What are the best tabletop RPGs?

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Aug 6, 2020

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Best tabletop RPGs	Price	Steam Rating	Price
93 Call of Cthulhu	-	Mixed	-
-- Traveller	-	-	-
87 Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition	-	-	-
87 Dungeon World	-	-	-
-- Savage Worlds	$9.99	-	-

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54 Other Games Considered

Traveller

Top Pro

Simple dice-rolls

Top Con

Retro future basis can get in the way

It's 1970's scfi. So some unexpected modern motifs aren't well represented (transhumanism, wireless tech, internet, etc). See More

DependableLaima's Experience

A great game, a simple 2d6+bonuses mechanic to get the coveted 8+. Yes, it is possible for your character to die in generation but the chances are low overall, and if they live you get a battle-hardened or experience-hardened character, no 18-year-old farm-boys sent into space, that's for sure. (Later editions of Traveller mollified this by turning it into a mishap requiring hospitalization for months or something.) The typical Traveller storylines are to trade, or to be explorers, or to be mercenaries, but most of all to GO PLACES. Inspired by classic SF up to the 1970s, and as a reaction to the oil embargo of 1973, hydrogen fuel is the easiest thing in the world to get in this game! Generating star-systems is a fun activity all its own, and the referee thinks of adventure-threads big and mall to bring up in these places. Possibly this is the game Joss Whedon ran in college which inspired FIREFLY. See More

Top Pro

Vast catalog of adventure and reference booklets

Top Con

Bland

A bland sci-fi system that is just laborious to play. See More

Top Pro

Games-within-a-game.

Traveller was, arguably, the original 'tool box' game, utilising tables, dicerolling and design judgment, to generate things such as aliens, planets, star systems, economies, weapons, vehicles, spacecraft and characters. Character generation is a unique experience of taking risks to develop a lifepath history through career development. A bad roll could lead to unfortunate events, injury, prison or even death, while good rolls can lead to boons in skills, resources, contacts and reputation. It's actually fun to generate characters before you even begin play. See More

Top Con

Unforgiving character generation

You can die while generating a character. See More

Top Pro

It's actually science fiction

No magic, no fantasy conventions. This is actually science fiction. See More

Top Pro

Makes complex concepts easy

Starship combat can be a bear in many games. The current incarnation of Traveller has reduced it to a simple, fast, and easy to use game within the game that makes for fun and realistic (enough) game play that doesn't take away from the experience. The vehicle combat system and other rules subsystems work equally well. None are perfect but they enhance the flow of a good game which is what I want more than anything. See More

Top Pro

Expansive library of reference materials

Top Pro

Smooth, fast gameplay

Top Pro

Diversity in setting and thematic complexity.

Traveller is one of the oldest science fiction roleplaying games, and has a a default setting that is even older. As such, there is a lot of cumulative depth that has been developed over the years. The current version of the rules (Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition) is very accessible, however, and allows new players to approach the game without a heavy load of baggage. Anybody who has seen an episode of Firefly, or any other typical space travelling fiction, will immediately understand the tropes. From the basis of its simple system, lots of interesting sci-fi ideas can be developed and there is a lot of material to use as inspiration. See More

Top Pro

Adaptable

Thanks to various reference materials over the years, and numerous updates, it is possible to run almost any science fiction setting you want, from 1970's space opera, to cyberpunk and transhuman games (thanks to settings like Mindjammer and the addition of cybernetics in recent editions). See More

Top Pro

Games-within-a-game

Traveller was, arguably, the original 'tool box' game, utilizing tables, dicerolling and design judgment, to generate things such as aliens, planets, star systems, economies, weapons, vehicles, spacecraft and characters. Character generation is a unique experience of taking risks to develop a lifepath history through career development. A bad roll could lead to unfortunate events, injury, prison or even death, while good rolls can lead to boons in skills, resources, contacts and reputation. It's actually fun to generate characters before you even begin play. See More

Top Pro

Versatility

Can do most sci go settings See More

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Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Top Pro

Encourages character immersion

Numerous core aspects of 5th Edition exist solely to encourage thinking in-character, including mechanical rewards for good roleplay and detailed character backgrounds with lasting effects in the game. See More

Top Con

Immersive play, not free form narrative

Unlike some modern rpgs, D&D is designed to place players into an immersive, character-focused role within the story: the Dungeon Master is in control of the enviroment, non-player characters and many aspects of meta-plot, and must work with the players to create a coherent character with a background that fits the play world (no making it all up as you go along). Players who dislike not having equal narrative control to the DM may find this hard. See More

Jess Milligan's Experience

I've been playing D&D since 3.5. I find that not only is D&D 5th edition a versatile edition but it's also effective at introducing new players who have never held a character sheet before to the tabletop genre. Secondly, it lends itself to homebrewing from the player base i.e. fan made content. I do agree that casters are more powerful than non-casters, but that's been an on-going struggle for a long time. See More

