Despite the reduction in placement, I was happy to hear your comments on BFRPG. And I get it, experimentation is fun... I did some, back in college... ... no, not like that ... dang ...

Great countdown. ICRPGs character RAW progression systems allow for maximum flexibility for players and GMs alike. Milestone and Mastery rewards work in tandem; the GM rewards appropriate Milestones (usually in consultation with the player) when they make narrative sense, so they are always timed right in the game for a satisfying fit, while Mastery rewards come with the luck of the dice-the more you “do stuff” in the game, the more you roll nat 20s, and the more nat 20s you get, the sooner your cool bonus abilities arrive! It’s amazing at the table.

Another Plus of Basic Fantasy 4th ed is the large amount of Modules that are ready to play. 'JN1 Chaotic Caves' is homage to 'Keep on the Borderlands'. AND its all free to download and try. A great B/X system. The community is very active.

Dragonbane, EZd6 and ICRPG!!! What about DCC????? Thought that would be up there as well. Great video.

Excited for Pendragon. I'm a huge Basic Roleplaying fan, which I'm sure I've mentioned before. That definitely set me up to like Dragonbane. Glad to finally have the box set for that. Now...players? Maybe one day. Still hoping to pick up Numenera one of these days. But it's a little lower on my list right now. I enjoyed playing it and would love to get back to it. I'm less into a lot of the other stuff that's been coming out for the Cypher system, but not everything has to be for me. I'm sure it's for someone, and that's great. I need to play Index Card RPG sometime. It didn't click with me while reading it, but I suspect it'll make more sense at the table. I've only managed to run a one shot of Call of Cthulhu and of Dungeon Crawl Classics this year, sadly. I was trying to get a regular DCC game going, but couldn't get enough people who were interested and could actually show up, on the same day, at the same time, for more than a week in a row. I played a little Alien and Tales from the Loop last year, and those were great. Still enjoying playing in an ongoing Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Ed) game, which is one I've ended up liking much more than I expected. I like that it's a system that lets you dial up or down the crunch. Want to get into the weeds with designing your robots, starships, and space sectors? Great. It's all there for you to noodle on. Don't want to do any of that? Here's a bunch of pre-done stuff and a very simple game mechanic. Get to storytelling. My only real complaint so far is that I don't love the design of the character sheet I was first using. But there are lots of others out there and the new one I'm using works much better for me.

Finally someone who understands the power of Numenera.

Yeah! Numenera and the Cypher System! I have to agree, the ease on learning the system, coming up with things on the fly for the GM; it really does just work! And while there's alot of mechanics that can be added, its all optional! And even the Cypher Whitebooks added mechanics can be pluged into a Published Setting for Cypher... As you said, Its basic rules are simple... Everything else is optional! Great video!

Dragonbane has been my favorite in the last few years as well! I appreciate that you emphasize fast at the table cause that’s very important to me too. Have you gotten to look at Savage Pathfinder? I was considering it for my new group as they’re wanted something a bit more “heroic“ without being too crunchy. Another game, not really heroic though, that looks great is Tales of Argosa. Seems to hit a really nice mid crunch level and allows the players to do some cool extra stuff. Anyway, enjoyed the video!

Dragonbane is sooo good. Currently our #1 game, too.

Nice countdown. Interesting to see quick coverage of each system. Lots that you've ran, haven't hit that many different systems I've GM'd

That's a fantastic countdown! So many awesome games and I'm inspired by your enthusiasm!

Yes to Pendragon content! I've always had a soft spot for the Basic Roleplay powered rules sets, specifically Stormbringer (Moorcock Elric fantasy), Elfquest (Wendy and Richard Pini's excellent comics), and Pendragon. Surprisingly, never got into Runequest or Call of Cthulhu. Last Origins, I picked up Chaosium's Rivers of London based BRP game. In any case, def. give us some Pendragon stuff!

Very exciting! I have played 2 non-D&D on your list. Shadowdark (GM) and Dragonbane (PC). Shadowdark has become our substitute system for when the group fails to get everyone together. But I'm about to embark on an extended adventure with Dragonbane alongside some of my regular players. And I may run an adventure myself. I mean, you get to play a Mallard! C'mon! Suggestions: If you like Dragonbane then you are already familiar with the system, might I suggest Vaesen. Also by Free League. I also quite enjoy Shadow of the Demon Lord. A nice mix of tactical, old school and modern mechanics with a cool magic system and combat mechanics.

What a wonderful list! ❤Six of your ten favorite games are also high on my list. One can see that you like games that are fast on the table. I am currently playing EZD6 with friends, and it is indeed very fast, flexible, and exciting. I can really recommend the "EZD6 Quests" book. It provides three times six adventures that can be played separately or as campaigns. Reading an adventure maximally takes about twenty minutes, and you are ready to go as a Rabble Rouser. Another system I am just discovering that could be to your liking is "Crown & Skull", also by Runehammer. It has quite a different approach with characters only having skills and equipment. Damage is called "Attrition", and makes both your skills and your equipment unusable. Characters are easily customisable with an easy point buy system, so are magic spells.

