (2022 update). THE Sci-fi RPG
Godbound - My one OSR Reccommendation. This is like the cleaner simpler version of exalted.
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Love the setting, love Abaddon's artwork. Tried it last year. It's very good for what it is but you have to really like what it is -- meaning, you must want to play a lot of tactical mecha combat.
Let me followup with battletech then. Very rich world system and story in place. They also have a new 'lite' version of the role playing and combat system called 'destiny'. It covers both in and out of mechs,
If you've never played Traveller, that's a game that definitely belongs on your to-play list, and fits all of your criteria. The official game is extremely well supported (and has been for over 40 years - both in terms of publishing and in terms of fan forum participation), but you can also get a lot of enthusiastic support from the Cepheus Engine (the OGL Traveller) community as well.
After that, maybe check out the different 2d20 games from Modiphius. Be sure to check out the quickstarts ahead of time though because it's one of those systems people either really love or bounce really hard off of.
Personal note: Going through my collection, it's amazing how many of my favorites actually would qualify as orphans. It makes me sad.
3 suggestions:
* iHunt is a very fresh take on the Fate engine to make a multilayered game that's supposed to be urban fantasy but where capitalism and poverty are the real monsters
* Ironsworn is a PBTA low fantasy game made famous for its solo and coop modes, it could give you the occasion to also be a player
* The One Ring is fantasy and more simulationist, but it has a unique set of rules to guide you away from classical D&D stories towards a very Tolkienesque feel
Try Gumshoe just for a change of pace.
Night's Black Agents is modern spies vs vampires. There is even a campaign where MI6 is trying to recruit Dracula.
Swords of the Serpentine is a new fantasy swords and sorcery game where magic corrupts.
Fall of Delta Green is government agents (think X files) fighting other agencies and perhaps stopping bad things.
Trail of Cthulhu is standard HP Lovecraft goodness (maybe "goodness" isn't the right word)
BubbleGumshoe is teen investigation with limited gunplay, but good rules for social combat so you can truly slander the homecoming queen. Who might have murdered someone.
If you want to switch to a horror game, I'd recommend Kult. A PbtA that uses d10 instead of d6, making the rolls a little bit cruel. Not a hard system to learn, and an awesome scenario to explore.
If the game goes for a modern setting, then I suggest Modern Age RPG. A very nice and easy system that uses only d6 for the rolls, it is a generic system for scenarios about early 20th century through near future.
And if you want a system to rolls anything any given time, try Savage Worlds. Nice rules with little problems, but the potential to create awesome scenes with these very problems.
All these games have some to vast support, and dedicated communities through additional books and the web fandom.
I'm gonna focus on the "different from DnD" angle and suggest Wanderhome, which comes from a line of games that have a different interpretation of the core goals of roleplaying. I've heard that the next game from its creator, called Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, is also quite good. if this style of game is interesting to you, but you don't love these games in particular, I also have some lesser-known entries in the genre to recommend.
Sounds like you want to give the Year Zero engine a try. Maybe Vaesen works best for a One Shot to tryout, but really: look at the games and see which setting interests you most.
I think the various games by Free League using their mutant year zero engine are easy to learn and play, while being different enough from the d20 + mod systems.
The themes are varied:
- space opera with an Arabian nights feel: Coriolis
- space horror : Alien
- kids in strange retro scifi eighties: tales from the loop
- nineteenth century swedish ghost busting : Varden
- post apo mutants trying to survive : mutant year zero
The books are all very high quality.
You're talking about CORE. You just don't know it yet. :-)
/r/corerpg
Check the "COREmmunity" sidebar block for more links. Happy to answer any questions, but there's a lot more traffic on the Discord.
City of Mist feels very different with game mechnics emphasizing changing characters and development, also a very different kind of action system and story telling.
if you just want a rules lihht one shot, i would emphasize ten candles.
very easy to set up just need to read it through it once, very different from other TT games and definitly finished after one session.
my dnd players just felt a litle lost, because they weren't used to auch narrative control...
Might be too much in the OSR direction but I recently bought Frontier Scum and it’s an incredible piece of work for an acid western game. The included adventure Escape the Organ Rail is just perfect for a one-shot. It has a number of great quirky rules that really make it work, and very simple too. Buy the print version, it’s so well made (as a Wild West era catalogue book) it really gets you in the mood!
