If you enjoyed this video but felt like i was missing a few go check out @booksbricksandboards video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e9qXoZaF2N_PgoU.htmlsi=L8-k091OPZiLpROj He probably covered the ones i missed 😂 And here's the correct link for Mausritter: losing-games.itch.io/mausritter

😅😂🤣 Old School Essentials quietly cries on the shelf above right shoulder

LOVE A SAVAGE WORLDS SHOUT OUT !! yes dude! I'd love to see more SWADE content, I think there are tons of lessons to learn from the toolkit like Dramatic Tasks, Chases, Social Encounters, all the Vehicle rules, etc! Dramatic Tasks especially are applicable to any TTRPG game regardless of ruleset imo

I need to try Dragonbane. I finally own it. I'm a huge Basic Roleplaying fan, and you can see BRP's DNA in Dragonbane's mechanics. Even though I'm not a big Fantasy guy, I like the vibes, and I think it would be a lot of fun, especially for younger players.

Big Burning Wheel fan here (got to it through Mouseguard) and one of the things I'd like to highlight is that it's a game intended to be played for a long time (months, if not years) and your character will change so much as you play. Your Beliefs will challenge you, and what you thought was important in the beginning turns out to not be important at all, and you will grow, becoming a better fighter/sorcerer/bard, unless you're losing fights, taking wounds, and failing to get them treated, then you will slowly begin to fall apart (a head wound could potentially cost you an eye, which makes depth perception harder, etc.) I love it and play it several times a week (two tables we even play "The Gods Must Be Crazy" style of rotating GM's.)

Love to see some non wizards content. Been running the One Ring starter set while I wait for Moria to arrive and digging out my old MERP content to run a one shot for some old friends.

Great editing and sound effects! Especially when Juno punched you 😂 Anything with small mice is always fun and cute so Mausritter looks like a good one!

Thanks for the shout out!

1:34 13. Savage Worlds 2:14 12. Crown & Skull 3:18 11. ShadowDark 4:26 10 and 9. Cairn and Knave 5:29 8. Blades in the Dark 6:37 7. Index Card RPG 8:12 6. Cypher System 9:57 5. Dungeon Crawl Classics 11:27 4. Burning Wheel 12:53 3. Mausritter 14:06 2. Mazes 15:25 1. Dragonbane

Savage worlds and savage pathfinder are great!

You should know about Torchbearer! It’s a streamlined Burning Wheel like Mouse Guard but built around dungeon survival. It’s my favorite game now since it’s got all the sauce of Burning Wheel without a lot of the cruft.

lol, upon your suggestion in my own comments section, I watched your video, and ICRPG and Cypher are other games I have enjoyed and created videos on. I have not done Burning Wheel content, but I did do a Mouse Guard video. Mazes and Mausritter were the only two I didn’t have experience with. Definitely a great list, and clearly we have very similar game taste, and apparently similar intuition about when to make a video on this subject! Cheers man, glad you introduced me to your channel and congrats on the new kiddo!

Call of Cthulhu is one of the best. Legends of the Five Rings, pre fantasy flight, is also amazing. Shadowrun is a good staple.

My top four are Cypher System, Outgunned (with Action Flicks Vol. 1, and World of Killers), Mazes and EZD6. What do they all have in common? NPC/Monsters are built with a simple system of, special abilities, Strikes (HP, etc.) and a Damage value. For those of us who do not have time for long stat blocks.

Burning wheel is so difficult, I’ve been discouraged to continue reading it

Bittersweet that nothing from Onyx Path makes the list. Happy because it's good to see that the scene has evolved and moved on. Sad because it's a pity that such a once-reliable source of innovation and fun, didn't keep up. (Yeah, Exalted is still at the top of *my* list. But my list is worthless, as I haven't played anything else written in the last 10-15 years or so. 🤷 Guess I need to look for a group. Again.)

