POLL Gothic Fantasy System
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I might have done one of these before, not sure. Either way I'm bored at work and talking to some people about gothic fantasy and what may or may not work on a MUX. The options for a system are...
D&D 5E
Pros - Great system and we all think it would work well on a MUX for the most part.
Cons - Level based and people hear D&D and just think "Dungeon Crawl" and RP might get thrown out the window.Savage Worlds
Pros - Versatile system that is easy to learn. Could probably put everything someone needs in a tutorial room on the game itself.
Cons - Some people just seem to hate it.This is NOT a game that is in progress. Just some discussion among friends about what may or may not work on a theoretical game.
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I'd choose neither.
What do you mean by Gothic Fantasy? Warhammer? Castelvenia? Shadows of Esteren? Leagues of Gothic Horror?
I have a waggish sense of humor.
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@Misadventure said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
I'd choose neither.
What do you mean by Gothic Fantasy? Warhammer? Castelvenia? Shadows of Esteren? Leagues of Gothic Horror?
What we were discussing was something like Warhammer meets Ravenloft. Not sure what Leagues of Gothic Horror is but I'm gonna go check it out!
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You need an Other option. Not sure either of those are conducive for the genre you are aiming for. I would use Runequest 6/Mythras for this over D&D. It's magic systems, particularly Shamanism and Sorcery, are a better fit for the atmosphere. I don't know much about Symbaroum RPG's system but it is designed for a grim setting.
Ceterum autem censeo Carthaginem esse delendam
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@Ominous said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
You need an Other option. Not sure either of those are conducive for the genre you are aiming for. I would use Runequest 6/Mythras for this over D&D.
Savage Worlds was actually built for the genre I'm aiming for. An offshoot of it anyway. Not that familiar with Runequest. I love checking out new systems though.
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@ZombieGenesis I ninja edited on you.
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Just thought of Warhammer 2nd Edition too.
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@ZombieGenesis I have that one. It's good assuming your players don't mind dying a bunch. It's the Call of Cthulhu of fantasy tabletops.
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@ZombieGenesis said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
Just thought of Warhammer 2nd Edition too.
I was amazed by how dark this game is without being inaccessible. Burning Wheel can be nice and dark, too, but is very fiddly for the adventurers. There is some Warhammer RPG Love Letter (i.e., a game created because of how much they like the Warhammer RPG) and it just didn't seem easy to grasp.
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Honestly, if you find Warhammer 2nd edition easy to grasp, Mythras/Runequest 6 is even easier. It's pure skill oriented so you avoid the issues with career classes and all but two of the attributes are derived the same way with the two exceptions being only slightly different unlike WFTR 2's attributes.
Ceterum autem censeo Carthaginem esse delendam
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@Ominous said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
Honestly, if you find Warhammer 2nd edition easy to grasp, Mythras/Runequest 6 is even easier. It's pure skill oriented so you avoid the issues with career classes and all but two of the attributes are derived the same way with the two exceptions being only slightly different unlike WFTR 2's attributes.
I just ordered a copy of Mythras from Amazon. Excited to check it out.
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@ZombieGenesis They have a free download of most of the rules (no magic systems though) on their website, so you didn't need to splurge if you just wanted to look it over.
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I'd suggest looking at Lamentations of the Flame Princess. It's specifically built for this, while being a retro-style system game. Very fun. It's like playing D&D in the world presented on Cannibal Corpse and Iced Earth album covers.
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Years ago, there was a Deryni RPG based on FUDGE. I played it once at a con, but don't remember what I thought about it.
Anyway, it's always the first thing that leaps to mind with 'Gothic Fantasy' because I have a soft spot for the series. It was the first series that I read that mercilessly slaughtered its chars and it delved into political machinations decades before Martin made both those things cool.
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@ZombieGenesis said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
This is NOT a game that is in progress. Just some discussion among friends about what may or may not work on a theoretical game.
What are the players to do on the game? Is it a "kill monsters!" game or a political game? A survival game or a story-based game?
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To my eyes, Savage Worlds is a quick wargame, with attempted nods at any flavor at all, as far as the system goes. They can certainly dish out the sourcebooks, but all of that can easily be translated into any game system. Otherwise SW just always comes across as bland to me.
Mythras might be good, especially if you look at applications to handle politics or whatever you might want to add in, from the other modern Runequest 6 systems out there. Especially if you look at the ones where advancement is handled in something other than "make a roll, get a check, see if you improve end of adventure" way.
All that said, choose whatever gets your own fires going. If you are the source, you want the system and setting examples you work from to fire your imagination and get you to want to play and get others to play.
I have a waggish sense of humor.
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@Misadventure said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
To my eyes, Savage Worlds is a quick wargame, with attempted nods at any flavor at all, as far as the system goes. They can certainly dish out the sourcebooks, but all of that can easily be translated into any game system. Otherwise SW just always comes across as bland to me.
So it's a modern GURPS. Seeing how many people still drool over the crazy grandpa of generic RPGs, I don't see this as a bad thing. Mind you, I think Slipstream knocked it out of the fucking park.
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@ShelBeast said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:
I'd suggest looking at Lamentations of the Flame Princess. It's specifically built for this, while being a retro-style system game. Very fun. It's like playing D&D in the world presented on Cannibal Corpse and Iced Earth album covers.
LoFP overshoots gothic horror and goes straight to gorn. It's a rough glass of very strong liquor. I play it but it is definitely dark and bloody.
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Lots of good suggestions here. Someone also suggested Chronicles of Darkness hacked for the setting.
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@ZombieGenesis As much as I dislike WoD and it's derivatives, I could see it working.