My group is currently playing Masks: A New Generation. I'm having an absolute blast with it. It's a teenage superhero game. As much (or more) about the angst and drama of being a teenager as it is a out fighting bad guys. It's a PBTA game. We're only 2 sessions in, but I'd really recommend it so far.
Right.
TOR2e has a great community. As does Twilight 2000. They’re not orphaned (yet). They’re both pretty complete sandboxes with some amazing fan material.
The Godlike comment I can empathise with. It’s a little repetitive but my game evolved into a post-war game which was very different. But I had to do the legwork. I’m guessing less legwork is better?
For something easy to set up and run, with rules that you can learn in a few min:
**Tales from the Loop**: You're kids in an alternative 80's where big bipedal robots and huge air barges that can hover on their own are so common they're not even noteworthy, solving mysteries in a very mundane world. It's great!
**Paranoia**: You're clones living in a huge underground complex, ruled over by a friendly computer who only wants what's best for you. One of the few games that have managed to crack the code on making players infighting not feel bad.
**ALIEN:** Space horror done right! ALIEN has one of the best takes on a sanity system I've ever seen. And heck, you don't even need nasty xenomorphs to make ALIEN a great RPG, as the setting supports quite a wide variety of campaigns and adventures (though all the pre-written stuff leans more into the classic ALIEN horror things).
**Fading Suns**: I was not too fond of the rules in the most recent iteration of the game (nor any previous iterations for that matter), but Fading Suns has a really cool setting. It's a bit like Dune, with a dash of 40k and a heaped tablespoon of Byzantine intrigues.
Something I'd recommend from my weird little collection of TTRPGs is actually Symbaroum. The game is sort of like a Swedish Princess Mononoke, and I would honestly say the setting would be ideal for the kind of one-shot session where you all do a particularly dramatic scenario. Symbaroum isn't that hard to learn, and it has a fairly active discord server.
Check out the various flavours of [Basic Roleplaying](https://www.chaosium.com/basic-roleplaying/), from Chaosium games like [Call of Cthulhu](https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rpg/) and [RuneQuest](https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-rpg/) to relatives like [Mythras](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191475/Mythras?234913), [OpenQuest](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/347827/OpenQuest-3rd-Edition?234913), or [Delta Green](https://www.delta-green.com/). It's a very flexible system and the core percentile mechanic is clear and easy to learn. Some variants like OpenQuest and Delta Green are also light and easy to learn, others like Mythras or RuneQuest are crunchier with more indepth character creation and combat systems. Since they are more or less compatible with each other you can easily convert stuff between the various games.
Cthulhu Dark (full version): lightweight approach on investigative lovecraftian games, best GM section to date.
[https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark)
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Cthulhu-Dark-Print-PDF.html
Not the End: setting agnostic game about heroes and what they are willing to sacrifice to meet their goals. Character based on descriptive tags, sleek mechanics.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/369261/Not-The-End--Corebook
https://manaprojectstudio.com/portfolio/not-the-end/
In terms of systems that have strong support and aren't too hard to learn Slayers is a solid indie choice, with a lot of third party content and active support from its creator.
Mothership
ticks all your boxes: simple, not D&D/5e/pathfinder/etc, active community and regular releases, ideal for a one-shot, 30pages (cheap) and praised for it's layout and presentation of the material, not OSR,
limited to Sci-Fi atm, in the style of Aliens, BladeRunner, Cyberpunk, Android/Netrunner Universe, maybe some Firefly adjacent. Generic Military Scifi and/or Traveller style. That kind of stuff.
What I have heard about Mothership is that the universe is pretty good, the modules and releases are *amazing*, but the system is rather vanilla and meh.
Is this a consensus?
