"what's your favorite RPG?" Topic

what's your favorite commercial RPG and why (two games at most)?

Probably GURPS as that is the one that was least changed when we played it. Everything else that I can think of got changed so much that they must be regarded as home made based on rather than bought.

x42

D&D 3.5ed
Why? Just because its what our group got into. We have all the books so we'll never run out of options. When 4th ed came out, it only re-affirmed what we liked about 3.5ed

None now. they have morphed beyond what I used to know.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition and Call Of Cthulhu 3rd edition. There are others that I really enjoy but these are the top two to play or run. One big reason is that I never liked the Leveling up advancement system. The WFRP and COC syatems are skill based advancement systems and seemed more realistic to me, and I always like a little reality with my fantasy.

ColKG

Risus the Anything RPG
Short, sweet and to the point.

Tough choice. In terms of aesthetics & setting, Dying Earth and the Amber Diceless RPG top my list, although neither one gets the kind of play time I'd like. For "most used" various editions of D&D and Call of Cthulhu probably top the list – D&D 4E being A-number-one these days. For "most versatile" Savage Worlds by a mile.

Only two? :-(

1st: Hawkmoon, Chaosium or Mongoose version, just love the setting and the odd chance of travelling to other plains.

2nd: AD&D first edition as it was the first rpg I ever played.

Close runners up: Warhammer first or second edition, Runequest, Paranoia and finally TMNT.

Also enjoying reading through Serenity, seems good and another very good setting (although I haven't played it yet).

Mick

AD&D (before it had an edition number)

Gamma World (original edition)

(My actual second favourte is : Homebrew Cthulhu, but not commercially available)

Star Wars 2nd Ed. by WEG. Easily the longest running RPG here. We started with the 1st Ed when it first came out, then have played the second about once a week since then. It suits the group here as a good balance of complexity and fun, with just about any situation being possible.

We tend to play D&D 3.5ed
I enjoyed running A CoC and Ravenloft campaigns years ago but just not much time now.

I ran a short Mutant Chronicles campaign years ago which was really fun I especially like the background for that universe.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay for fantasy ,use to love the old white dwarf articles.
Soft spot for Star Frontier with Sci-Fi as there were a few wargaming elements in the games.

Did enjoy a lttle Paranoia too but the first two take it.

Probably AD&D 2nd edition. I think 1st was probably better in some ways but I played 2nd more "seriously" as in I better understood the rules and was really old enough to play and we had some great games.

Ultimately though I think the system is pretty irrelevant and it is all dependent on your DM.

"Legends of the Ancient World"…a TFT reto-clone… along with its Scifi brother "Legends of Space and Time".
All from Darkcitygames.com . If you loved "Melee" and "Wizard" from Metagaming… this is a must buy….

I am also a huge fan of Castles & Crusades…. an AD&D retro clone.

Joe Collins

My two favourite sci-fi games:
Cyberpunk 2020 and more currently, Stars Without Number

My two favourite fantasy RPGs:
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition and Barbarians of Lemuria

(I know, I cheated there…)

Ultimately though I think the system is pretty irrelevant and it is all dependent on your DM.

A very good point by Pictors Studio.

DnD (4e, and ADnD), Classic LBB Traveller

May favorite is D&D 3e/Pathfinder. After a hiatus of 3 years, I've decided if I want to play this again, I have to motivate it. To that end I'm starting my own group. Anyone in the Lehigh Valley PA interested, send me a message…

Damon.

Dream Pod 9's Silhouette System (heavy gear, JC, home grown)
DnD 3/3.5… not really liking 4

Classic Traveller and AD&D 2nd Edition, had the most fun ever with those!

Cyberpunk 2020 will probably always be my favorite RPG, mostly due to the memories and good times had playing it (with Paranoia and CoC tied for second in the nostalgia department).

Current favorite RPG is Eclipse Phase. Incredible setting, and we've had some really intense games that really illicit emotional response (in a good way).

Fantasy has sort of fallen by the wayside for my group. D&D got to be too much of an exacting and slow moving minis game with RPG on the side. Might be giving Pathfinder a swing. We also tried Harn a while back, and that was… interesting…

And as a second post…

I also seriously dig Traveller and Heavy Gear, very awesome games.

Toon.
Paranoia.
Warhammer RPG.
D & D.
Judge Dredd.

I can't really pick between them, but Toon was out there when I was an RPGing kid!

Oh, and I really dug Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sadly, the Turtles have rather aged badly and Approaching Middle Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles just doesn't have the same appeal…

Mekton by a country mile. It's a simple and fun system that is very adaptable for both RPGs and wargaming. My only 'complaint' is that infantry is such a pain to use. It's either a walking block of armor OR a full blown character.

That's something that Heavy Gear got down to a T…

And on that subject my other favorite is Heavy Gear/Jovian Chronicles. The Silhouette game engine is one of the best systems out there and is very easy to use once you're use to it. It's just really a pain to make vehicles for the game. That's where Mekton wins out for me.

While not 'really' a RPG THW's Chain Reaction series of games is awesome for bring RPG style detail to a fairly easy wargaming engine so you can have the best of both worlds.