Top Pro

Bounded Accuracy

Bounded Accuracy is a core design ideal of 5th Edition. In short, it means the numbers don't get too big; this lets weak challenges remain relevant for longer, and strong ones become survivable sooner. In practice, it also places more focus on a character's inherent abilities and less on magical equipment than has been the case in recent editions. See More

Top Con

Need a good DM/GM

D&D 5th edition or any edition is an amazing game but...you have to have someone that is a good DM/GM for the game to be fun. Starting out from scratch you need to have a DM/GM that is very well read on the rules and ways of doing things. For noobs of D&D the DM/GM needs to be able to explain and guide the new incoming players on the way the game works and how to progress. See More

Malcolm Merlyn's Experience

I ran Out of the Abyss last year and I am running Tomb of Annihilation this year and I have more than 30 yo RPG experience so I can tell this the better D&D at this time. See More

Top Pro

Free basic rules PDFs

Wizards of the Coast provides free PDFs containing the complete core mechanical rules of 5th Edition D&D (combat, exploration, spellcasting, etc.) and a selection of iconic character options, monsters, magic items, etc. drawn from the full game. Though short on variety, the basic rules are playable and accurate to the full game. See More

Top Con

Bounded Accuracy is a terrible idea

Who wants to fight goblins at level 20, much less an army of them? It's the answer to the problem that didn't exist in the first place. See More

SophisticatedLemminkainen's Experience

A good mix of previous editions. Smooth play and no in-game rules arguments. Organized play scenarios are way better thought out and edited then Pathfinder's disorganized scenarios. See More

Top Pro

Versatile rules

While the 5th Edition rules are simpler than those found in other D&D versions, you can still be extremely creative with them. See More

Top Con

Tries to be all things to all afficionados

Now that the base rules are out we are beginning to see it repeat many of the mistakes of prior editions, e.g. extended sub-classes, etc. See More

PopularMacha's Experience

Made it easy to get back into the game after 20 years away from it. See More

Top Pro

New, Popular & Growing

This is the most recent edition of the game and is the only one for which official content is being produced. Do not expect to see new official adventures or splatbooks published for any of the older editions of D&D. See More

Top Con

It's too combat-oriented

It's meant for fight-y campaigns. Way too simple too. See More

Top Pro

OGL content

As with other editions of the game, much of the content is released under the Open Game License (OGL) allowing custom modification, extension and alteration of the game. See More

Top Con

Casters are more powerful than noncasters

Top Pro

Advantage rule

Rolls 2d20 chooses best. This dramatically moves away from silly linear probabilities. See More

Top Con

Very unbalanced

Thieves and Rangers are pretty much useless. See More

Top Pro

Minimal but versatile rules

5th Edition strikes an impressive balance in keeping the rules simple without limiting the creativity of players. See More

Top Con

Irrealistic and complex rules that often don't make sense

Most new gamers don't get the sense of the way D&D combats are handled (people seem to just stay there for hours hitting each other in the face until one goes down) and would feel bad when they propose a nice idea which has no way to be applied in the game through the rules and so the GM has to invent a way to show it's a nice idea without saying "no". You have to wade through pages and pages of spells and rules to "build" an efficient character, and if you don't do it or are new to the game you are less useful for your party "by design". That's why it's "complex" ( if compared to a board game or a more streamlined RPG). Rules often don't make sense compared to reality, for example a very agile character in armor would get no benefit from his athleticity "because you wear plate, you know" (plate armor weights as a marine backpack but the weight is perfectly distributed on the body, so it's even less encumbrance, some guys even did a video comparing them on the same obstacle-ride). AC doesn't make sense in general and the rules for healing HP are the worst: the more HP (high level) you have, the more time you require to get back from the same % of wounds: veteran heroes must rest more than greens. See More

Top Pro

Almost unlimited support materials.

As the most popular RPG out there, there is a huge community with lots of content to share. See More

Top Con

Not much material yet

As of January 2015, only the three core rulebooks and two adventure modules have been published. See More

Top Pro

Absolutely the best for beginners

Top Con

Too much bloat in some places and not enough rules in others

The DM's guide could be condensed into about a quarter its size. A good DM doesn't need tables for furniture (etc.)! In other places, rules could be much more robust, e.g. magic items, etc. See More

Top Pro

New, popular & growing

This is the most recent edition of the game and is the only one for which official content is being produced. Do not expect to see new official adventures or splatbooks published for any of the older editions of D&D. See More

Top Con

Hard for new GMs

Compared to most tabletop RPGs, D&D gives the GM (called the DM here of course) some of the most power and responsibility. However the core rules and even the DM Guide mostly focus on detailed mechanics rather than “here’s how the game is played and this is how to make it fun”. Since there’s a big community it’s not hard to find articles or videos full of advice but nearly every alternative to D&D gives a lot more guidance in the rulebook for handling the human side of the game. See More

Top Pro

A good mix of the best rules of the previous D&D editions without the worse things