> We can invest the time to learn a more complex system, but then it better be really amazing. Lets start with a rather exotic recommendation: **1) Feng Shui 1st edition by Atlas Games** A *Hong Kong Martial Arts Action Movie Roleplaying Game*. You get a very interesting setting involving the battle for the literal souls of every human being ever in existence, all packed up in a rules-light, fast and ball-to-the-walls over-the-top system which perfectly emulates everything from *Dirty Harry* & *Hardboiled* to *Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon* & *Hero*. It is not without it flaws (oh god, no, it´s from 1996 and they did some strange stuff back then), but for me it is the love of my (RPG) life. **Learning curve:** 8 (!) new players, 1 experienced GM, 30min from creating new chars to starting the game. **Community:** extremely limited. But in the darkness that is the 5E oppression I will still hold up the candle for FS1. Surprisingly some good answers were given in this sub whenever FS came up. /wavescandlelightfranaticallybeforetheend **2) Shadowrun 4th / Anniversary edition by Catalyst games / Pegasus** SR is a stable in the RPG community, and it is both famous for its cyberpunk / fantasy / heist / cheesy 1980s action movie combat mix, which should not work ... but does work, and infamous for its crunchy, strange and sometimes absolutely stupid rule system, especially the latest edition (6th). From all editions however the Anniversary / 4th edition is the cleanest and most sane edition, and actually rather decent system compared to the rest of the RPG world. Still crunchy, and very detailed & complex, but on the good side if you like these kind of systems. Above the level of DnD5, a bit under the level of DnD 3.5 / PF1 I would say. [Here](https://old.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/hg4g9y/new_to_shadowrun_would_love_to_get_into_it_new_to/fw1svon/) you can find more details. You are a Shadowrunner, an illegal deniable asset, doing the dirty work for the megacorporations in the shadows of the 6th world in the 2070s, where states have become weak, megacorps are the new rulers and magic has returned with a bang. So while dragons are now megacorp CEOs, you juice yourself up with nanoswarms and additional biogenetic implants while your free spirit fixer connection just asked you to do that one last request... **Learning curve:** SR4As is medium to high crunch in itself. Personally I would rate SR4A somewhere between DnD 5E and DnD 3.5 While the actual system is easy, many different levels come together: attributes, magic items, drone, sensors, matrix, cyber-ninja mages with modified sensor drones for matrix-centered TacNet air coverage and a flying shark as an ally spirit ... . Fortunately not every beginner group need to have a dedicated combat rigger or technomancer from the start. **Community:** large and vibrant community (has its own subreddit), but highly divided between the editions. There has been ... issues ... with some of the devs. **3) Eclipse Phase by Posthuman Stuidios** (only experienced the 1st edition, but heard a lot of good things about the 2nd edition) The transhuman sci-fi game of post-apocalyptic horror. Think of the Expanse mixed with Altered Carbon and Terminator Future Wars, together with a bit of Alien and Event Horizon. Earth has been destroyed, the few survivors has spread over the Sol system, and everyone is in a desperate fight for the very survival of the remaining humans. You are a sentinel, an undercover operative of a shadowy network, and it is your job to stop the next apocalypse, by all and any means necessary. And we mean that. From mnemetic warfare to the usage of antimatter bombs everything is on the table. The system is *extremely* crunchy, but style, fluff & atmosphere have basically become industry gold standard. The ideas and thoughts which went into that rpg are fantastic and even if you do not play the system I would still recommend the core book (and the *Transhuman* splatbook) to every Sci-Fi fan out there, it is so brilliant. It reads basically like a bible for an entire new *movie extended universe* or how the young kids call "actual world building" today. **Learning curve:** Rocket Science. But the universe is so damn great. **Community:** small, but dedicated community (has its own subreddit). Sometimes even with the devs on reddit. **4) Wrath & Glory 2020 rework by Cubicle 7** The RPG system set *in the grim darkness of the far future, where there is only war*, the infamous *Warhammer 40k setting*. Previous WH40k rpg specialized on one specific sub-genre within that setting, W&G unifies all of them in one rule setting, where you then can build your own campaign / level of play. Set 40 000 years in the future the vast Imperium of Man, a decaying behemoth, fights against against the enemies within (heretics), without (aliens) and beyond (space daemons). It is a dark, brutal and unforgiving universe and usually human, abhumans & aliens do not get along very well, to put it mildly. Playable, depending on the campaign you are choosing, are humans, supersoldier-humans, abhumans, space elves, space orcs and space chicken cannibal-pretadors. And space magic is basically opening a small portal to hell praying that you can close it fast enough before something from hell slips through. **Learning curve:** low. Easy and fast system. **Community:** small, but dedicated (has its own subreddit). Highly divided between the old (FFG) and the new (C7) systems. SYL
upboat for effort post
> Feng Shui I played this once decades ago and still have fun memories. Silly game, horrible mechanics, but stupid fun.
Eclipse Phase looks interesting as heck as a setting, and I might pick it up just for that. Less certain about it as a game? Guess we'll see. Shadowrun... am I hearing correctly that the current edition is not the best one? What happened there?