Oh, an honorable mention to Palladium Books Robotech RPG too! It was the first non AD&D RPG that I had ever played and I really loved it when I was a kid.

Its gaming engine (the Palladium System) is very clunky and dated now (it's basically the AD&D system with some changes), but at the time (1986) it was very different and was/is very fun. Character creation is a pain though…

I purchased The Shadow Chronicles just for old times sake! 8D

GURPS 4
Pathfinder

-Kle.

I really enjoyed Trinity.

D&D, in all of its various versions excluding 4th (which really isn't D&D, but a completely different game). At the moment most of our campaigns are 3.5, but we did try the Pathfinder rules and liked them (basically, the real D&D 4th ed., or perhaps 3.75).

And I too agree with Pictors Studio that the GM and other players have more to do with how much you enjoy a game/campaign the the rules as such.

Star Wars d6 2nd Ed and AD&D 2nd Ed before S&P.

I probably had the most fun as a player with Bunnies and Burrows and Paranoia. The most fun I had as a GM was with rules based on the Palladium RPG, but heavily modified. D&D was my gateway to RPGs, but I never really dug the system all that much. As mentioned multiple times, though, it's all about the GM and the interaction between the GM and the players and amongst the players.

Doug

The original Warhammer Fantasy. Close seconds: original Star Wars and Top Secret.

original AD&D, Call of Cthulhu, Gamma World and Space Opera…purely for nostalgic reasons as they were the games that sustained me long, long ago.

The Fantasy Trip, starting way back with Melee 1st edition and everything through to the disappearance of Metagaming.

Ed v H-F

#1: Basic edition D&D (the original Red Box)

#2: Classic Traveller

The Hero system was my favorite. You could do almost anything with that system. The combat rules were great. We could never really implement a fantasy magic system.

Also loved Rolemaster. It got a little overloaded on rules towards the end of its run. It was the only time I would walk into a hooby shop and not want to see another supplement for the game.

Call Of Cthulhu (no particular edition – it's not like the game system matters all that much in CoC) and AD&D 2nd Ed.

Like Pictors said, depends largely on the GM.

While I'll probably never play it, I do like what I've seen of Pathfinder. It does seem more "D&D" than the current official 4th edition. I could see it being very enjoyable with the right crowd.

Overall I'd have to vote for the RPG 7 for it's sheer ubiquity.
Since you posted to the early 20th century discussion board though, I'll go for German engineering and the Panzerschrek (one of my favourite figures while gaming with the old Esci plastics). Not sure if it was ever available commercially although perhaps on the black market or through arms dealers after the war.

Cheers,

Andy

As run straight from the book it'd be Mutant Chronicles, as an RPG background with the rules having received some 'tweaking' it'd be Traveller (Classically based) or Dragon Warriors.

SF- Star Frontiers
Fantasy- a tie between AD&D 2nd Ed and Runequest

Classic Traveller and Runequest--but haven't played either in many years.

Rob

Favorite for me means I would be interested in playing this game pretty much anytime with pretty much anyone, kinda like watching your favorite movie regardless of what point you catch it on TV.

In that status I would say:

Champions…I have most of the versions and the big book was my favorite, 4th edition picture

But I didn't stay within one genre of RPG games so to be fair Champions is my favorite superhero system.

Traveller (any version, but classic is preferred) is my favorite science fiction.

Gamma World (old school versions) is my favorite post apocalyptic system…taken in a serious rather than silly direction.

AD&D (early to mid 80's version) before it got too heavy with 15 different fighters and gnome paladins.

Padadium systems as a whole…the fantasy is heavy with viable details and options through the RIFTs system that while it has gone way over the top to support power gamers still offers many many options for multi-genre gaming.

Any of these on any given day…I would say by far the more important issue at hand would not be the system but rather the gaming group, a decent gaming group is the most important element…any game system has potential for fun times.

LBB Traveller. We had some serious games of that , very military themed as the GM was an officer in the Army.

Star Trek by FASA. Great stetting(The Triangle),great background and the funnest group I have ever played with. The creative ways we though t up to mess with the Klingons are too numerous to list here. We would have started the general war a lot sooner if we where in the main time line.

C of C and Chill….Twilight2000. Not that I have gotten to play any in 10 years.

Picking just two…
TSR Marvel Super Heroes RPG (the originial 80s yellow box one, not the advanced set or the 90s yellow box revamp).
TSR Red box Basic Dungeons & Dragons

1st edition AD&D and Twilight 2000!

We played both games till they fell apart almost.

Ars Magica 3rd ed.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd. ed.
Heavy Gear RPG 2nd. ed.

Empire of the Petal Throne was certainly the one I played the most. Very rich background. Even played the various miniatures rules that spun off from it (Legions of the Petal Throne and Missum).

I liked the diceless concept with Amber, but used it for an occult-oriented version of Space 1889, rather than using the Amber world.

Dale

GURPS 4 is my new love (especially the Transhuman Space setting)

My all-time favorite is Vampire the Masquerade, Second Edition. I like the Revised edition rules but not the new setting.

Artesia Adventures in the Know World

Call of Cthulhu

Birthright

Vampire the Dark Ages : the old version

I had the most fun playing Classic Traveller (+ Striker + High Guard), and original D&D (white box).