For other games with different genres, so not just the fantasy: Call of Cthulhu. It is a classic, with loits of good adventures. The Troubleshooters. Modern BRP, set in a fictitious 1960s, based on Franco-Belgian comics like Tinitn, Spioru, Yoko Tsuno. Add a dash of Lupin III... Good Sociaety: a Jane Austen rpg. Collaborative game that is very different from most anything. A bit expensive, and takes a while to get into. FATE (Either Core/Condensed or Adccelerated). A toolbox for handling any genre. There are a few worldbooks with a multitude of quick settings.

i confess i tuned out after you trolled me with my beloved WFRP4e being in the list before unveiling DCC

Savage Worlds is great. Very easy on the GM. It’s my goto system for…almost everything.

I agree with so many of your choices (8/13) whether I've played them or not, so... subscribed.

My recommendation is Ironsworn or its sci-fi version, Starforged. It gave me the confidence to actually GM a game myself, and our campaign has been going strong for over a year now!

My group fell in love with Basic Fantasy.

Im loving Savage Worlds, another great mention for rules lite and easy to homebrew for is EZD6.

Seeing your recommendation I am even happier I got the quick start for Dragonbane on Free RPG day

If it has Classes. levels, and uses a d20 it is D&D.

YOUR BABY IS SO CUTE!!! Future OSR player!

Ironsworn (in guided mode) is one of my favorite RPGs right now.

So, now that I had the time to actually watch the video... not promising that it makes more sense that the first one though: 1. I currently take a break from most of the 100 other RPG channels I subed to, because I'm a little heartbroken, that my DnD group just died on my. But not from this one. For the closing song alone. 2. I had tons of fun with Warhammer 1e what feels like 50 years ago... but it's only 30 years. Thanks for the memories. 3. I got DCC for 25 bucks on Amazon... best RPG value ever. 4. Mausritter has a German title, because Germans are small, cute, brave and a dangerous world wants to kill them. Got it. 5. Damit, I want to try out Dragonbane!

That's a fine list of wonderful RPGs. The only issue I take with it is: There's a stong focus on D&D adjacant rules and worlds and tropes with Blades in the Dark being the only excaption. Left out ... is the whole world of the d100 gaming school. Yet it's not just d100 games. Those games do have a focus on verisimiltude and settings that are much more than primarily being stages for the PC or exploration material. Runequest: Roleplaying in Glorantha ... might be the most prominent representative. There are many more. Pendragon, Hârnmaster, the OpenQuest, Rennaissance, Revolution d100 and Mythras games. To a lesser degree you might also count the Maelstrom (UK) and WFRP-Engine games amongst them. (Legend of the 5 Rings - 1st to 4th edition strikes a similar vein.) These are games where in-game cultures & cults, organisations, values, believes ... matter ... and the PC can't opt out. Also omitted from the list are freeform/diceless games. Like Amber Diceless, Theatrix, Everway, The Hidden Isle ... Games that resolve actions or conflicts via (Tarot) card interpretation or codified story needs. Belonging outside Belonging games (also called "no dice no masters") aren't too removed from those games. The most notable difference is the absence of a GM and vignette/situational play. Dream Askew/Dream Apart, Our Haunt, The Mending Circle, Wanderhome ... might be examples of that kind of games. ... and we've not talked about "combat as sport" games, that D&D 3.5 & 4E championed. There are good alternatives in Pathfinder 2, 13th Age and Strike!. We also haven't talked about the gamey, narrative RPGs of 2D20 and Genesys. About multiple Ennies winners of the Year Zero engine - like Tales from the Loop. Crunchy Storytelling with WoD, CoD, Storypath, Alternity, Ars Magica ... etc is omitted as are rules light games and Brit Old School like OneDice, Barbarians of Lemuria, Troika & Advanced Fighting Fantasy ... There's a lot. And a lot beyond ... DnD-ish games of some kind. Even though I like OSR games a lot.

I've hoped to find a group for Symbaroum (also by Free League)

I will post this every chance I get. Can someone explain to me how BitD's mechanics are so tightly coupled with the genre and setting? I have seen this enough that I am now at the point where I am starting to believe it is a thing, I just don't understand it. My position - we wanted to play a dark, spooky game set in an alternate 50's on the southside of Chicago. I took BitD and just renamed things. The only "change" I had to make was I added a "Wheelman" playbook. Other than that, I carried over 98% of everything else just rebranding it with terminology appropriate to my setting. And it has worked really, really well. We are 7 sessions in and there is nothing I have had to tweak. Everything from the crew to rep to everything else, I just picked it up, placed it over our game and pressed "Go" and it has hummed right along. I really don't get the critique that BitD is only cool in the context of Duskval and whatever genre it is. This has not been my experience.