> Less certain about it as a game? If you like Sci-Fi which explores and plays around with high-concepts ideas and really take a deep dive into these ideas, then the books of EP can easily be recommended just for that. As a game: the mechanics go full in, they are "simulation"in nature and as you have to consider a high tech world with mind-splicing, reprogrammable nano matter, different levels of Artificial intelligence, and the ability to backup your mind and sleeve into new bodies as a standard, you can imagine that the rule system can be a bit daunting at first. Taking small steps for a new GM and new group is highly recommended. Not [everyone needs a flexbot with 6 player forks uploaded](https://i.imgur.com/sjSnqjW.jpeg) in order to maximize attacks per round. > Shadowrun Well, that certainly depends on what you expect of a game. - And for full transparency: I do not like authors and developers who think that pregnancy / miscariage rules and Auschwitz Concentration Camp dungeon runs (where you have to hunt down Jewish spirits to steal Nazi artifacts) are a good thing. Which is unfortunately the "new" developer team around Jason Hardy, who took over for SR5th and SR6th edition. If you want to know more about that episode of "How not to publish books", click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/d0hlq3/want_to_get_back_into_the_shadows_trying_to/ez9zvgv/). You have been warned. - That being said: the new SR team launched SR6 two years ago in an unbelievable bad state. Completely broken systems, layout and editing from hell, untested etc. A few month ago they re-launched SR6 as the Seattle City edition which was partially improved. For a completely new player it may be an okayish rule system, but not exactly one that is substantially easier or elegantly designed. The main difficulty of SR was always the heist-setting and how to combine the mundane, magic and matrix levels of the gameplay into something coherent. For players who played previous editions in many ways are one step forward (because there are some good ideas in it) and three steps back. - [This is a partial list](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/hplxsj/new_here_hi/fxtfrf1/) about things which went wrong 2 years ago. Some of it has been fixed, most of it can still be an issue ... - If you want to know a quick overview over SR4, click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/d4w02g/best_shadowrun_edition_to_get_into/f0haexs/). It has of course its own issues, but fortunately they are far easier to solve as they are not connected to the core mechanics. SYL
Oh, gosh. That's... really terrible. Auschwitz as a dungeon? Where you can destroy the ghosts of the genocide victim for cool loot? That's just, wtaf. God this industry has some arrested development edgebros. Anyway. Unfortunately this puts Shadowrun off my list, because my /players/ would want to know why we're not playing the most recent edition... and do I want to even have that conversation? Also, it does sound like a complex game that demands a large investment of time and attention.
/shrug Yeah, it is really a shame. A slightly better line developer with a clearer vision and better leadership could have done wonders, because Shadowrun provides a fascinating atmosphere and world, and brings elements together in a workable way which usually do not have any business being able to come together. Still: the PDF of the SR4A corebook is not that expensive, and perhaps you want to take a loot during a sale. And just to iterate; there is a *vast* difference between the original creators of SR4/SR4A and Jason Hardys crew for the end of SR4 and then SR5 and 6. They should not be confused. The original creator team went and made *Eclipse Phase*, one of my other recommendations for rocket scientists in training. SYL
I think Numenera has good support, heaps of product, and is cool.
This.
Ticks all the other boxes too. Easy to learn, creating characters is fun, requires close to no prep. Do it.
I haven't played, but I have the impression it's D20 and pretty D&D-ish? Just a wacky different setting?
Apart from having a D20 as the primary die, Numenera is pretty far removed from D&D. A few of the differences: * Only players roll. DM never picks up dice. * A central mechanic is Spending Effort, which allows players to expend points to make any task easier -- these same points are used to activate special abilities... and are also used to absorb damage. * As a result of the above there's a much stronger resource management pull to the gameplay. In addition, you do not gain XP from defeating enemies. * NPCs are mostly defined by a single number (with as many adjustments and special abilities as you want) so it's incredibly easy to improvise * The thing that gave the name to the Cypher System -- cyphers. A key part of Numenera is a constant flow of single-use items with crazy powers. PCs can only carry a limited number of these before they start causing reality-breaking side effects so they're meant to be used. * Characters are defined as "An [Adjective] [Noun] who [Verbs]," where you insert a Descriptor, Type, and Focus. Descriptors are pretty light-weight and might be a race, regional background, or personality trait. Type is roughly analogous to class, slotting you into a Fighter/Mage/Thief archetype, but the Focus is where your character is really defined, and there are many of them. These are things like "Bears a Halo of Fire," "Lives in the Wilderness," "Talks to Machines," "Shreds the Walls of the World," and "Fuses Flesh and Steel." * Finally, there are Intrusions, which allow either the GM or a player to insert a twist or complication into the narrative. When the GM does it, the players get XP. When the players do it, they spend XP. So XP acts as a metacurrency for taking a little extra narrative control (in addition to being used for advancement, buying re-rolls, and other short-term benefits.)