Top Con

Lack of granularity

Top Pro

Bounded accuracy

Bounded Accuracy is a core design ideal of 5th Edition. In short, it means the numbers don't get too big; this lets weak challenges remain relevant for longer, and strong ones become survivable sooner. In practice, it also places more focus on a character's inherent abilities and less on magical equipment than has been the case in recent editions. See More

Top Pro

Lots of non-traditional 3rd Party Creators

The grandfather of games newest child is much more forgiving and streamlined from its origin. It is also less restrictive in its settings than its first iterations. Examples like Explorers Guide to Wildemount and the Uncaged Modules on the DMs Guild. See More

See All

Dungeon World

Top Pro

Narrative driven fantasy RPG

Dungeon World is set in a D&D-esque world with a distinct slant towards combat and treasure gathering while emphasizing narrative over combat mechanics. The game includes classic fantasy RPG classes such as Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Thief and Wizard and D&D style ability scores such as Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. See More

Top Con

Hard for the GM with non-collaborative players

PreciseRenenutet's Experience

I went from D&D and that game was a holy hand for us. The same story, but better and funnier. Without rounds every fight become memorable, fast and fun. See More

Top Pro

Encourages players and the GM to build the world collaboratively

Unlike other RPGs where the GM creates the world and the storyline single-handedly, here GMs are specifically asked to leave blanks and players encouraged to fill them in. See More

Top Con

Hyper-formatted version of D&D

It’s just a very formatted version of D&D. Same tropes, same types of characters and adventures, less options overall. See More

PioneeringEshu's Experience

It’s just a very formatted version of D&D. Same tropes, same types of characters and adventures, less options overall. See More

Top Pro

Encourages creating relationships between characters

Relationships between characters are established during the character creation process as well as at the end of each session via Bonds. Bonds are simple statements that explain how a character relates to another character. An example of a bond would be, "Avon proved himself a coward in the dungeons of Xax’takar. He is a dangerous liability to the party and must be watched." Multiple bonds can be established at a time. At the end of each session bonds resolved and new ones created give XP. See More

Top Con

Combat system can be confusing for some

Dungeon World's combat system is not divided into turns in order to make it more fluid. But it can get confusing as to what happens in what order. It is purposefully frantic, but that can turn off some. Especially people with preconceived notions of how RPGs should be played. In the most basic form - GMs narrate the beginning of an NPC's action to which the player responds. If the player's response triggers a move, roll the dice. GM narrates the conclusion. See More

Top Pro

Great advice and systems to help GMs along

Dungeon World provides GMs with great advice on how to run a good session. Additionally, GMs can set conditions that, if fulfilled, will give a player XP. It gives the GM a way of enticing players to perform certain actions they might not otherwise have considered or wanted to perform. See More

Top Con

It's not entirely free

The text is CC-BY but the game as a whole (graphics etc) is not free. You can make and sell your own games based off it but you won't find the PDF download for free anywhere. See More

Top Pro

Does not require special dice

The game can be played with common six-sided dice. See More

Top Pro

Has a self-regulating power balance system

In Dungeon World, XP is given for failures, and automatically for any rolls that are 6 or below. It provides many benefits and chief among them is the fact that it allows players to catch up to the difficulty of challenges faced. Additionally, it encourages the group to attempt harder challenges, reduces grief caused by failure and clears the GM from having to track each individual player's level. See More

Top Pro

Encourages playing according to character's way of thinking and morality

XP is given at the end of the session if a character is acting according to alignment, bonds or ideals. Alignments are categorized as Good, Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic, and Evil. See More

Top Pro

Encourages players and the GM to build the world collaboratively. And they both smell.

Unlike other RPGs where the GM creates the world and the storyline single-handedly, here GMs are specifically asked to leave blanks and players encouraged to fill them in. See More

See All

Savage Worlds

Top Pro

Easy to learn and play

Top Con

Not flexible for supers

The game is more designed to pulp setting play, the super companions 2nd edition, while nice and with good ideas, feels incomplete. See More

CompassionateAlcyone's Experience

Perfect system to run one shots or short canpaigns See More

Top Pro

Extremely flexible

Top Con

No combat rating guidelines

No guidelines exist in the game to advise the difficulty of combat encounters. It is generally assumed in the rules, that the opponents will be reasonably proportional to the narrative situation, and that players will use ingenuity, retreat and avoid combat, or muster the villagers into a militia using the rules for Extras (mooks) as necessary. See More

UnbiasedHomados's Experience

Love this system. Simple and versatile. See More

Top Pro

Cheap

Top Con

Very swingy dice mechanics.