Games you missed that are not just clones and knock-offs of some version of D&D are GURPS, Harn, Traveler (Mongoose), Call of Cthulhu Twilight 2000, Coyote and Crow and Genesys; also Basic Role Playing (CoC with out the CoC setting) and Cepheus Engine (Traveler without the Traveler setting). you did mention Savage worlds so you are way better than others who have made similar videos.

This is pretty close to my hypothetical list, though I would replace a handful of choices (Shadowdark, SWADE, DCC) with other choices: e.g., Stonetop (Iron Age Dungeon World), Fabula Ultima, and Fantasy AGE.

I love Cypher System and am running three campaigns (1 Numenera and 2 Old Gods Appalachia) plus there’s a huge demand for one offs I’ve been running(hooray for cypher shorts and Underground Oracle)

Huge Free League fan here but also giving a shoutout to Ten Candles. Great narrative oriented game. Super lite. Super fun. GREAT video.

Thanks for jumping on.

The Dark Eye

I have wanted to play burning wheel for years

Five Torches Deep, EZD6, ICRPG, The Black Sword Hack, The Black Hack.

For dark fantasy nothing beats MorkBorg its ruleset is pretty light and most of the dice rolls are player facing... great system for a gritty dark souls like setting. There are a ton of resources for it online and at drive thru rpg

I was in a Savage Worlds Deadlands campaign it was pretty fun.

Mausritter is the only game on this list that isn't on my shelf. I can't disagree with your choices or reasons for choosing these games. If I had to add one more suggested game, I would say The Fantasy Trip. TFT from Steve Jackson Games isn't overly complicated and would add a tactical choice to the selection of games on this list. Great list and I applaud all your choices. Guess I should look into adding Mausritter to my collection. Cheers!

You get all the points for the Mausritter gag 🤡😚

Very awesome list 😊. Thank you for taking time to watch my video. I had to come over & check your list out as well. You also put me onto some new ones to check out!!!!!!

Not a bad list at all. But when mentioning games with world building baked it, I always have to shout out to Symbaroum! Can't get enough of that game. Love running it and simple to DM since all the rolls are player facing.

ICRPG and Knave, very big influences on the creation of my own game, luv it cheers Keep 'em rollin'

Definitely checking out your #1. Dragonbane

I went into this video about TTRPGs and am still shocked with the amount of nerdom!

Having played and run Savage Worlds, I was glad to see it on here. It’s a pretty solid system and easier on the GM than many games are. Combat can get kinda bogged down at lower levels but there are so many ways to avoid or improve combat if your players work together that it’s hardly an issue

Having run Cypher system, it is definitely rules lite. I think I ever checked the book once or twice during a 3 month campaign. I can't play D&D and Pathfinder again after running a nice rules lite RPG.

This was great. Nice to see new games. You definitely deserve more subs.

You had me at "Non-D&D".

Have you tried DM Scotty's EZD6? I need to find more videos of it so I can feel a bit more confident running it.

I'm sincerely impressed-fantastic job!

Dragonbane! YES! Played my first intro game with a friend and two rando's and fell in love with the style and the system. With a MUCH better (skill based) and faster character creation system then D&D and combat that forces you to PAY ATTENTION because you may die in your first fight if you act like a D&D superhero. If you like DB then can I also Strongly recommend Vaesen, also by Free League. It has the same amazing art authentic (and artist) as DB but takes you to the 1800s as you investigate and banish disgruntled fey and folklore creatures who don't enjoy the industrial revolution so much (get outta mah forests!) Also, base building! That core box set for DB IS the best. But so are ALL of Free Leagues core or starter boxes.

I like so many things about Blades in the Dark, but trying to run it, it took so long to learn the rules and the barrier to entry was way too high. Maybe it's just me and my group at the time.