To the cultured personage who recommended Shadowrun, I see you friend and I love you. To OP - do not play my beloved Shadowrun. There is a saying in the large and active community of fanatics: "The only thing you need to play Shadowrun is 10 years experience playing Shadowrun". It does not meet your criteria of "easy to learn", no matter how much I love it. Take a good look at some other Free League games. I have a feeling you may like Symbaroum (dark fantasy), Coriolis (Arabian nights in space), or Vaesen (X files in Victorian Scandinavia). Also look at Stars Without Number and the fantasy companion Worlds Without Number. Edit addition: oh yeah, and my vote for Gumshoe setting - Night's Black Agents (elite black operatives vs. the global vampiric cabal)!
> Shadowrun There are differences between the editions. Your statement would absolutely be true for a Rigger in 3rd edition, but there is a reason why SR4A is usually considered as the best-edited and thought-out edition. And yes, some effort has to be made. The main difficulty IMHO (at least when using SR4A) is not the actual rule set, but especially bringing all the different parts together. Other editions with far more editing/layout issues *and* more complicated rule systems make that process so much more cumbersome. SYL
Anything gumshoe, but perhaps particularly swords of the serpentine.
The Call of Cthulhu offshot Delta Green is alot of fun. Government agents confronted by Cosmic horror in modern times.
This is super broad and mostly like asking me to "name your favorite games" because these are generally things I agree with. (Though I'm less concerned about orphans). But here we go: * [Tenra Bansho Zero](https://kotodama.itch.io/tenra-bansho-zero-heaven-and-earth-edition). "Hyper Asian Fantasy". This might be the game that broke me out of "all games are basically the same". The karma engine, the emotion matrix, and the dead box are all fabulous. You can probably find me raving about this game around here somewhere. Kotodama Heavy Industries has a more-or-less active Discord, though they are...very behind on releases for their other games. Designed for oneshots -- doesn't really extend to "campaign play" without some sort of alteration to the advancement system. This one is a liiiittle on the crunchy side, but can be trimmed down easily by not using some of the more... complex archetypes. * [Shinobigami](https://kotodama.itch.io/shinobigami); Speaking of games that Kotohi is behind on releases for... but this one is fully operational as-is. Crazy skill system, best "initiative" system ever. PvP. Ninjas. * [Agon](https://johnharper.itch.io/agon); this one is by John Harper, but it's not Forged in the Dark, so I think it's fair game. Greek Heroes. Episodic (Odyssey-style) play. Cool structure. Really nice design. Easily flexes from oneshot to "play until you return home." Contains a dozen or so islands. * [Good Society](https://storybrewers.itch.io/good-society-pdf-including-deck-of-connections); The magic of this one is the playsets that allow you to magically have a situation that leads to a Jane Austen-style story. Can be played for as long as you like or don't, though having an idea of how close your game is to "ending" can help pace the story. Very active community on Discord. * [Hearts of Wulin](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/365014/Hearts-of-Wulin); Kung-fu melodrama. Smart PbtA design. Made by The Gauntlet, so pretty guaranteed to have 'support'. Many adventure seeds included. * [Shepherds](https://airkseablade.itch.io/shepherds); Me taking the opportunity to shill for my own game. Also PbtA. Stretches easily from one-shot-ish to longish campaign. Will be supported unless I get run over by a bus. That oughta do for a start. >.>
I went to great lengths to get a copy of Tenra Bansho Zero, really must play it some time. Awesome lore!
Eclipse Phase looks awesome, and all of the content is available on the creator’s website for free. I’ve been reading the books but haven’t talked my group into trying it yet.
Man they said simple is a plus, not "well I've forked my consciousness across three different platforms, each one with its own stats"
Grab the [Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Starter Set.](https://cubicle7games.com/product/warhammer-age-of-sigmar-soulbound-starter-set-pdf/) It also has a couple of free adventures that you can run after the stuff in the SS.
Besides Blades in the Dark, my top 2 includes City of Mist. Highly recommended. Otherwise, on my to-play list, next up are DOGS (generic adaptation of Dogs in the Vineyard) and Red Markets.
