There are more role playing games out there than D&D.

This has always been the case from just after D&D’s first edition, through times good and bad until now when both D&D and its various competitors in as healthy a position as they have ever been. I was introduced to RPG’s by a friend very early on, but must confess, D&D never sat well with me, no matter how hard I tried. It was always the foreigner on the shelf, never the old friend. GDW Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer and Warhammer 1e, yes, but not D&D.

I am having trouble however making any decisions deciding which to play. It is not that there are not good options, or that I lack a decent selection of them even after several massive clean-outs, but without a healthy group to play with, analysis paralysis has been nearly insurmountable.

D100 games are my usual go to. I prefer their realistic approach, making play more about always potentially lethal choices at every turn, than abstract team monster bash-fests with all to low fear thresholds.

As I recently wrote though, d100 games for me need some (reasonable and easily implemented) house rules to be applied these days. The original mechanics of most are just not cutting it. This is easy enough, indeed so easy as to be a strength of d100 games, but still, I would love a fully harmonious experience.

D100 still has a very strong draw when it comes to options. Mythras, Bare Bones or BRP each offer great sci-fi, pulp, fantasy, historical fantasy, historical horror, supers, renaissance and more and all with nearly identical systems.

Basically, there is nothing in any d100 game that cannot be fixed easily enough, but none that I own (dozens), that are perfectly right as is. The core of every game is basically the same, with nothing new age or untried to throw you, but also nothing ground breaking. I think what I also like about d100 games is their old school “roleplaying before mechanics for everything” design ethos.

So many titles, so little time…..

This brings me to the brilliant, but flawed Warhammer 4e. The issues are small, but they are there. This game, more than most actually tools the players up with in-built mechanical options, many to my liking, but the density of the rules make it a slog, especially when you need to apply tweaks.

Mouse Guard is probably the most polished and “perfect” of the systems I own and the last I will part with. It is elegant and gorgeous, but a bit mechanically prescribed. Combat with cards is good, but a more free form game appeals (which can be done). It is always appealing in theme and support material, so a strong contender, especially for new players.

The One Ring (1e) is similar. It is gorgeous, but heavily controlled with sub-systems for every major aspect of play like Mouse Guard but even more so. Some love it, some hate it. I sit in the middle, wishing it was a little more flexible, but enjoying the intent and execution of the bulk of it. The second edition is apparently a little more forgiving, but not fully compatible. It is totally possible to use the lovely books and do a d100 game with them as the theme and power levels are similar, all you need to do is role-play a little. D100 games (Mythras, Legend, Magic World etc) can easily do LoTR style games and there are even some out there already.

My first great love was GDW’s 2d6 Traveller. I have the new and old Mongoose versions and the lush and generous Warmachine RPG that uses a similar mechanic, but has a strong miniatures emphasis (which I have tubs of, unpainted).

Savage Worlds? I just wish they would hurry the f%#k up and publish the new versions of the Supers and Sci Fi books (SW editions are not overly compatible). Too long hanging guys! You are making Cubicle 7 look speedy and that is saying something. Seriously though, SW has never been a perfect fit. I prefer my pulp done with a d100 system, which like most things is fully possible, but the thought of a Guardians of the Galaxy style sci-fi/supers hybrid is surely possible with this system..

Going in another direction, back to D20, 13th Age is always tempting. It seems odd to go for a D&D spin-off, instead of 5e, but I just like the game and the good humour it is written with. It is like a D&D heart breaker, piss-take and love letter all in one. It is more over the top than any edition of D&D, which is actually ideal as D&D only works for me when it is treated as an abstract gamers game, not a representation of reality.

Relenting and letting “the monster in”, I could be persuaded to do the new 5e Iron Kingdoms Requiem, Symbaroum and my extensive (almost complete) Adventures In Middle Earth collection. Each has its merits in the 5e landscape and strong history with me, but avoid being ordinary 5e (or do they?). I have owned the basic books for 5e and traded them as new for a couple of X-Wing ships, but AIME especially only needs the “Playing the Game” chapter of the free starter rules. I have actually owned every edition of D&D from the old typed first edition, the Red/white boxes, 3e through Pathfinder, too much 4e etc, but just cannot come at it. Maybe with a more palatable front?

As usual writing about it has helped me make a choice (hearing me say it to others usually does).

This is the order of bucket list RPG’s.

1. Some sandbox d100 one off games (M-Space, Destined, Legend Historical, CoC, Clockwork and Chivalry, Wuxia, Deus Vult, Delta Green) with my own one-sheet universal and unifying house rules.

2. A 13th Age Stone Thief/Shards based campaign. This just wants to play itself. I already have three characters just from tinkering with ideas. If you are in the mood for D&D, 13A really does carry you away.

3. AIME (but no other 5e systems) through the three main campaign books (at once?). There are two massive campaign books for either side of the Misty Mountains and an equally deep linked adventure book, so tons to go on with over a 30 year campaign. I would really like to do this “blind style” also, where the players have no mechanical character sheet, only an indicative one. This would be the best system for that.

4. The Warhammer 4e Enemy Within Campaign (I am up to the third book of five). Systemic issues aside (Advantage, shields etc) and I intend to put them aside using mostly in game suggestion like the simplified test roll and limited Advantage options, this is a rich and engrossing world.

5. A late addition, the deep and polished Witcher RPG, which has gone from soon-to-be-gifted, to front rank.

6. My own system which uses a simplified 2d10 system, which combines the advantages of d10’s with simple math than % games.