Games that I would play right now if given the opportunity: Earthdawn (the crunchiest game I play, but such a rich and immersive world. I'm a big fan of mechanics that marry up to theme) The One Ring (Tolkienesque gaming at its finest) Root (had a blast running this. Who doesn't want a woodland version of the war of the roses?) Troika! (Weird, science-fantasy where you can really lean into the absurdism. It comes with some really fun modules) Pirate Borg (everything is better with pirates) Mutant: Year Zero (I loved running this and I learned a lot from it, which is impressive considering how far into my rpg career I was before finding this game) Worlds Without Number (the only real D&D clone style game I'm really interested in. It strips away so many of my issues with D&D and the GM section of the book is incredible. Even if you just want to play D&D, get this book as the location generation tools are invaluable.) Electric Bastionland (I really like the aesthetic of this game) Valley of Eternity (a fantasy/western style game, but you are all penguins in Antarctica) Lex Arcana (paranormal investigation, but in Ancient Rome) Panic at the Dojo (I'm intrigued by the systems of this game and have always wanted to run a Streetfighter/side-scrolling brawler type game but didn't want to be slowed down by clunky rules. This one seems much smoother)

Have you looked into Worlds Without Number? I run the sci-fi version, Stars Without Number, and it's a lot of fun. The full base version is free on drivethru.

When you’re in trouble, you Call D.W.

Knave 2E and Dragonbane are at the top of my list. Also, There And Hack Again.

First time seeing your content. Instantly subscribed. Now I know that I need to get a physical copy of Mausritter. My six year old loves the item chits and character cards from Steve Jackson's Fantas Trip: Melee and Wizard! So it should be an easy sale. Thank you! Sleep deprivation is one heck of a poison. Two year old has a perpetual war on sleep. Nothing like going to bed at 4 to wake up at 7... Have had more health issues since going into this stage of his life than in my whole life leading up to now. Take care of yourself so you can be there for your family. Also, that outro song is awesome! Is there more?

You mention Mouse Guard as a cleaner, lighter version of Burning Wheel. Torchbearer is also a good choice, and as a dungein crawler might be more appealing to some groups than a game about mice.

Burning Wheel in the top 5 is classy AF

Lately I'm playing Mazes, finally started a Blades champaign, and I see on the horizon a chance to play Mausritter. Great times. p.s. how do you feel about Dungeon World and PbtA in general?

I'll name a few indie games that I like a lot. Just be aware my favorites are all rules-lite games, because I like rules lite more these days. 1. Mini-Six Bare Bones. This is an evolution of the Star Wars D6 game simplified, and improved in a few ways. First, rules are free to download. Second, the game is all generic/all genres. Rules improvements are for combat that was an opposed roll before, but now just pre-calculates your defense rolls to speed up combat by halving the dice rolls (but the original combat system is also included if you want). It also has improvements for the Wild Die (exploding dice mechanic), and how you can use Hero Points. It also includes basic settings for a few games based on Firefly/Serenity, Willow, 70's cops and robbers, and Star Wars. 2. Dungeons and Delvers Dice Pool Edition. This game was made to be simpler for kids, but I still like the dice mechanic. Every stat and skill starts as a D4, but your class improves a few stats and skills that make logical sense. It fixes things I dislike about D&D rules where characters gain gazillions of hit points, and Vancian Magic. Here, you start with single digit hit points, but max level is only about 50-75% more than that, i.e. 5 to start and 8 to end with. Magic is a skill check like everything else. Throwing a knife and throwing a fireball are the same, and do the same damage and range. The dice pool comes from your race and class skills giving you more dice, but the thing is your final roll of all your dice isn't added together, but instead you just pick the two biggest ones and those make your final roll. 3. Tiny D6 system. This isn't just one game, but a whole bunch, each one based on a genre like super heroes or mecha pilots. The game rules are VERY simple. A task roll is just 1D6 if its hard, 2D6 if its normal, or 3D6 if its easy. If any die rolls as a 5 or 6, you succeed. You don't roll stats. You just pick a class and that gives your starting hit points and a special class ability, and a couple of additional abilities you can pick from a list. It is very easy, and is also meant for kids as there is no math. For me the appeal is that the same rules are used for a bunch of genres, so you don't need to re-teach a kid new rules when you want to switch genres. The bad news is that each game is sold separately. 4. Kogarashi. This is medieval fantasy Japan. Samurai, Ninjas, martial artists, ect. The game uses six stats from D&D, but Constitution is gone, and Honor/Reputation replaces it. It is a roll equal or under, and only uses a 1D6. Your stats start as 1-4. Interestingly, rolling an attack, the number rolled is also your damage. A Strength of 3 means your character can do 1-3 damage per hit. Armor is a savings throw, and essentially is your 7th stat, reducing damage by how much you rolled. Magic is a skill roll, some of which can be used only once a day, or other spells can be used again until you fail, resetting the next day. All classes have 20 abilities and spells to pick from, but magicians get the more crazy & supernatural spells. It also includes a few rules for how to play solo, including random tables to generate dungeons and a basic "oracle" table to answer questions like, "Does this evil NPC have a sister? Is that sister the actual bad guy?"