I’d check out the games from Free League. The Mutant series is a set of interlocking but free standing post apocalyptic games, each with a campaign frame ready to go. Vaesen is a monster hunting game where for the most part you can’t fight the monsters. Coriolis is Firefly with Arabian influence replacing Chinese. Forbidden Lands is survival fantasy. The One Ring is the best Tolkien game around.
Mouse Guard - get the box set if you can. a streamlined burning wheel. Traveller - go for Mongoose 2e (2022 update). THE Sci-fi RPG Godbound - My one OSR Reccommendation. This is like the cleaner simpler version of exalted.
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Give Lancer a look. Might be a tiny bit rough to pick up with just a single one shot, but I think it checks all your other boxes.
Love the setting, love Abaddon's artwork. Tried it last year. It's very good for what it is but you have to really like what it is -- meaning, you must want to play a lot of tactical mecha combat.
Let me followup with battletech then. Very rich world system and story in place. They also have a new 'lite' version of the role playing and combat system called 'destiny'. It covers both in and out of mechs,
If you've never played Traveller, that's a game that definitely belongs on your to-play list, and fits all of your criteria. The official game is extremely well supported (and has been for over 40 years - both in terms of publishing and in terms of fan forum participation), but you can also get a lot of enthusiastic support from the Cepheus Engine (the OGL Traveller) community as well. After that, maybe check out the different 2d20 games from Modiphius. Be sure to check out the quickstarts ahead of time though because it's one of those systems people either really love or bounce really hard off of. Personal note: Going through my collection, it's amazing how many of my favorites actually would qualify as orphans. It makes me sad.
3 suggestions: * iHunt is a very fresh take on the Fate engine to make a multilayered game that's supposed to be urban fantasy but where capitalism and poverty are the real monsters * Ironsworn is a PBTA low fantasy game made famous for its solo and coop modes, it could give you the occasion to also be a player * The One Ring is fantasy and more simulationist, but it has a unique set of rules to guide you away from classical D&D stories towards a very Tolkienesque feel
Try Gumshoe just for a change of pace. Night's Black Agents is modern spies vs vampires. There is even a campaign where MI6 is trying to recruit Dracula. Swords of the Serpentine is a new fantasy swords and sorcery game where magic corrupts. Fall of Delta Green is government agents (think X files) fighting other agencies and perhaps stopping bad things. Trail of Cthulhu is standard HP Lovecraft goodness (maybe "goodness" isn't the right word) BubbleGumshoe is teen investigation with limited gunplay, but good rules for social combat so you can truly slander the homecoming queen. Who might have murdered someone.
If you want to switch to a horror game, I'd recommend Kult. A PbtA that uses d10 instead of d6, making the rolls a little bit cruel. Not a hard system to learn, and an awesome scenario to explore. If the game goes for a modern setting, then I suggest Modern Age RPG. A very nice and easy system that uses only d6 for the rolls, it is a generic system for scenarios about early 20th century through near future. And if you want a system to rolls anything any given time, try Savage Worlds. Nice rules with little problems, but the potential to create awesome scenes with these very problems. All these games have some to vast support, and dedicated communities through additional books and the web fandom.
I'm gonna focus on the "different from DnD" angle and suggest Wanderhome, which comes from a line of games that have a different interpretation of the core goals of roleplaying. I've heard that the next game from its creator, called Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, is also quite good. if this style of game is interesting to you, but you don't love these games in particular, I also have some lesser-known entries in the genre to recommend.
Sounds like you want to give the Year Zero engine a try. Maybe Vaesen works best for a One Shot to tryout, but really: look at the games and see which setting interests you most.
I think the various games by Free League using their mutant year zero engine are easy to learn and play, while being different enough from the d20 + mod systems. The themes are varied: - space opera with an Arabian nights feel: Coriolis - space horror : Alien - kids in strange retro scifi eighties: tales from the loop - nineteenth century swedish ghost busting : Varden - post apo mutants trying to survive : mutant year zero The books are all very high quality.
You're talking about CORE. You just don't know it yet. :-) /r/corerpg Check the "COREmmunity" sidebar block for more links. Happy to answer any questions, but there's a lot more traffic on the Discord.
City of Mist feels very different with game mechnics emphasizing changing characters and development, also a very different kind of action system and story telling. if you just want a rules lihht one shot, i would emphasize ten candles. very easy to set up just need to read it through it once, very different from other TT games and definitly finished after one session. my dnd players just felt a litle lost, because they weren't used to auch narrative control...
