When you want to play a D&D-style game, you reach for...

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5e D&D is my default game, but I'll use a ton of OSR games (or AD&D or BX/BECMI) depending on what I'm going for. My Mini Six Palace of the Silver Princess still felt pretty D&D-ish, too. Currently running 5e D&D x2, 1e AD&D, and Mini Six. Playing 5e D&D and starting a 1e AD&D game.
 
When people say a 'D&D-style' game I assume they are referring to the fantasy genre with hack n slay, dungeoncrawling, possible hex crawling, and focused stat/trait advancement as things defining it as D&D-style?

If we are just talking more broad, then it is about Classic Fantasy rpgs, or the more broad genre of Fantasy.rpgs
 
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Mankcam said:
When people say a 'D&D-style' game I assume they are referring to the fantasy genre with hack n slay, dungeoncrawling, possible hex crawling, and focused skill advancement as things defining it as D&D-style?

If we are just talking more broad, then it is about Classic Fantasy rpgs, or the more broad genre of Fantasy. rpgs
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Personally, I thought it means "like D&D mechanically and in setting assumptions"...:thumbsup: That's what I answered to, above.

If it was just about a similar genre, I'd go with tenbones tenbones and pick Savage Worlds, or Talislanta. Or maybe I'd just use Barbarians of Lemuria. Mythras, Age of Shadow and quite a few others would also be strong candidates... :shade:
Unsurprisingly, the list of games that would do a much better job than D&D at this genre is quite long:grin:!
 
"D&D style" to me primarily means fast-moving, adventure-oriented, high-magic fantasy with archetypal characters, but secondarily it also means recognizably D&Dish mechanics - the familiar 6 stats rated 3-18, classes and levels (and XP), alignment, hp and AC, slot-based spellcasting.
 
This may surprise you, but I might not do Classic Fantasy. I have another option I also like here - 13th Age. They are different spaces for me. I prefer 13th age for high heroic fantasy I think, and CF for the OSR feel.

of course i don't get to play what i want!
 
Raleel said:
This may surprise you, but I might not do Classic Fantasy. I have another option I also like here - 13th Age. They are different spaces for me. I prefer 13th age for high heroic fantasy I think, and CF for the OSR feel.

of course i don't get to play what i want!
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What? Does Mythras know you're cheating on them?
 
I think if I were to play a game using an OGL ruleset, I would go with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2nd edition. I love the Conan inspired setting and I love that map. It’s one of those games that just gets me inspired.
 
Mankcam said:
When people say a 'D&D-style' game I assume they are referring to the fantasy genre with hack n slay, dungeoncrawling, possible hex crawling, and focused stat/trait advancement as things defining it as D&D-style?

If we are just talking more broad, then it is about Classic Fantasy rpgs, or the more broad genre of Fantasy. rpgs
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I suppose I could have worded it a little better. By "D&D-style" game I meant the setting and tropes of D&D, not the mechanics. Fighters, Wizards, Rogues, Clerics, magic missile, bags of holding, etc. Like if you were going to run Keep on the Borderlands or Village of Hommlet as written.

I've had more than one friend tell me they don't understand what the point of Mythras Classic Fantasy is. "If you want to play D&D why not just play D&D?" I tell them D&D can be divided into two parts: the mechanics (d20 vs a target number, saving throws, armor class, etc), and the setting/tropes/flavor (classes, spells, magic items, etc). Mythras Classic Fantasy is like playing with D&D setting/tropes but with Mythras rules.
 
Ossian said:
I suppose I could have worded it a little better. By "D&D-style" game I meant the setting and tropes of D&D, not the mechanics. Fighters, Wizards, Rogues, Clerics, magic missile, bags of holding, etc. Like if you were going to run Keep on the Borderlands or Village of Hommlet as written.

I've had more than one friend tell me they don't understand what the point of Mythras Classic Fantasy is. "If you want to play D&D why not just play D&D?" I tell them D&D can be divided into two parts: the mechanics (d20 vs a target number, saving throws, armor class, etc), and the setting/tropes/flavor (classes, spells, magic items, etc). Mythras Classic Fantasy is like playing with D&D setting/tropes but with Mythras rules.
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Yes I thought some like that, especially the tropes and archetypes.
Cool, that will keep this thread on track, otherwise we will be recommending our favourite fantasy rpg instead - which may be good for another thread!
(Ok, no need for me to alter my previous post now)
 
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LotFP, B
Ossian said:
I suppose I could have worded it a little better. By "D&D-style" game I meant the setting and tropes of D&D, not the mechanics. Fighters, Wizards, Rogues, Clerics, magic missile, bags of holding, etc. Like if you were going to run Keep on the Borderlands or Village of Hommlet as written.
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I would most likely go with some version of OpenD6, tweaked to fit the setting and assumptions. I have a pretty strong dislike of levels and classes, so the standard classes in the theoretical game would be more in line with general professions, as opposed to the D&D style of classes.
 
