"What is your choice of indie RPG?" Topic

Leaving aside the larger game publishers, what is your favorite RPG written by a small company, group or individual and why?

Castles and Crusades- old ADnD done right, nostalgia reasons.

I don't have a frame of reference for this. Can you give me a list of who is big and who is small, because I have no idea.

Qin: the Warring States. Simple character creation. Your entire character can fit on one side of an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. The system discourages min-maxing by making balanced characters more survivable. Simple dice mechanic that's totally in tune with the feel of the Orient (roll a black d10 and a white d10, the difference is your score, doubles are criticals). And, it's skill-based. No classes at all. Also, you can play anything from Magistrate D to Crouching Tiger Hidden flying harness. You can have intrigues in the imperial palace or rough-and-tumble out in the wilds. Or both. Never seen a court fop so confused as when he needed to beat down a demon!

(As an aside, the game will work for either mythic China or Japan. If you want to set it in Japan, I've done the conversion from Chinese to Japanese martial art names.)

I also really like Exalted, but that's by the other major RPG producer, White Wolf. That makes it outside the terms of the thread.

Mutant Future. It captures 1980s Gamma World; it's in print; and it's free if you use the no art version (though I found the hard copy well worth the money).

link

My preference is for simple, streamlined mechanics that don't get in the way, but still lend themselves to a certain play-style or genre.

Of individual authors: Barbarians of Lemuria (sword & sorcery done right)

Of OSR free press: Labyrinth Lord (old school Basic D&D maybe even better than it was)

Of pseudo-OSR small presses: Castles & Crusades (AD&D merged with d20-like modern streamlining)

Of recent larger presses: The One Ring (looks like Middle Earth done right)

Cheers,

Christopher

Barbarians of Lemuria
Labyrinth Lord

Mutant Future is great, but for my first-timers I enjoy Adventure Squad, a spin off of Dungeon Squad.

Al | ravenfeastsmeadhall.blogspot.com

Labyrinth Lord is Old School D&D, I like that.

I've heard a lot about Labyrinth Lord, I'll give it a closer look.

I played a game or two of LL and it was quite fun, but like Plynkes I really don't know who is big and small anymore.

Fading Suns RPG.

Damon.

Recently, I've been enjoying Quick Easy Roleplaying (QUERP) by Greywood Publishing.

What are your thoughts on QUERP?

Apart from Tunnels and Trolls, Maelstrom by Alexander Scott was one of my favourites.

link

Simple mechanics and set in the 16th centrury which appeal to me.

Fiasco by Bully Pulpit Games.

Don't need a GM. You can play a game in 2 hours. And it's a fun theme with very little preparation or paperwork needed.

Also, it's more of a true roleplaying game, focusing on storytelling rather than battle.

No need for a GM? Wow. I'll google this tonight at home!

Advanced Fighting Fantasy is a favorite although out of print for a long time (I think there's a new edition) and also Maelstrom (available in PDF at RPGthrough) mentioned by Elric above.

Dogs in the Vineyard and Agon have pretty innovative mechanics and they are as indie as it gets.

Ditto for Fiasco, and I have always considered Empire of the Petal Throne to be another indie favorite of mine. A deep & rich setting, plus the author created an entire language to go with the game!

Skyrealms of Jorune. It had a really nice background. Some nice non human types.

Space Infantry! You have not seen an indy RPG until you've seen Space Infantry. Something Awful should do a double-u tee eff (must get around the bleep) D&D article on it.

Check out the critical hit chart for 31-35. And the artwork is outstanding. Looks like the alien just got hit in the critical hit location mentioned above.

Scott

Critical Hit 31-35? Liked to killed 'em!

Warrior Rogue and Mage and it's pulp spinoff

Resolute Adventurer and Genius

Simple, elegant, not lots of looking at charts. Easily expandable. Fun, quick.

Any of the Tri Tac Systems games. The system includes things like contracting the common cold and some of the simpler settings have books that are pocket-sized and only 48 – 64 pages long.

Witch Hunter: The Invisible World
IT has become our weekly game.

@wargamer 1972 -
I love QUERP. I was looking for a VERY basic system to introduce my wife to pen and paper. We tried D&D (actually a clone) but it was too much math for her.

Character creation is VERY simple. Choose a class. That's all there is to it because each class has a standard template. The basic game has 5 classes: Warrior, Magician, Thief, Priest, and Sage. There is a Players Book that adds several other classes. The Player's Book also has optional advanced rules for building a character (in lieu of the standard template).

Task resolution is 2D6 + applicable atrribute >= Target #. Attributes are Fighting, Magic, Strength, Stealth, Charisma, Knowledge. So in combat you'd Roll 2D6 + Fighting >= opponent's Defense. Casting a spell requires a 2D6 + Magic >= spell's Difficulty. Task resolution is simple and quick. I love that QUERP task system is standard and only uses D6s.

I absolutely LOVE the game; it was exactly what I was looking for. I do recommend getting the Players book, GM's book, and Bestiary. While not strictly necessary for play, the add some options to the system. The entire set is only $22 if you get PDFs. If you want to test the system yourself, the basic game book is only $5 for a PDF.

Cold City
Hot War