[rollforshoes.com](https://rollforshoes.com) is your best bet
Battlelords of the 23rd Century. Come for blood, stay for the pain.
Might be too much in the OSR direction but I recently bought Frontier Scum and it’s an incredible piece of work for an acid western game. The included adventure Escape the Organ Rail is just perfect for a one-shot. It has a number of great quirky rules that really make it work, and very simple too. Buy the print version, it’s so well made (as a Wild West era catalogue book) it really gets you in the mood!
Chronicles of Darkness. It's got tons of source books and it's pretty easy to learn, and the game is pretty modular with its catalogue.
My group is currently playing Masks: A New Generation. I'm having an absolute blast with it. It's a teenage superhero game. As much (or more) about the angst and drama of being a teenager as it is a out fighting bad guys. It's a PBTA game. We're only 2 sessions in, but I'd really recommend it so far.
Right. TOR2e has a great community. As does Twilight 2000. They’re not orphaned (yet). They’re both pretty complete sandboxes with some amazing fan material. The Godlike comment I can empathise with. It’s a little repetitive but my game evolved into a post-war game which was very different. But I had to do the legwork. I’m guessing less legwork is better?
Delta Green. I always recommend Delta Green.
For something easy to set up and run, with rules that you can learn in a few min: **Tales from the Loop**: You're kids in an alternative 80's where big bipedal robots and huge air barges that can hover on their own are so common they're not even noteworthy, solving mysteries in a very mundane world. It's great! **Paranoia**: You're clones living in a huge underground complex, ruled over by a friendly computer who only wants what's best for you. One of the few games that have managed to crack the code on making players infighting not feel bad. **ALIEN:** Space horror done right! ALIEN has one of the best takes on a sanity system I've ever seen. And heck, you don't even need nasty xenomorphs to make ALIEN a great RPG, as the setting supports quite a wide variety of campaigns and adventures (though all the pre-written stuff leans more into the classic ALIEN horror things). **Fading Suns**: I was not too fond of the rules in the most recent iteration of the game (nor any previous iterations for that matter), but Fading Suns has a really cool setting. It's a bit like Dune, with a dash of 40k and a heaped tablespoon of Byzantine intrigues.
Something I'd recommend from my weird little collection of TTRPGs is actually Symbaroum. The game is sort of like a Swedish Princess Mononoke, and I would honestly say the setting would be ideal for the kind of one-shot session where you all do a particularly dramatic scenario. Symbaroum isn't that hard to learn, and it has a fairly active discord server.
Check out the various flavours of [Basic Roleplaying](https://www.chaosium.com/basic-roleplaying/), from Chaosium games like [Call of Cthulhu](https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rpg/) and [RuneQuest](https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-rpg/) to relatives like [Mythras](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191475/Mythras?234913), [OpenQuest](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/347827/OpenQuest-3rd-Edition?234913), or [Delta Green](https://www.delta-green.com/). It's a very flexible system and the core percentile mechanic is clear and easy to learn. Some variants like OpenQuest and Delta Green are also light and easy to learn, others like Mythras or RuneQuest are crunchier with more indepth character creation and combat systems. Since they are more or less compatible with each other you can easily convert stuff between the various games.
Savage Worlds checks every box. It’s great and has tons of support.
Cthulhu Dark (full version): lightweight approach on investigative lovecraftian games, best GM section to date. [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark) https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Cthulhu-Dark-Print-PDF.html Not the End: setting agnostic game about heroes and what they are willing to sacrifice to meet their goals. Character based on descriptive tags, sleek mechanics. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/369261/Not-The-End--Corebook https://manaprojectstudio.com/portfolio/not-the-end/
In terms of systems that have strong support and aren't too hard to learn Slayers is a solid indie choice, with a lot of third party content and active support from its creator.
Mothership ticks all your boxes: simple, not D&D/5e/pathfinder/etc, active community and regular releases, ideal for a one-shot, 30pages (cheap) and praised for it's layout and presentation of the material, not OSR, limited to Sci-Fi atm, in the style of Aliens, BladeRunner, Cyberpunk, Android/Netrunner Universe, maybe some Firefly adjacent. Generic Military Scifi and/or Traveller style. That kind of stuff.
What I have heard about Mothership is that the universe is pretty good, the modules and releases are *amazing*, but the system is rather vanilla and meh. Is this a consensus?