You can tell alot of how a game plays pretty much by it's character sheet, and whether it's the sweet spot that you are looking for or not.
When it comes to this kind of genre, it's all about tropes and cinematics. It's essentially 'Pulp Fantasy', so I like a simple sheet that reinforces that; preferably one that has alot of aesthetic character.

Here's some good ones that scream out to me what I like in D&D/Classic Fantasy style rpgs:

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Savage Schemer said:
What's the one after White Box with the skull in the upper right corner?
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That's Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells.
Which is OSR-inspired - it's a roll under D20 core mechanic, combines the core stats down to four, and has three archetypes/classes.
One or two modern dials thrown in there as well. Lot's of Black Hack influence, as well as DCC, and even a touch of Fate.
But that actually isn't the same character sheet as the official one in the book (which is also very good) - there wasn't a version of it I could find online.
So it is either from the upcoming new edition, or it may be fan-made (not sure).
 
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Mankcam said:
You can tell alot of how a game plays pretty much by it's character sheet, and whether it's the sweet spot that you are looking for or not.
When it comes to this kind of genre, it's all about tropes and cinematics. It's essentially 'Pulp Fantasy', so I like a simple sheet that reinforces that, preferably one that has alot of character.

Here's some good ones that scream out to me what I like in D&D/Classic Fantasy style rpgs:

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Character Sheets listed:

1. Low Fantasy Gaming
2. Five Torches Deep
3. Dungeon Crawl Classics
4. Into The Unknown
5. Swords & Wizardry
6. The Hero's Journey
7. White Box Adventures
8. Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
9. Fighting Fantasy
 
Thanks, Mankcam Mankcam. Funny enough, I actually own Sharp Swords and its two companion games (solar blades is a favorite). Even though you mention that not being the character sheet from the book, I actually wouldn't have noticed because I always found characters so easy to make, I just use a bit of scrap paper most of the time. I just never bothered to actually look at it.
 
Savage Schemer said:
Thanks, Mankcam Mankcam. Funny enough, I actually own Sharp Swords and its two companion games (solar blades is a favorite). Even though you mention that not being the character sheet from the book, I actually wouldn't have noticed because I always found characters so easy to make, I just use a bit of scrap paper most of the time. I just never bothered to actually look at it.
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Yes, it would not be hard to do that, it has that kind of ethos that you could fit it all the character stats on an index card if need be.

I'm really looking forward to the next edition
Which will put the core rules and the addendum rules under one hardcover, and adds one more archetype - likely to be a hardcover, and hopefully it will remain in digest size. I really like most of the b&w classic fantasy / sword & sorcery artwork through it. Very evocative.

An exceptional little rpg for the price, and I could run all my D&D-style games with it quite easily.

(I'm gonna have to throw a web preview in here by Mr Ben Milton, he presents this kind of thing much better than me :thumbsup:)
 
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FaerieGodfather said:
Wait, that's not Solar Blades and Cosmic Spells?
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I think the other game referred must be Dark Streets & Darker Secrets.

Similar core mechanics to Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
Except this is an Urban Fantasy/Supernatural Investigation, so it can cover anything like The Goonies, Monster Of The Week, X- Files, Cthulhu Mythos and World of Darkness.
It has the same OSR-inspired flavour to it, and it actually works quite well here. Very pulpy!
I have this one as well, and it's excellent

And here is another good review of it:


Sorry to digress of D&D style (as this isn't Classic Fantasy), but it does feel OSR (despite the setting).
 
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Raleel said:
she knows I’ll come back to her. Last campaign was 13th age I killed it as it didn’t feel right for it.
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Mythras is a very understanding system.

Without getting into the weeds of "what is D&D-style", i take it from this simple observation: Whatever I've done *in* D&D, using its settings, modules, or even running just dungeoncrawls, ALL of it, over the last 40ish years. That.

Our subjective opinions on what *is* D&D is going to vary upon those experiences. So I take it from what is presented - all of it, in any form I've engaged with it. I'd do it in those other systems without missing a heartbeat before using 3e, 4e, or 5e.

