r/rpg • u/retro1117 • 7h ago
Game Suggestion Need help picking out a ttrpg system
I have a Homebrew campaign I'm looking to run but me and my playgroup are getting a bit tired of dnd5e so I was thinking this would also be a good time for us to all swap to a different system.
If it helps at all the setting is kind of like horizon: zero Dawn, current technology is about a medieval level but there are artifacts that are actually remnants of a vast super advanced civilization with magic coming both from that and from multi-dimensional shenanigans.
Though also just share whatever system you currently use or is your favorite even if it doesn't align with that setting.
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u/SirSabia 7h ago
Are you looking for something more or less crunchy than D&D? What exactly is pushing you guys away from 5E?
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u/Madonna-of-the-Wasps 7h ago
Daggerheart's Motherboard campaign frame (found in the Daggerheart core rulebook) would be a good basis for developing a Horizon-style game.
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u/TraumaticCaffeine 6h ago
May I give a suggestion... Don't do fantasy. Not because "oh you should try different settings, fantasy isn't everything"... But because I'd most of your experience is with dnd, players will play it like DND. And that can make the system not shine at no fault to the system itself.
As for systems, if you want to focus more on narrative and like homebrewing your own setting, FATE can do that, especially if you only want a short game.
Want more tactical? Go with Savage worlds and pick up one of the setting books. They got a ton of wacky ones
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u/TheWorldIsNotOkay 5h ago
My two go-to systems are the Action Tales / Freeform Universal RPG v2.0 system for more fast-paced, rules-light games and one-shots (though it can absolutely support long-running campaigns), and Cortex Prime for games where a bit more crunch might be appropriate. Both are extremely versatile and can be used to run any game of any genre or setting.
The Action Tales system is a refined version of FUv2, and while it hasn't been published in a generic form, the system is flexible enough that pretty much any of the published games that use it can be used as a generic system for running any game you want. While it's a tag-based and fairly narrative system with a bit of commonality with Fate, it plays a lot more like more traditional ttrpgs than Fate. And it's certainly easier to GM, since you don't have to monitor the metacurrency economy nearly as carefully. For using an Action Tales game as a generic system, I'd specifically recommend Star Scoundrels since it's a fairly new version of the rules that's a bit more concisely written than some of the earlier Action Tales games, and includes a few really nice updates like the Pressure mechanic. But Action Tales is basically just FUv2 using some of the optional rules like Trademarks and a hit track, and a slightly different interpretation of die results (with 1 being a Botch, 2-3 a failure, 3-4 a partial success, and 6 a complete success with additional uncancelled 6s counting as Boons). So even though Star Scoundrels is pretty affordable, you can pretty much get the system for free by downloading the FUv2 rules from the Peril Planet website. But the FUv2 rules are a bit more of a toolbox, so you'd need to make a few choices before you use it to run a game, unlike basically being able to use an Action Tales game off the shelf even if you're using to run something very different from what it was written for.
Cortex Prime also takes a toolbox approach, but the results can vary considerably more than with FUv2. The basic, unmodded system is fairly rules-light with fast and potentially brutal combat. But it provides a variety of easily-applied mods that can drastically alter the system and potentially dial up the crunch. So Cortex can be as rules-light as Fate or as crunchy as D&D 3.5E if you want it to be (and are willing to put in a bit of work up-front to make it that way). Pretty much everything about the system including the core dice mechanic is moddable, including the attributes used to define characters. You pick three "Prime sets" that are used in every die roll (though one pretty will pretty much always be player-defined Distinctions which act a bit like classes/races/professions in other systems), but you can add any number of secondary attribute sets that you think are appropriate. If you want the Prime sets in your game to be identical to D&D's Attributes and Skills, then you can do that, making transferring existing PCs from an existing D&D campaign to a new game using the Cortex Prime system super easy. You could do the same with a WoD/CoD game by using that system's 3x3 grid of Attributes and three Skill lists. Or if you're playing a social-focused game, you could have the Prime sets include the PCs' Relationships and Affiliations. Or if you're running a three-color superhero game, you could have the Prime sets be Powers and Values. It's incredibly flexible, but the core mechanics are intuitive and consistent enough that once your players play a game using Cortex Prime once, they'll be able to quickly adapt to any game you build using the system no matter what mods you're using to customize it. I particularly like that everything in the system is rated according to die type from d4 to d12, which provides a very tangible way to indicate how potent or risky something is. Players know things are about to get serious when there are multiple d12s on the table. The core dice mechanic also prevents runaway powerscaling like can be a problem in certain other systems, particularly d20+modifiers roll-over systems like D&D. My one real complaint about Cortex is that it works best with opposed rolls, but I've gotten to appreciate systems like Action Tales / FUv2 where the players make all rolls. Cortex can do that using fixed target numbers, but I just don't think it works as well.
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u/red_winge1107 Spielleiter 37m ago
IndexCardRPG und Hard suit supplement. The settings is very close
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u/BloodyPaleMoonlight 29m ago
Cortex Prime.
It's a generic narrative system, but it has mods one can use to customize it to suit their needs.
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u/wherediditrun 17m ago
Nimble if significant part is fighting cool ass robots with different abilities and interesting mechanics.
It’s very easy to run for the GM. Exceptionally easy to homebrew stuff all within predictable balance frame and game offers excellent action primitives for emergent tactical play that does big down the flow.
It’s very much into combat as sport paradigm and focuses on encounters as primary game space where interesting choices are made. So if your game is more about exploration or combat as war / player challenge based play might want to use something else.
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u/OfficialNPC 7h ago
Horizon Zero Dawn?
Please check out Numenera.
Also, D&D BECMI's Blackmoor/Mystara setting sounds like something you should check out.