The dice mechanics are very swingy, and that can really put strains on the role-playing aspect when a character with bad skill succeeeds amazingly well, and character that is supposed to be a LOT better, fails miserably at the same task. See More

BrilliantTelipinu's Experience

Been playing this duke set for about 4 years. See More

Top Pro

Quick character generation

LoyalNabu's Experience

It works great for all other genres, tropes, settings one can think of with mechanics that allow you to turn some knobs and dial in Cthulhu investigative horror to My Little Pony. If you want a game with some mechanics that crunch that doesn't get in the way of the story and character development, then this is a great system for you. As a GM I can whip up an adventure in 15-20 minutes while characters can be made in 30 minutes. Very low prep time needed once you know the rules. See More

Top Pro

Generic rule-set

The rules cater to multiple genres, and offer additional rules for GMs (or players) to create their own races, powers, etc. See More

Top Pro

Quick gameplay

Top Pro

Companion books with expanded rules to support 4 major genres

Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, and Super Heroes. Each of which can be portrayed in a basic sense with only the core book. See More

Top Pro

Fast-paced play

See All

Mythras

Top Pro

Detailed ability to customise your character

The percentile skill dice and wide range of skills both allow a lot more customisation of individual abilities which really allows you to shape competences and experiences - these are largely based on your character's "life path" up until that point meaning that they are easily tailored to a character theme. See More

Top Con

Poor book layout

Very amateurish editing makes it difficult to use. See More

PhilosophicalFeronia's Experience

Mythras is the epitome of a d100 system. The combat is incredibly detailed, yet easy to learn and strategic. The Special Effects system used in combat has made me come back to this game over and over. See More

Top Pro

Combat system

Quick yet in depth combat system. Players have many options and combat is decisive. See More

BrilliantTelipinu's Experience

Used to play a great deal of Runequest (the bas system). Ran a couple of one-offs of Mythras See More

Top Pro

Magic system is excellent

Top Pro

Superb for Sword & Sorcery RPG

Top Pro

Highly customizable

Rules designed to work as "modules" so you can remove or even add rules as you see fit for your game See More

See All

Star Wars RPG by Fantasy Flight Games

Top Pro

Story focused instead of combat focused

Rather than focus on combat encounters and character stats, Fantasy Flight Games system allows the group to focus on telling a great Star Wars story. The players and the GM alike are major contributors due to FFG's unique system and dice mechanics. See More

Top Con

You need custom dice, and they take some getting used to

This game doesn't use the regular dice so common in most RPGs, but requires the use of a special set of dice that only Fantasy Flight sells. It's kinda pricey, and it takes some getting used to the weird symbols on the dice. There is a die roller app. Of course, some people come to love the custom dice (no more automatic 1-or-20 successes or fails). See More

ExceptionalChloris's Experience

"Roll d20 for initiative, then for attack." Are you tired of that? How about: "My smuggler pilot yanks the freighter into a spin, trying to send the TIE fighter whirling into the asteroid belt." Or maybe: "My Rebel diplomat turns to the bounty hunters surrounding the arena and reveals our blackmail against the Hutt." Or maybe even: "My conflicted Jedi whirls on the Inquisitor, murder glowing in his eyes, then channels his focused fury to Force the crimson lightsaber into his hand." And when you've chosen one of these, or one of a truly infinite number of other more than viable options, you'll find yourself rolling, not for a hit on armor class, but for the Successes to achieve your goal and the Advantages to trigger other results. Yes, perhaps, you rolled too few Successes to disarm Vader, but you choose what to do with those Advantages—maybe thrust at him the carbonite tube you've busted with your lightsaber, giving him another negative die as he reels in the billowing steam? Or maybe not. It's your adventure. So, if you like sandboxy, narrative improv, if you're (Pelor forbid) tired of your beloved d20, or if you just want to join the Rebels, Jedi, or Millennium Falcon, FFG's Star Wars masterpiece is your next RPG. Try it once, and you won't be disappointed. And then... "Why don't you stick around? You know what's about to happen, what they're up against." —Luke Skywalker, A New Hope See More

Top Pro

Super-customizable character creation system

The Star Wars RPG's point-buy system allows characters to easily gain skills outside their career while still making each build feel unique. Focused builds are rewarded, but, in the narrative system, min/maxed characters are no more overpowered than their (equally rewarded) all-around counterparts. Players can easily create a bounty hunter, ambassador, or mystic, or even all of them in one character. Rigid classes ("I am a cleric") are a thing of the past. Your character is no longer defined by such constraining borders—he is what you want him to be. The level-less system places literal millions of possibilities at your fingertips. See More

Top Con

Very little digitally distributed content

While Fantasy Flight has added a few digitally distributed(PDF) resources that are all free; such as character sheets, pre-generated characters and campaigns; there are no official digital versions available for any of their print materials. See More

EmbiggenedPorphyrion's Experience

The beginner boxes are extremely helpful for someone who is like me - new to RPGs. It make it so easy to understand that I ended up falling in love with the system. I like that there isn't a true level system (cuts out the middle man) and has you buy "skills/talents" directly. Lots of support with a well established player base already made this a great starting point for someone who isn't well versed in RPGs. See More

Top Pro

Drives improvisation through its die roll mechanics

The die roll mechanic leads to more than just a simple success and failure. The result often requires positive and negative side effects; sometimes dramatic ones! Very rewarding with a GM who's good at making stuff up on the spot. See More