I'd make exceptions for a couple of variants - like Fantasy Craft, even a M&M3e conversion.
 
Old School Essentials (81 Basic Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert). I ran the Lost City with this and the new Hole in the Oak. Both excellent.

If I have people who don't like D&D I run Shadows of the Demon Lord. And I'm looking at Cthulhu Dark Ages for my own preferred version of fantasy.
 
FaerieGodfather said:
What's the other one? I don't have it. Yet.
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Mankcam said:
I think the other game referred must be Dark Streets & Darker Secrets.
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I was referring to both Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells and to Dark Streets & Darker Secrets. Mechanics-wise, they're identical. What differentiates the two is the GM section with all the random table goodies. Both games differ slightly from Sharp Sword & Sinister Spells in that the newer two games use only D20's and D6's whereas SS&SS uses the traditional D&D polyhedral set.
 
Voros said:
That final battle at the end of Isle of the Ape can TPK even a high level party without any nerfing required. In fact contra to Gygax's rep as a killer DM I recall he even has an NPC escape hatch for the PCs if they're getting their asses kicked. Land Beyond the Magic Mirror is also a tough high level module, although I can''t recall if there is much nerfing on that demiplane. I think those are both fun modukes, Land... remains one of my favourites.
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Heh out of all the different modules, I think the ass-kicking my players remembered the most was Oonga. It was brutal.
 
I play my own homebrew game, which feels just like D&D to me, but definitely does not meet some of the qualifications outlined by T. Foster above.
 
Mankcam said:
Character Sheets listed:

1. Low Fantasy Gaming
2. Five Torches Deep
3. Dungeon Crawl Classics
4. Into The Unknown
5. Swords & Wizardry
6. The Hero's Journey
7. White Box Adventures
8. Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
9. Fighting Fantasy
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I'd give any of them a try. Every sheet looks good to me,with just the right amount of information on it. And ok, some look a bit too over designed, but that's fine, too.

Anyway, if I was to reach for a D&D type game (which I might do with the lad next time there's bad weather), it would be either Swords and Wizardry Core od the good old Red Box. After all, why try to beat the best?

Though for a more experienced group, Dark Dungeons all the way.
 
Some of those character sheets are bonafide works of art in my opinion...

For me the answer depends on some qualifiers. If I wanted to run a campaign and since I don't have a huge amount of prep-time I would be looking for something well supported in that regard, and 5e seems to have a decent set of materials whilst having a fairly 'Goldilocks' level of crunch.

If I'm playing then I might hope for something a bit less main-line D&D. 13th Age is very good not-D&D. Mongoose Conan is a good sword & sorcery game with a d20 chassis that makes it very approachable for my group.

As I get more into SWADE that is rapidly coming up my list from both the perspective of fun-to-run and fun-to-ref.
 
D&D5e if I want to run it straight. Dungeon World if want to run it quick and off the cuff. Mork Borg if I want to run it dark. Far Away Land OSR if I want to run for kids or for laughs.
 
Dumarest said:
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Yeah that game was great in my opinion - the simple pulpy mechanics, the tongue-in-check attitude, and it even had character motivations long before 'storygame rpgs' made them popular. I wish we could get a reprint of it, it really deserves not to fade away.
The notion of having character sheets-as-ID-badges was brilliant!
Perfectly suited for Ghostbusters, and cannot be improved upon :thumbsup:
 
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Fantasy Craft is in one of the DTRPG charity bundles, so if you don't have it you can win/win this sucker by getting it hella cheap and giving to a good cause! Just saying. (I'd love for there to be more FC players; it's pretty much the only d20 game I'll willingly play at this point.)

Oh, I also wanted to mention another great point. Subdual damage! It has its own system which, while less deadly, is still quite effective. There's also a mental/psychological version called Stress damage that has its own track(it works the same as subdual, but reduces different stats when saves are failed). Capturing enemies doesn't have to be a chore(not always, anyway; sometimes they're supposed to be)! And you don't get hosed for using a non-lethal weapon. Just know that these work on PCs, too, and some enemy types have some measure of resistance or, rarely, immunity. But that goes for all damage types. (The GM in one game I got to play was new to the system, so was also still learning while running and didn't know how to deal with them at first and we had a discussion about it. A productive one, not a hostile one. We all knew we were new to the system there.)

But yeah, charity bundle, Fantasy Craft, go wild!
 
My go to choices for that particular style are either BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia DnD or Advanced Fighting Fantasy. So easy to do dungeon crawls and basic hack and slash with those two. Rules are simple and fast with no complexity to bog things down.
 
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