"Not enough time" is the main obstacle to trying roleplaying games besides Dungeons & Dragons, so as a dear sacrifice to this community, I played a ton of games. Let's summarize their basics and give you everything you need to try one TODAY! ▶️ Links below! ⏬
💥 None of these games are sponsoring this video, though there are some affiliate links below from which I earn a small commission.
D&D 5e Basic Rules: open5e.com/, media.wizards.com/2023/downloads/dnd/SRD_CC_v5.1.pdf
Shadowdark Quickstart: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/413713?affiliate_id=1987166
Dungeon Crawl Classics Quickstart: goodman-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DCC_QSR_Free.pdf
XCrawl Classics Gamma Rules: goodman-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/XcrawlRPG_GammaRules_PUBLISHED.pdf
Index Card RPG Quickstart: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/221038?affiliate_id=1987166
Deathbringer Rules Pamphlet: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/396879?affiliate_id=1987166
DC20 Alpha Rules: thedungeoncoach.com/products/dc20-alpha?sca_ref=4464088.JmsovQ0FWS
Dagger Heart Playtest: darringtonpress.com/daggerheart/
Cairn Core Rulebook: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/330809?affiliate_id=1987166
EZD6 Core Rulebook: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/397599?affiliate_id=1987166
Skate Wizards Core Rulebook: michaelchsiung.itch.io/skate-wizard-digital-pdf
Goons & Ghosts Core Rulebook: www.jpcoovert.com/shop/goons-and-ghosts-ttrpg
Candela Obscura Quickstart: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/438694?affiliate_id=1987166
Avatar Legends Quickstart: preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/460496?affiliate_id=1987166
Cypher System Primer: www.montecookgames.com/store/product/cypher-system-rules-primer/
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00:00 my favorite dnd-like RPGs from last year
04:18 how to actually try out one of these games!
05:19 more fun, gritty dnd-like RPGs
06:35 epic fantasy RPGs!
08:11 how to see some exclusive dagger heart stuff!
08:37 my top recommendation for non-dnd fantasy rules
09:29 more easy games with a variety of fun themes :)
#dnd #dungeonsanddragons
💥 Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bobworldbuilder
i was thinking about a room made basically of projector screens the shine from the outside in on clear sheets like the monitor from the first invisible pc setup and making like a pip boy to roll when you are anywhere on the board with timers and health and more with pulleys to fly with and rc monsters that have projectors to show attack range and animations and then i would make spells and abilities working somehow
Thanks Bob for mentioning my little game. Great exposure for all the fantastic games out there.
My favorite game purchase last year. I can't wait for the Wastes!
My pleasure! Thank Runehammer for running a fun one shot of it at the cabin! :)
I’ve been playing EZD6 and it is sooo much fun! The crit chains are amazing and magic is dangerous and powerful
By far my favourite game. Would love a full review of it Bob!!
The only game i play right now. Truly a gem
We played 'the end of the world' this summer. It's an TTRPG where you play as yourself, and when deciding you scores there is a point buy system. After which everyone get's to vote if your stats in certain things should be higher or lower. You also get to choose 3 things per stat that you're extra good (or bad) at (like kicking in doors for strenght or solving sudoku puzzles for logic) When the characters are done you start the game at your table, ye ms the characters in game start where you start, wearing whatever you are wearing. And it goes from there. We raided our local DIY store for supplies, went to the amusement park to kill some zombie overlord. Stole a truck to get to the forest. Really fun game, we'll play it again sometime, at someone else's house :).
That sounds really fun!
It would be cool to have a RPG of the month series. Where every month you do a deep dive on a different game. With as many RPGs as there are such a series could last decades.
Sojourn, Worlds without Number, By this Axe, Savage Worlds, Wicked Ones, Fantasy Age, 13th Age, Mork Borg, Vast Grimm, and Red Giant are all worth a glance, too.
I would love to see Bob's review on Worlds Without Number!
WWN is an incredible book and an all right system. Very easy to run and prep for since then book dedicated like 80% of itself to GM tools. I like how your characters are essentially random rolled and how the power scaling is pretty grounded. It feels like the sweet spot between 5e and DCC with the complexity of neither.