Top Con

The old WEG edition is so much better

This is clunky and doesn't create a heroic STAR WARS feel. See More

Top Pro

Set in the Star Wars Universe

The Star Wars Universe is arguably one of the largest and most beloved in the world, and this RPG captures it's depth and diversity very well. Players can choose from hundred of class and specialization combinations for creating unique characters and stories set in classic Star Wars settings, or create entirely new worlds and stories. See More

Top Pro

Now available in setting free format with Genesys

Top Pro

Easier to play online

Because the Star Wars RPG focuses more on story and role play and less on combat, maps and hard stats, it is easier to play online using Voice Software like Skype, Google Hangouts or Discord. There are also online platforms such as Roll20 that allow for digital dice rolls and resources. See More

Top Pro

Future support

Since Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, Fantasy Flight has continued to put out great Star Wars content for all their games. For the RPG they have continued to add new material and are adding resources from the new Force Awakens time period as well. See More

See All

Fate Core

Top Pro

Focuses on roleplaying by originating gameplay from world-building

Fate uses "aspects" to influence the gameplay in ways that are consistent with the world that's built. Aspects are descriptive phrases that define anything they are attached to. They give both roleplaying and mechanical advantages and disadvantages. For example, a character could be "raised in a wretched hive of scum and villainy" and that would allow him to better negotiate with thiefs and crooks, but also make him poor at fine dining etiquette. See More

Top Con

Not for passive players

If you find your players passive and unwilling to take an active role in creating game world then the experience may be not as enjoyable as it could be. See More

PreciseRenenutet's Experience

A very adaptable game, easy to play and funny. The system is very elegant. One of my favourite rpg of ever. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

No fixed setting

Fate Core is a general purpose RPG system that can be applied to any theme. See More

Top Con

Compel mechanic is not for everyone

Compels allow GM to trigger a player's aspect in exchange for a fate point. The player can avoid invoking noted apect by spending a fate point. Concerns about the system include removing control from the player of how a character is played, GMs having a lot more data to track (each aspect for each player) and possibility of getting stuck in a compel-loop of forcing certain behaviour. See More

SophisticatedLemminkainen's Experience

You need a flexible game master to have a good play experience. I played in one campaign using Fate and it wasn't too fun. See More

Top Pro

Excellent clarity of rules

It starts at the very beginning by explaining what is roleplaying and moves on to introduce various mechanics and conventions and explains why they're there, when's the appropriate time to use them and what are the best practices on how to do it. The book does so in easy to understand language, offers many examples and highlights the important bits in various ways. See More

Top Con

It can be difficult to come up with aspects

Coming up with aspects can take a while, especially for new players. In addition to coming up with traits that define the character, tags and compels are needed. Furthermore all of these little nuances have to be coherent as well as balanced in terms of power. This can make the character creation process take a while. See More

Top Pro

Multiple settings available for free

If you have problems creating your own game world there are a lot of settings available for free and they range from fantasy to Soviet-era pulp sci-fi, so everyone can find something for himself. See More

Top Pro

Straightforward and Flexible

The system is great for moderating a session of roleplaying. Bring your own setting, and any additional gameplay your group enjoys. It lends itself well to those without the money to invest in miniatures, game boards, or even tables. See More

Top Pro

An even more streamlined version is available, called Fate Accelerated

Whereas Fate Core is skill driven, has more variables to keep track of and is potentially more varied in terms characters created, Fate Accelerated is approach driven, has less variables to keep track of and allows getting started quicker. Also, the Accelerated version is just 50 pages whereas the Core version is 310 pages. See More

Top Pro

Fate Condensed combines the speed of the Accelerated version with the depth of the Core

See All

Risus

Top Con

Little guidance can be found for GMs and players

Some prior understanding of how an RPG is played and what is the role of the GM is required as the rules cover only the very core of the system. See More

Top Pro

Multi-lingual

Risus is available in a number of languages other than English, all for free. See More

Top Pro

A large following that provides a lot of content

A large amount of adventures, artwork, characters, clichés as well as optional rules can be found for Risus. An excellent resource for all aforementioned things as well as many others is Risusiverse, a fan-made website of all things Risus. See More

Top Pro

Very flexible rules

Risus is not confined to a selection of pre-defined character-classes, settings or abilities. Characters are described via clichés such as Witch Doctor, Gambler, Musician with a number of dice assigned to each cliché that are then used in challenges that relate to the appropriate cliché. See More

Top Pro

Can be taught in less than 10 minutes

Risus has a very minimalist rule system that breaks down all actions to their core function. Risus comes with a super short, four page rulebook (available in many forms and formats) that's easy to read, includes examples and has a bit of humor thrown in to make the process or learning more enjoyable. See More

See All

GURPS 4th Edition

Top Pro

Great sourcebooks

GURPS sourcebooks are famous for being comprehensive guides to the settings/genres they describe, to the degree that even people who don't play GURPS find them useful. See More