I've played 6 games on your list. Dragonbane is at the top of my list. I play it solo and it is fast. Card-based activation is perfect for solitary play.

A few older games I rarely see on yt. Interlock/Fuzion by R Talsorian Games. Makers of Cyberpunk 2020 and Mekton and recently The Witcher. Great easy system. Silicore/Silhouette system by Dream Pod 9. Heavy Gear and Jovian Chronicles. Hero System, Hero Games. Champions, Fantasy, and Space. Sword of Cepheus. This last is a modified osr of Traveller for a Fantasy setting.

I really enjoyed your list. There's some great games in there. A few I haven't checked out yet but am now definitely going to.

Interesting games on here! I just started playing TTRPGs a little over 2 months ago. So far Ker Nethalas is the only game I've played, and I love it. Great solo dark fantasy dungeon crawler. I just picked up the box set of Forbidden Lands and I love how dark and dangerous it is! Just created my characters for solo play yesterday and very excited to jump in! Symbaroum also looks right up my alley! Not sure how difficult it would be to run solo or what books I would need beyond the core ruleset, tho.

For a game not listed but suggested. I have been having a blast with "Outgunned" (2 Little Mice, same makers of Household), with the "Action Flicks Vol. 1" (Movies, Harry Potter, Aliens, Star Wars etc.) and "World of Killers" (John Wick) expansions. It is a great d6 (roll and keep) dice pool based system to run action movies from, the ability to create monsters/NPC are as simple as Cypher. If players roll "6 of a kind" they tell the GM what happens in the "Spotlight".

Amazing to see two games I adore at the top of your list! MCG and Free League consistently make incredible games.

Great video!! I like many of the games you listed. Oddly enough, have never played Numenera -- your description of it -- was great! Going to put it on my list of games to try. You are definitely in the "lighter" games camp than I am. So, my list of favorite fantasy TTRPGs is a little different. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate D&D 5e as a "6" in complexity and -- to compare I would put Castles & Crusades as a "4". Fantasy AGE would come in as a "4", and Basic Fantasy maybe a "3" on my scale. My favorite fantasy TTRPGs are #1: Castles & Crusades, #2 Pathfinder 2e, #3 The Dark Eye 5e, #4: Fantasy AGE 2e, and #5: Tied between Advanced Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy.

BUY A TEE-SHIRT!!!! They are great! 5e... made the list XD I am glad to see DragonBane in here. My kids loved the startbox!

I just recently discovered Warlock Traitors Edition as well as Warpstar. I haven't had the chance to play them yet, but I like the rules that I have read for them.

I'm happy to see Dragonbane at the top of the list! It's not my cup of tea, but I still want it to do really well. Out of the games you listed, Symbaroum is my favorite.

It's my number 1 too. Good video.

Dragonbane no1, that is interesting! I just bought dragonbane quick start set and got hooked by the rules. It was simple, well organized and I had many rules that I didn't see in D&D. It felt refreshing and also easy to understand in a d20 game. I bought the box set and the beastiary because the system looks really good and original, the art is gorgeous. The solo rules got me intrigue since I play solo to learn the mechanics and explore the game systems. The solo rules are really well done compared to other solo rules. The game also has a campaign, and original tables to generate adventures. Really well done.

Right on! I love this! When you started talking to Dragonbane, I was like "effin A, Cotton, EFFIN A!" And anything that causes a Dodgeball reference is A OK with me. I think your list was well thought out and excellent. I tend to favor similar mechanics by the sound of it. And I too am an absolute sucker for D20 roll-under systems. Advancement in DB is so organic and lets characters just grow and be what their adventures make them. In my opinion, that is SO MUCH better than Dungeons and Demigods. Also, I saw someone mentioned Savage Pathfinder. Absolute banger of a game. I love the lore of Pathfinder. Golarion is fascinating and really cool. That said, I do not dig Pathfinder as a system. Way too much crunch for me. Maybe not for others but definitely so for me. I don't need to tell you about Savage Worlds, but when you ice that cake with Golarion, it's rad, and also Books, Bricks, and Boards plays Savage Pathfinder, but set it in Forgotten Realms. It's WILD! Hey before I forget, similar to Basic Fantasy, there's a game called Olde Swords Reign. It did something similar to what Shadowdark did before Shadowdark was a thing. It's built on the chassis of 5e but way streamlined and easily plug-and-play with other systems.

I LOVE ICRPG, but Master Edition being a mashup of products needs MORE EDITING. Once you realize this, it reads a bit easier, and explains a lot of inconsistencies. But once you add a few more addons, it all becomes a pile of stuff. Make or get a DM screen(or cards), and enjoy the happy mess.

I’ve run BFRPG for my group for a few years but we haven’t played for a few years after. Looks like my group is excited to start playing again but want to try something slightly different but still fantasy. That’s why I’m currently torn on using one of the following: Shadowdark, Numenera and Dragonbane. Want something that’s easy to learn and get used to. I’m actually leaning heavily on Dragonbane.

You had me at "5e just is not for me."

Enjoyed this, great countdown. You seem to prefer the more traditional game ruleset and a strong preference for fantasy settings, apart from the mention of using ICRPG for a sci-fi game. Do you prefer the fantasy genre in other media too?