Big same! Particularly for Fantasy AGE and the other AGE based games.
These are some great suggestions, really looking forward to a large 'database' of compiled systems just like this video. There's also the Champions TTRPG, to add to the list (3d6 roll below your own attribute), which also offers way more varied character creation.
Can you try "Mistborn Adventure Game" and make a video about it, so I can use that video to convince my friends to play with me? :D
Whoa I had no idea that was a thing! Looking forward to Stormlight RPG, but I haven't read any Mistborn haha, my wife and some friends have though, so maybe they'd jump in to run it :)
I would click that video so fast lol. And Bob, please do yourself a favour and read those books! You only need the first 3 if you want to cover the entire setting of the game.
Bob you definitely should read Mistborn. I love Era one!
The magic system in the Mistborn novels is quite cool and would lend itself to creative role playing. I don’t know how they implemented it, but I’m sure it won’t be like D&D.
@@danroberts007 The rules are qute fluid, very roleplay driven, if you wrote on your character sheat that you are were circus jugler, then a situation comes up where you need to trow a small object in a particular way, then you just say "actually, since I was a jugler I think I shuld get an extra die to do this" and the DM will be like: sure have another die! (It's a D6 dice pool system)
Hey Bob, great video! Given that you mentioned the PbtA family, I'd have also said that Candela Obscura is part of the "Forged in the Dark" one; helps with spreading the word about these big families of great games.
Thanks and good point!
It warms my heart that you tenaciously keep on pushing DCC. It's a fantastic game that deserves all the love. DC20 looks promising!
the era of the handheld mic has come. and i love it
0:37 D&D 1:30 Shadowdark 2:43 Dungeon Crawl Classics 3:45 X Crawl Classics 5:20 Index Card RPG 6:00 Deathbringer 6:38 DC20 7:30 Daggerheart 8:37 Cairn 9:33 EZD6 10:17 Skate Wizards 11:02 Goons and Ghosts 11:53 Candela Obscura 12:43 Monster of the Week 13:24 The Cypher System
Wooo! So happy to hear you ran some Goons & Ghosts!!!
Glad you finally took an opportunity to do a deeper dive into the Runehammer offerings, Index Card RPG and DM Scotty’s EZD6. Both are standouts for their ease of learning, versatility, player and GM empowerment, and overall high level of fun at the table. I hope you continue to explore and present these ruleset options.
Agree, cool to see ICRPG on here! Wish he gave a more detailed opinion on what he liked/didnt like. Especially how he views the Effort, inventory and progression systems.
Excited to hear that you're checking out Mausritter! It's one of my favorite physical products that I own. If you like the Mausritter/Cairn style of play, I highly recommend checking out Liminal Horror, which is an investigative horror hack of Cairn. The adventures for it are wonderful (I suggest checking out The Bloom).
I've been playing non-D&D games for about 20 years, and Bob's excitement at discovering there's more to the hobby than WotC is just very wholesome.
Didn't realize Deathtbringer was in the works and I follow Professor DM too. Looking forward to it.
From what I gather PDM is going back to six stats, because 3 doesn't differentiate characters enough. PDM has mentioned running a Kickstarter for _Deathbringer_ but it sounds like he first needs to find time to revise the manuscript.
@@fmitchell238a from what he said in a recent video, I assume it's in the works but he'll run the Kickstarter before it's finished. After all, it's a great way to measure interest and get some feedback before everything is settled.
@@drillerdev4624 I'd prefer he get as much writing and playtesting as possible done before the Kickstarter, especially since _Deathbringer_ is the house rules of his long-running campaign. Kevin Crawford (Sine Nomine Games) has an essay about how he runs his Kickstarters, and one of his cardinal rules is to finish the writing *before* starting the Kickstarter: the money goes directly toward paying for art, production, and printing, with presumably a healthy profit. (I think that's what Kelsey Dionne did too.) It still amazes me that the MCDM RPG collected $4.6m even though it's in development ... but then I've been burned by Kickstarters that took years to complete and a few that simply took the money and delivered nothing.