Top Con

Extremely Simulationist

ReflectiveArgusPanoptes's Experience

Easily the most flexible and intuitive game system I've ever played. At its core, you only need to understand three mechanics - everything else is detail. I've successfully used it for a huge number of genres and worlds, and can testify that GURPS lives up to its name. See More

Top Pro

Modular rules

GURPS can be as crunchy as you like, with rules available to cover any situation, but at its core, there are only about three rules you need. See More

Top Con

Core rules need two books

Top Pro

Option for Cinematic Rules

There is an option to make combat far less deadly. See More

Top Con

Long character creation

The lion's share of the work in GURPS is front-loaded: characters are built on points, pieced together with attributes, advantages, disadvantages, quirks, skills, powers, spells, cybernetics, and whatever else your game requires. Expect to spend easily an hour or more creating your character. See More

Top Pro

Character mortality

In GURPS, characters can be killed by a single blow to the head with a wood plank. For gamers seeking a more "realistic" level of mortality, GURPS is your game. See More

Top Con

Option paralysis

Sometimes having so many dials to turn is not a good thing. It can be hard to create a game with so many options available. See More

Top Pro

Long character creation creates a bond with your character

Spending a lot of time creating your character also helps with creating a bond with them. This way you will be more encouraged to keep them alive than going around doing dangerous things which would most likely end up killing them. Moreover, In depth character creation flushes out the back stories that enrich the role playing experience. Vampire also has a lengthy character building process for this reason. See More

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Vampire: The Masquerade

Top Pro

Great connection to overall lore

Role-playing oriented system. See More

Top Con

Not for kids

Definitely adult orientated material - may not be to everybody’s taste and includes themes that may not be appropriate to children. See More

CharmingRadegast's Experience

ABFAB See More

Top Pro

Alternative experience to most other action-adventure based RPGs

The emphasis of the game is to create drama and intrigue. The Hunger mechanic is central to the experience, and characters have strong, in depth motivations and drives. See More

Top Con

Role playing oriented system requires a GM that is well informed of the world and lore

DeliberatePenthus's Experience

It provides an entirely different experience to most action-adventure based RPGs. Personal drama and intrigue are at the forefront, and if there is a good player buy in, the exotic romance of the setting is engrossing. See More

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Paranoia

Top Pro

Perfect for one shots

Paranoia offers a different experience to a typical roleplaying game, and tends to lead to characters suffering multiple deaths (they have 6 clones = 'lives'). While it doesn't lend itself well to long campaigns, it has a tight scenario-design formula, which makes running games off the cuff quite easy for the referee. Players don't normally need much encouragement to get into the spirit of the game - making it ideal for a short notice, one shot game. See More

Top Con

Bad GM = Horribly bad game

If the GM can't be flexible and think on their feet, things can stop being fun very quickly. An almost psychotic person works best in the driver's seat. See More

Top Pro

Humourous in tone

There is a lot of tongue in cheek and black humour in this dystopian setting. See More

Top Con

No rules lawyers allowed

One person who insists on following the rules exactly can squash this game. It's best played fast and loose with rules as guidelines and the story being a priority. If you're playing this game because you like nice orderly rules, you're at the wrong table. See More

Top Pro

Semi-competitive play

Secretively backstabbing other players is encouraged, setting it apart from many of its peers. See More

Top Con

Not a patch on the older versions of the game, poorly done

Get the 2nd Edition by WEG if you can. See More

See All

Shadowrun

Top Pro

No classes and a lot of character options

This makes character creation very flexible and variable. See More

Top Con

Rules can be daunting

ModestTonatiuh's Experience

Was great See More

Top Pro

In-depth character creation

Top Con

Character creation can take a long time

VigilantRundas's Experience

I was looking for a great sifi rpg. This one really fit the bill. See More

Top Pro

Extremely rich and detailed setting

Top Con

Urban Fantasy isn't for everyone

Top Pro

Enables all kinds of game settings

For example, a mix of sci-fi but also fantasy. See More

Top Con

Editions change too much too fast

A game younger than Dungeons and dragons but with more editions printed is in itself an issue, especially since rules from later editions contradict earlier versions. See More

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Marvel Super Heroes

Top Pro

Designed to be beginner-friendly and narrative-focused

The game has a light ruleset that encourages roleplaying. Most conflicts are resolved with a percentage roll and a consulting table with the GM having a lot of flexibility due to rules being mostly just guidelines. See More

Top Con

Out of print.