Awesome list! Instant subscribed, love Hankerin Ferinale as well! I'm currently looking forward to run at least one of Sword & Wizardry Complete Revised, Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Hyperborea 3E (the last which I'm getting for my birthday)

Plus the MCDM shirt as a bonus

One blade circles.

Cool list. Needs a Chris McDowall game but otherwise really solid. I’d love to have a group for Electric and/or Mythic Bastionland.

Great list but it is definitely missing Forbidden Lands imo.

Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age, Night Shift: Veterans of The Supernatural Wars and the upcoming Thirteen Parsecs by Elf Lair Games is more customizeable and a lot lighter on rules than Cypher System.

Welcome back to the hobby 🎉

Fun video! You’ve got solid taste in ttrpgs

The counting county Countdown.

We've been playing Daggerheart beta for the past few months, as well as Shadowdark and the occasional Cypher System Shorts one offs. Happy gaming.

Ironsworn and Ironsworn: Starforged need to be on this list. Designed as solo RPGs, they are also brilliant for co-op and guided play.

White Box OD&D is my go to, but here some things I’d like to run sometime this year: Lamentations of the Flame Princess Coriolis Symbaroum Call of Cthulhu Vaesen Forbidden Lands Advanced Fighting Fantasy Hyperborea

🔥Burning Wheel!

TOTALLY feeling the "Diminished mental capacity" lol mine is five, so counting down the years till we play

Is that YOU playing and singing your theme song through the credits at the end?

I’d recommend Castles & Crusades.

Any way to get in on trying those games with you?

Cool list, but you should really try getting away from d20 fantasy combat games and explore more stuff. Blades in the dark and swade were great picks btw

I personally love call of cthulhu. The rules seem very complicated but you really only need the basics and the horror/detective stories are great for one shots

Fabula Ultima is fantastic. Against the Darkmaster has a fantastic system and build your own world. Infinity has an amazing sci-fi world but rules are a bit too crunchy.

What!?! No Mutant Epoch!?! I Greta Thunberg you. “How dare you “. William MacAusland has the best non-OGL out there. (Fan Boy here) and has contributed tons to the art of many ‘O OSR games

No Mork Borg?????? Or any of the amazing games built on the borg system WTF Edit- P.S sorry for the WTF .....sorta

I’d be happy to come play shadowdark.

"JJ what am I doing here?"

What is your take on Worlds Without Number?

thanks elder!!!

Forbidden Lands?

What do you think about Tiny Dungeons?

I guess not all the games in that pile made it into the list.

Vermis is the best.

Outside of Original or Basic/Expert D&D, ….RISUS or Spellzard! (Semi-clone of Fighting Fantasy, but nowhere near the extra stuff of Advanced Fighting Fantasy). Strange to me anyone would bother with rules over a dozen pages or so at all, let alone finding a good and solid alternative to modern….well…anything. Yawn!

Rolemaster Unified gets no love 😢.

Hi there, is there any way to send you a private message? I tried all the links you have on yt and none worked, maybe I'm dumb :P

I kinda love THAC0