@@fmitchell238a I'm the first one that tries to avoid overpromising kickstarters with no established base, but I don't think the Professor will launch his without showing at least a quickstart. That doesn't mean the game should be 100% finished at that moment. I'm expecting something along the lines of Knave or the Bastionlands. The base was done by the time the kickstarter launched but there was stuff to be done. After all, logistically a TTRPG project is easier than a boardgame, for example. Anyway, I think we'll know in a couple months at most.
Also Shadowdark adventures work pretty well in DCC with little changing stuff around, use the gaming systems of DCC with the events of Shadowdark 😁 might need to check the nonsyer stats but they are decently close overall.
I have run Goodman Games DCC modules in Basic/OSE and 5e... the flavor is dope and they are designed to be system agnostic. In my view, most D20 D&D like games are pretty interchangeable w/out a ton of work, as long as your players don't expect perfect balance and accept that sometimes they need to run away to survive.
THANKS! part 2 of this could be "my favorite is this" and the "easiest to learn for your group is this" would be great and helpful. I am almost done with my 3 year 5E campaign but would like to introduce another game when they party "sleeps" with my next campaign... just trying to find an easy and fun game to try this with.
My pleasure! I guess I meant to incorporate the recommendations by stating how similar they each game is to D&D, but what makes it different. But for just a fun and easy game that's a bit different, Cairn or Skate Wizards would be my personal favs
awesome! maybe ill grab those and see which might be best for the group@@BobWorldBuilder
The overviews were great. Definitely would love to hear more opinions as well - especially from someone I trust and respect.
This video is amazing, Bob. You went on a fantastic tour of the TTRPG world this year!
I am my gaming group 🤣 💪🏻 Mine are Mork Borg (all related products like Pirate Borg, Forbidden Psalm etc..) DCC (MCC as well) Sacrifice A Insence and Iron RPG Across a Thousand Dead Planets. Have more on a list but havent used or played solo yet.
I've only ever done Call of Cthulhu solo, but I know Shadowdark is developing a tool for it that I might try
@@BobWorldBuilder ah nice I am about to run a funnel for DCC 8, 0 level characters with 4 more for back up 😅. Also solo shadwdark there are some people who have ran it and posted gameplay videos on KZhead for their prep and how it went 😁 also of games are similar enough to the point you can run things in other systems. I just don't have shadwdark yet myself so this is why. I'd rather have a physical book of it.
ICRPG! EZD6! Monster of the Week! Cairn! Mausritter! Maze Rats! Knave 2e! The One Ring 2e! What a great list of game recommendations and to-play list! So happy to see this type of content, rather than more of that tire ol' ampersand game 😁👍
I love to see you exploring the multitude of games out there. There really is too much goodness for one lifetime. I am preparing for an Avatar Legends one shot soon. This weekend I am at a convention running two Free League gems in Alien and Vaesen. So easy to learn and run.
Can confirm that The One Ring is a lot of fun! It captures the Tolkien vibe very well.
I've been pouring through the Core Book and Ruins of the Lost Realm. I'll finally be running my first session at the end of February and I'm stoked.
Yeah honestly that's the intimidating part for me. I tend to run a pretty comedic game, and while LotR has it's share of comedy, I want to make sure I get the tone right.
@@BobWorldBuilder Perhaps something more Shire oriented? Let that Brandybuck and Took energy flow xD
@@BobWorldBuilderThe Starter Set has a series of Shire adventures for Hobbits that can be spun to be more amusing than dangerous, at least at first. Of course, once you get to the last adventure, things can be quite serious. I hope you get a chance to try it out, and look forward to it!
Awesome list! The One Ring is very thematic. I love it.
Great listen for the ride to work!
Let's go! I'm gonna pick a few of these systems to try with my homies. I've been a bit bored by just DnD. Nice video as always Bob!
Thanks very much! Enjoy
Definitely waiting on DC20 myself - I loved your one-shot with Coach.
Thanks for checking it out!