Although there is a lot of good online support, the game has been out of print for several decades. See More

Top Pro

Karma system rewards heroic roleplaying

Karma is a resource used for character advancement and increasing chances in a conflict. It's gained by performing actions that a moral hero would perform. See More

Top Con

Table Referencing

System is based on a system that refers everything to a single table. There isn’t a default system for determining task difficulty by intuitive.calculation. See More

Top Pro

Random character generation is quick and allows for some truly memorable superheroes

MSH has a quick and easy character generation process. Characters are created by rolling for origin, ability scores, powers, talents and deciding on a name. It usually takes less than 10 minutes and offers an impressive variety in characters created. See More

Top Con

Designed with a single interpretation of a superhero in mind

MSH's karma system rewards ethical behaviour, as such anti-heroes like Deadpool or Punisher are almost impossible to play as. See More

Top Pro

Power Stunt mechanic encourages creative use of powers or abilities

(not available in the basic set) See More

Top Con

High level of randomness

Power balance between characters can be highly varied since all attributes are decided with a dice roll. See More

Top Pro

Character advancement is optional

Top Con

Random generation creates nonsensical characters

The random character generation system tends to make characters who make no sense, because powers are completely unrelated to each other, without a binding "theme" like most comic superheroes. See More

Top Con

Some of the karma system potential is lost

Karam system is used for 2 things in the game - advancing the character (getting new powers, abilities and raising ability scores) and improving character's rolls. Since most players tend to focus on advancing the character, the secondary function of the karma system is often wasted potential. See More

See All

Open d6

Top Pro

A simplified variant, called Mini Six, is available

Mini Six is a fan-made variant of Open d6 that aims to be a distilled version of the Open d6 system. See More

Top Con

Complicated magic system

Top Pro

There are theme-related books available to start various types of games

D6 Space is West End Games old "Star Wars D6" game with all of the licensed Star Wars names removed. It's a stand alone complete game. D6 Fantasy is a standalone ruleset for running a D&D type game with the D6 system. D6 Adventure is a standalone ruleset for using the D6 system in a Wild West, spies, or modern adventure game. All three have supplement books (Spaceship design, magic, aliens, etc). See More

Top Pro

Includes rulebooks covering the more common genres

Open d6 includes rulebooks for Fantasy, Adventure and Space settings. See More

Top Pro

No special dice required

The game can be played with common six-sided dice. See More

Top Pro

Each rulebook has a good introductory section

See All

Big Eyes, Small Mouth

Top Pro

Adaptable

BESM is an anime-themed RPG, but "anime" is kind of a broad term. You can play in any genre with the core rulebook alone, and there are expansion books for several of them. See More

HeroQuest

Top Con

May be hard to get

It's a somewhat older tabletop RPG, with a decent number of expansions. You may end up paying a high price on ebay or other sites to get yourself a copy. It’s also worth noting that you can’t always be sure about the physical quality of the game. The 3D furniture is made from cardboard and if the copy you’re buying has been used then it’s a bit of a risk. See More

Top Pro

Easy to set up

Since most of the actual dungeon construction is done by the gamemaster as the game progresses and more rooms are revealed, all you need to do before the game can properly start is bring out the board, let the players choose their heroes and introduce the quest. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Con

Requires a good gamemaster

If the gamemaster doesn’t know what he’s doing then the game will be more frustrating and take much longer than usual, and it’s already a long game. The gamemaster is the only player with access to what the quest is supposed to look like and is solely responsible for creating the dungeon as the game goes on – spawning monsters, revealing objects, etc., so the players need to trust that the gamemaster isn’t cheating. See More

Top Pro

Easy to grasp

The game is teachable to players in a matter of minutes due to the simple rules. It’s also simple enough for children, as the game is made for ages 10 and over. After the gamemaster has introduced the players to the scenario and readied the board, the game starts with the player to the left of the gamemaster. During the player’s turn the player can perform two actions – move and either attack, cast a spell, search for traps and secret entrances, or search for treasure. On the gamemaster’s turn the gamemaster can attack the heroes with the currently visible monsters. Movement is done by rolling two regular dice, which show the amount of squares the player can move in their turn. Combat is done by the player and the gamemaster rolling special dice with 3 skull sides, 2 hero shield sides and 1 monster shield side. The number of dice rolled in combat is determined by the statistics of the monster or the hero, specified in the character cards. Each skull is a hit and each shield can block one skull. When “body count” reaches zero, the character is removed from the game. See More

Top Con

Doesn’t scale well

The game is at its best when played in a full group of 4 heroes and a gamemaster. Otherwise the odds are more on the gamemaster’s side and it’s a lot more difficult to complete the quest. To counter this, it’s recommend for a player to control more than one hero, but that also adds unnecessary difficulty. See More

Top Pro

Interactive figurines

It's not just a story, you're uncovering a dungeon as the dungeonmaster allows your character to see and discover new areas. See More

Top Con

A lot of first-time setup

When you first open the box the amount of work can seem overwhelming. You have to de-peg your pieces and assemble all the furniture, which is quite tedious and inconvenient due to the relatively small size. Furthermore, your first games might take a longer while until the gamemaster gets the hang of the process. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful visual design