Savage Words. Gumshoe, and Fate Core or Fate Accelerated are my top picks. The first is gonzo fun. The second clarifies how investigative games should be run and still be fun. And the third is the only game on both our list that represents a revolution in game theory and design.

Thanks Wes. Nice look at a TON of different fantasy systems. Is that also your favorite genre to run?

Cool to see Dragonbane at the Top of the list. It would be at the Top of mine as well if it wasn’t for Alien RPG, also from Free League. That game has really blown my mind.

5e shines in the number of prewritten adventures. On of the problems I have with some ttrpgs is there are no prewritten adventures, like blades in the dark. As a DM a prewritten adventure can give a tutorial for the players and solidify the system in our minds.

1e AD&D is where the DM plans 5 rooms that no matter what the players choose. They always wind up picking all of them and attempt escaping being murdered in. The players will naturally be cautious, and implement stalling. Meanwhile, the DM may not need to dream up 5 new ones every session. Time and money is what players need, and never have enough.

Nice list. I'm currently running a Shadowdark campaign and playing in a Dragonbane campaign. So yeah, I agree with your take.

I backed the kickstarter for Dragonbane because of nostalgia (i played the old version about 25 years ago) and when i read the preview i thought it would be a baby game for babies. But after trying it, I loved it. Incredibly easy to homebrew abilities and kin as well.

How about OSE or Hyperborea? I really enjoyed the reviews!

Love symbaroum but the organization and layout is frustratingly poor, not as bad as the old palladium books but, oof. And ICRPG is my go to for new players and the game I probably steal the most out of. I'd be super curious what your take on Crown and Skull is. I admit the aesthetic of dragonbane (its probably just the duck if im honest;) has held me off but folks keep raving about the system in all the ways that matter to me....Solid video mate.

I'm the same with D&D 5E. The whole system does a lot of things that don't go together with my style of storytelling. Thank you for those short glimpses! I'm always curious about new RPGs!

Fun video. Thanks.

I have run Dragonbane, and it's fun.

You really have to check Tales of Argosa . It’s like Dragonbane but with more options for PC + having the best things from DCC.

You should really try Monster of the Week, you should try a PBTA game and this is the most accessible and probably the most played.

WB:FMAG! It’s been my go-to for a while and super easily mutable across so much! Non-D&D has long been RISUS, and now lately the FF-Inspired but not as heavy as AFF, Spellzard! Great lil and super easy system!

I’d like to play Shadowdark, my brothers have enjoyed what they’ve played. I look forward to playing more C$C too, you describe well very pithily.

I would love for you to try out Legend of the Five Rings 1st/2nd edition if you haven't already. The setting is amazing and I love the system. 4th edition is arguably the best edition but very expensive, 1st/2nd is affordable and available on ebay. 5th edition by ffg is a different animal, but I'd like to hear your take on that as well.

Really fun list! I watch all your reviews but having a succinct list like this is a good way to explore them all quickly. I was quite surprised that Basic Fantasy RPG was so low on your list but you explained it well. I think you know that my favorite game to run right now is Old School Essentials. I'm a fan because it's very customizable, runs fast at the table (using your criteria!) and also I love that I can use it to run all the old TSR modules I have from the 1980s, many of which I've had for 40+ years but never ran or played. Another favorite game of mine right now is Savage Worlds. It runs quickly and has some really unique mechanics that make it feel very different from D&D. I love that it so adaptable to a variety of settings, but I'm not convinced yet that it does fantasy all that well.

Pity that gallant knight game's tiny d6 line of rpgs didnt make the cut.

So, does that mean you have yet to run blades in the dark or DCC?! Couldn't help noticing, those are two of my favorites.

People ''love'' 5e, because they haven't tried other systems. Once you try a couple different systems, there is no shot you go back to 5e. I started off with 5e during covid and fell in love with ttrpgs. I spend huuundreds on 5e books (along with the dndbeyond versions) and accessories. Until I started reading other systems and I couldn't get back to 5e. That system died for me.

What book is that on your shelf to the left of dark places and demigorgons?

My preference is Pathfinder 1e. I really like Legends of the Five Rings roll and keep system, 3e and 4e under AEG were fine by me.

I recently picked up EZD6, hopefully I shouldn't have gone for Dragonbane instead.

Nice list! Have you checked out DC20? If not you should.

Need DC20 in this mix to make it a complete list.

Have you ever tried Pendragon?

I was hoping # 1 would be heroquest .

very cool

Rolemaster, Basic RolePlaying and GURPS. Nothing comes even close to the trifecta.

You need to run Ironbound.. so that it can make it on the list in 2025

You must be retired to have time to play all those games

Lots of fantasy on your list. How about something modern or even science fiction.?

Roll under sucks. Glad it is relegated to the trashbin of history. The world isn't 90% possible for people with "18's" on their stat sheet. Plus it is just dumb to have 20 mean something great one roll and something bad the next. Flush them all, IMO. I do treasure BFRPG, ICRPG, and EZd6.

I cannot recommend Knave 2e enough. BRP is amazing. SWADE is great!