I gotta figure out how to get you on the Free League/Year Zero Engine train! Forbidden Lands is such a good game and needs more hype. Another honorable mention is Electric Bastionland, quirky and fast to learn/play. Same author as Into the Odd, which Cairn is based on. Good stuff, Bob!
Seeing as One Ring is on his “to play” list, that’ll at least make the name Free League stand out!
@user-jt1js5mr3f yeah, I cheated the narrative there a little bit. Personally, I just much prefer FL's own games over the big IP stuff. There's such a glut of great games now a days it's hard to keep up.
@@dirigoallagash3464 I may try the others at some point, but Tolkien is by and far my favorite, so the One Ring is made for me
Goons and Ghosts sounds like a blast and a good excuse to break out my Ghostbusters boardgame miniatures!
Awesome showcase! started playing different TTRPGs each month in the last quarter of 2023, including DC20 which is AWESOME, and looking to get to 12 new ones this year! May have to try a few of these out!
It's worth noting that the Index Carg RPG _free_ rulebook is something like 150 pages of awesomeness. It's worth reading just for fun, and to make yourself a better GM in a general sense.
Can confirm, game is great.
Love you and your channel. And really enjoy these excerpts into other systems. I hope they become regular additions to your channel.
Your video "My Top 2 D&D-Alternatives" introduced me to DCC and in honesty I love it! I am looking at integrating its magic system like you described because "cool" :) Thanks for all you do! Seriously looking at Patreon once I get more settled in my new house ;)
Thank you Bob, this is perfect timing.
Oh my gosh I'm excited! 😍
If you like Cairn so much, you also gotta test out the originals: not only Knave (which is amazing) but also especially the great Into the Odd (and other Bastionland games), which is also the base for Mausritter! A completely different beast (more akin to EZ D6) but also absolutely fantastic are the Free League games, which all have a beautiful production value
Bob’s chill vibes are it
Woah! I made the list! It was a blast playing with ya man! Loved seeing you talk about it! 💜
Thanks for mentioning Deathbringer. I had a great time playing with you!
I ran a Mausritter campaign that lasted 62 sessions and was truly the most heart felt and thrilling campaign I’ve ever been apart of!
CAIRN CAIRN CAIRN CAIRN CAIRN CAIRN
Second edition is in the works you can play test it 😁
Shout out to JP Coovert! I got Ghosts and Goons, too and I also have his Teenage Mutant Tunnel Goons. Great simple fun. If you want a fun PBTA game and are a wrestling fan, check out World Wide Wrestling. It's crazy fun for people that really lean into the roleplaying side of the hobby.
yay Monster of The Week! did a couple of short one-shots of it last year, i really like the rules and character options. Thanks for the video!
MOTW is great. There some excellent sessions of it on the Dungeon Dudes channel.
If you’re looking for more content using Monster of the Week, I recommend the Crit Show podcast.
I just put together a group to try new systems, so this is perfect!
Awesome video as always!
Thanks!
SHADOWDARK!! DCC!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻 Cairn, Knave, Deathbringer and SkateWizards all sounds like a riot. Dang you logged so many games the past year. Awesome feat and another great vid Bob! 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Thank you very much for this, sir. It's so good to hear about other options, but also to get some feedback on them, so I can sort of know what to expect, and decide which I want to try first.
I've written about it in the patron discord a lot and I'll probably mention it there but I really would love to see your review of overarms. It's one of my favorite ttrpgs to date that inspires creativity in players and the dm
Thank you for giving digestible and awesome run downs of these systems!
Some cool selections there. Thanks for sharing your experience with them.
I love videos like this! There are so many TTRPGs out there now (which is fantastic) so getting a quick high level overview of each one helps get more games into the spotlight for more people to discover :)
Way, way more than people realize, amd there always have been, there's just enough people getting bored of / frustrated by D&D 5e to notice :)
Massive respect to you. That's a ton of systems to try out. I was really happy to see your Cypher one-shot. It's my system of choice these days. I love the flexibility and ease of narrative flow. I ran some games for teens at a local high school game convention and they loved it.
Would love to see your take on Shadow of the Demon Lord.