While the game board is not particularly big, it’s quite colorful and aesthetic. The game also manages to catch the eye due to the figurines and the small furniture. The game features a big variety of remarkably detailed miniature figures - orcs, skeletons, zombies, goblins, etc. All the figures are originally single-colored, the heroes are bright red, whereas the various monsters come in white, dark blue, dark green and light blue. The box also packs some beautiful and detailed pieces of colored cardboard furniture that add a lot of aesthetic value to the game by filling up the emptier places on the playing space. See More

Top Pro

Great for parties

HeroQuest is a perfect activity for a small gettogether. The game is meant for 2-5 players, a quest takes up to 90 minutes. Not only is it simple to learn and easy to set up, but it requires good teamwork and communication between players. There’s also always room for roleplay, which can lead to some humorous and memorable moments. Moreover, the playing surface is not too big, so there should be plenty of room for snacks and drinks on the table. See More

Top Pro

Customizable

HeroQuest encourages creativity. The quest book has a blank scenario, so players can design and play their own quests. Moreover, since the miniature figures are single-colored, many people choose to color them, creating some beautiful pieces. On top of that, the 3D furniture in the game doesn’t serve a different purpose other than the aesthetic one, so you can craft your own pieces or use small furniture from different games. If you lack ideas, then the HeroQuest fan site Ye Olde Inn has some great fan-made content – quests, cards, printable furniture, etc. See More

Top Pro

Active community

Despite being a game released in 1989, it still has a decently active online community both on reddit and on the fan site Ye Olde Inn. The sites feature all the fan content you’d expect – custom creations, stories and pictures of game nights, discussions, and games happening in your area. See More

See All

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Call of Cthulhu

Top Pro

Faithful to the mythos

Very faithful to the mythos overall. The narrative does an excellent job weaving the best of Lovecraft work together in a coherent story that is an absolute delight to play through. See More

Top Con

Rules heavy

BrilliantTelipinu's Experience

Played on and off for several years. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Top Pro

Emphasis on roleplay

Combat is deadly, putting a much bigger focus on roleplay and making this feel much more realistic than many other roleplaying games. See More

Top Con

Games tend to be fewer than a couple sessions

It depends on the DM. The characters you make have a low survivability so you might not want to make a character you're extremely attached to. See More

Top Pro

Crazy story-line

Slowly uncover the mind bending story, which is a reimagining of Lovecraft's 1936 novella, The Shadow over Innsmouth. See More

Top Pro

Time sensitive chase sequences

Some of the most terrifying parts of this game is when you have to run away and make quick decisions about where to go or how to slow down those in pursuit. See More

Top Pro

Crazy storyline

Slowly uncover the mind bending story, which is a reimagining of Lovecraft's 1936 novella, The Shadow over Innsmouth. See More

Top Pro

Great stealth

Sneaking around is a necessity in this game, and is done well for it's time. See More

See All

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The 1 must play gameWhy?

My Recommendation for Call of Cthulhu

My Recommendation for Call of Cthulhu

Faithful to the mythos

Rules heavy

Emphasis on roleplay

Games tend to be fewer than a couple sessions

Crazy story-line

Time sensitive chase sequences

Crazy storyline

Great stealth

54 Other Games Considered

My Recommendation for Traveller

My Recommendation for Traveller

Simple dice-rolls

Retro future basis can get in the way

Vast catalog of adventure and reference booklets

Bland

Games-within-a-game.

Unforgiving character generation

It's actually science fiction

Makes complex concepts easy

Expansive library of reference materials

Smooth, fast gameplay

Diversity in setting and thematic complexity.

Adaptable

Games-within-a-game

Versatility

My Recommendation for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

My Recommendation for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Encourages character immersion

Immersive play, not free form narrative

Bounded Accuracy

Need a good DM/GM

Free basic rules PDFs

Bounded Accuracy is a terrible idea

Versatile rules

Tries to be all things to all afficionados

New, Popular & Growing

It's too combat-oriented

OGL content

Casters are more powerful than noncasters

Advantage rule

Very unbalanced

Minimal but versatile rules

Irrealistic and complex rules that often don't make sense

Almost unlimited support materials.

Not much material yet

Absolutely the best for beginners

Too much bloat in some places and not enough rules in others

New, popular & growing

Hard for new GMs

A good mix of the best rules of the previous D&D editions without the worse things

Lack of granularity

Bounded accuracy

Lots of non-traditional 3rd Party Creators

My Recommendation for Dungeon World

My Recommendation for Dungeon World

Narrative driven fantasy RPG

Hard for the GM with non-collaborative players

Encourages players and the GM to build the world collaboratively

Hyper-formatted version of D&D

Encourages creating relationships between characters

Combat system can be confusing for some

Great advice and systems to help GMs along

It's not entirely free

Does not require special dice

Has a self-regulating power balance system

Encourages playing according to character's way of thinking and morality

Encourages players and the GM to build the world collaboratively. And they both smell.

My Recommendation for Savage Worlds

My Recommendation for Savage Worlds

Easy to learn and play

Not flexible for supers

Extremely flexible

No combat rating guidelines

Cheap

Very swingy dice mechanics.

Quick character generation

Generic rule-set