JP Coovert! I love goons and ghosts and my current dnd game is his “Flik Silverpen’s Guide to Dragon Town” campaign!
I like your energy man, keep building !
Excellent guidance and commentary, as always Bob. You are forever an invaluable resource for players and new GMs alike!
Great reviews on a good range of games. I for one would love to hear more about this D&D game with DCC Spells! For the last little while I've just been trying to bring two non D&D games and 1 new to me RPG as part of my gamer resolutions for the year. 15 is amazing (but one shots help) I'm going to share this video with my players as part of my attempt to convince them to try some new stuff.
jp coovert's creations are so lovely to look at.
I want to see more Dagger Heart videos and I would love to learn more about the One Ring (I used to play the old school M.E.R.P. game many many years ago)
I’m prepping for my first One Ring session and I’m so excited. They have a 5e version, but so far I’m REALLY glad I went with their original system.
Great recap, thank you!
Great to see so many amazing games featured. This hobby is vast and exciting!
I got to playtest The Stormlight game at Dragonsteel con last year. My favorite thing about it was that there are no classes, you pick and choose feats to build your character. I've never played a game like that so it was exciting
Awesome video! Its so nice to have this as a reference for my group as we explore other games. Most of our play has been either 5e or games from the White Wolf family. I'm curious what you think of those games.
Ooooh, Shadowdark seems interesting. Have been on the look-out for an RPG that is a bit more "down to earth" and grittier game than 5e but a bit more magical than The Dark Eye, so if Shadowdark is somewhere around there, I might check it out (the physical book looking rad also helps).
great to see Cairn & Mausritter. You might try and take a look at: 2E Knave coming out from Ben Milton-Questing Beast, there is a KS and free quick start for Ruincairn Wardensaga, "Hollows" from Rowan Rook & Decard in play test, and the jampacked full of content Runequest starter. :)
Great video, great summaries. It's really nice to get a super condensed introduction to each of the games you talk about. I'd love to see you talk about my favorite RPG someday - Call of Cthulhu. Just a suggestion.
Holy hell my subscriptions are crazy the last 12h! Absolutely wonderful to see the wonderful videos today! Your video is the second in a row of 9!
Nice breakdown Bob. Appreciate the lean towards free/low cost and easy to learn angles.
Hey, good video! Just got my copy of Shadowdark! I'm looking foward to run my group thru a nice dungeon for a one shot next week. I like EZD6, but I love even more playing hacks of it, like StarWarsEZD6, GhostbustersEZD6 (this one I made myself by combining WEG Ghostbusters, some Ghost & Goons, but with the EZD6 engine). And I'm looking foward to play this new Deathbringer!!
Been enjoying cthulu and monster of the week, also trying to learn shadowrun 6e
So much innovation in the tabletop scene right now. You love to see it!
I'm very curious if you can recommend anyone giving Savage Worlds a try. The most recent edition (SWADE) has been a lot of fun for my table! Wickedly easy to go between settings and rig up a character of almost any concept you can RP, imo! HP is tricky but once you get the hang of it, id argue it's on equal footing with 5e. There's the Pathfinder setting available for it too! Happy building, Bob!
Great video! I have so many systems on my shelf to try. Anxiously waiting to finish one of the two D&D campaigns I'm running so that I can start a Dolmenwood campaign. Sitting on my shelf or PDF on my computer to be played are most of the ones you mentioned in this video and even a few more like Labyrinth, Call of Cthulhu, and Black Sword Hack. I keep trying to suggest one shots of these other systems but can never garner enough interest. Looking forward to heart your thoughts on Mausritter and The One Ring.
Oh hell yeah DC20, can't wait for that release. I would love to hear your thoughts on all these games in its own video
I really like that you specified that you have no previous experience with these, and ran them anyways. Too many people will sit on a game forever waiting for someone to magically appear that played it before.
Nice! I was deep into running a 5e campaign so i did not look into other systems or worlds until this christmas, but we tried Cyberpunk 2020. It took some getting used to but MAN the world and games are really interesting and deadly. We entered a new player and his character died instantly in a blaze of glory. The combat system is based on real life fights so they are short and deadly, making them super exciting. It is not for everyone and it is really crunchy, but i highly recommend this game :)
following your recommendation and when one player couldn't make it to the regular campaign session, I suggested I'd run a one-shot of Skate Wizards. it was hilarious, and despite being not only the first game of Skate Wizards I ran but the first game EVER, the players enjoyed it immensely.
Great list and great discritions!
Thanks, Bob. I appreciate your work here.✌
I am so happy that you finally mentioned a PbtA game towards the end! 👏 It was getting a little same-y with all the OSR games. I am looking forward to hear you say more about “Avatar Legends” down the line.
Im always down to see more ShadowDarkRpg content. Lots of fun games to try!
I love Cypher! Hope you get to play it soon Bob. I've been running a Numenera campaign for the last year and it's been a blast. Mausritter and The One Ring are also on my shortlist! Here's to a 2024 full great games
DCC sounds really fun. We’ve just finished our main D&D 5e campaign and now we’re going to try Dolmenwood, but we also rotate Shiver and Blades in the Dark.
seeing more games is great. ty
Excellent video, Bob!
Bob’s number one is his own homebrewed 5e rules? This is always how it starts, and the way it ends is with another new system. Excited to see what you come up with!
Awesome video! I love reading and trying new RPGs. I have most of the ones you covered and have been looking at some of the others. I'm also working on my own rpg. (Then again, who isn't?) Keep up the great work. Liked and Subscribed! 👍
Sounds like a kick ass year of gaming! There are so many good games out there to play, or at the very least steal ideas from to make your games even better. Video idea: How about an actual play of one of these? Something totally diffirent like Skate Wizards. Or if not, maybe a session recap video of one?
I have monster of the week, but haven't played it yet. The thing that really interests me about it is it's kind of designed to be played in the real world so you can use an actual map of where you live and that way the players(if you're playing in person) are all familiar with the area.
Love this, playing one shots of other system has defently improved my skills as gm this year
I started running Stars Without Number a few months ago. Sci-Fi game with a B/X base, with some modern concepts, the free version on drivethrurpg is a complete game, with the paid version (and sourcebooks) having some additional material.
Oh man, I've been on the prep mission for Masks of Nyarlathotep, like a 700 page campaign, gonna be so awesome, but damn it's the most work I've done to prep anything I've done yet.
Well, but it's also one of the best campaigns in RPG history. Up there with Enemy Within. Have fun prepping, it will be worth it! 🙂
A video or explanation over how you incorporated the DCC magic system into 5e would be really cool as I have been considering doing something similar for sometime now.
This was a fun video and great for an old geek like me to see some of the new games and game systems. There are some great writers working hard these days. I think it would also be cool if you touched on some of the other grognard classics like Call of Cthulu, HERO Sydtem, GURPS, Mighty Protectors, etc.
I ran a one shot of EZD6 during the summer and my players loved the system so much I created a campaign for it. Definitely a banger for one shots and love the exploding dice mechanic
Ah man, Monster of the Week!!! One of the coolest on this list; love that Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe!
This is an awesome video! I just went and backed JP Coovert's Patreon to get the PDF of Goons & Ghosts - I cannot wait to run this for my group. And because I saved so much money compared with buying a paper copy and having it shipped, I backed your Patreon, too, Bob :D I'm excited to see my first 5e pack.
I'm envious you have the new Mausritter already! I don't think regular slobs like me can get it yet. I'm a HUGE advocate for Index Card RPG, and now Shadowdark as well. I second both of those!
Coming to the end of the campaign I'm running and I'm planning to just ask the group what sort of world or theme they want to play in and finding the system from there. There is a system for pretty much anything we could want. That being said the mouse one you showed looks too cute not to give it a go!
My gaming group has just started playing Mausritter this past weekend. We absolutely love it !! It takes about 5-6 minutes to roll up a character, easy game mechanics, and everyone enjoyed the idea of being a small mouse in a huge world (and all of the nuance that comes with it).
Great video :) would love to hear your take on Dragonbane!