Game systems that I most want to try:
The Fantasy Trip was Steve Jackson’s predecessor to GURPS. Dark City Games has a free, updated, lighter version called Legends of the Ancient World. They also have Sci-fi & Wild West variations.
Buck Rogers High Adventure Cliffhangers
Not to be confused with the TSR XXVc RPG. This is a much lighter game that follows the original comic strip.
Overlaps with Rayguns & Rocketships and the “My Star Wars” plans.
A very brief but—IMHO—brilliant little game designed for dungeoneering.
The desire to try Dungeon Squad overlaps a bit with the desire to reconstruct Dinky Dungeons or run a mutant/minimalist oD&D game.
A game in which whatever the players say happens happens, subject to the veto of the other players. While the dice mechanics can cause the players to fail, they are really more of a pacing mechanic.
I kind of think of this game as similar to Toon but less zany. Or rather a different kind of zany. Though really it can have as much of whatever kind of zany the players want.
The big advantage for me as a GM is that Wushu relies even more on the imagination of the players rather than the GM than does Toon. (^_^)
Chaosium’s Basic Role Play. I’ve been told that Elric! or Stormbringer 5 may be best for “generic fantasy”. Or the forthcoming new BRP book.
There is also, however, GORE to consider. Perhaps along with the old Magic World BRP supplement.
There is some intersection of BRP, Lejendary Adventures, a mutant-d20, and Gurps that keeps bouncing around my head.
Game systems that I want to try:
This is a game I only know through reviews. It is rare, and the last time I saw it on eBay it went for a princely sum. So, this may be more about trying to construct a game based on what I know about DD rather than actually getting to play DD.
It is a minimalist dungeoneering game, which means it somewhat overlaps with my desire to play Dungeon Squad or a mutant/minimalist oD&D.
This game looks pretty cool. It seems almost like a cousin of classic D&D. It is different enough that I cannot really steal bits of it to integrate into D&D, yet it is similar enough that it seems a bit redundant.
I am not sure this game cannot really be done justice unless most of the group have read Vance’s books.
I have played a lot of Gurps...3/e. I think I would like to try it again sometime and give 4/e a try. I am afraid it may be too complex for my tastes today, though.
(I could probably break some of the above out into a “kinda want to try” list.)
A classic D&D campaign I’ve been working on. It is intended to be an ongoing campaign setting. Fairly generic as far as the setting itself goes. The adventures themselves being the main attraction.
Silvion is an island realm. Perhaps a bit Britain and a bit Iceland. Perhaps a bit Slavic. Mostly forest. It was once the province of a continental empire. It was once united under a single kingdom. Today, however, it is mostly wilderness with individual barons independently ruling fiefs here and there.
Ironmoon is the principal town of the region.
Some themes I hope to include: Being a medieval, fuedal society, there are no standing armies, and a small class of adventurers is a natural element. (Like the Chinese xiake, Western gunslinger, or the English knight errant.) Monsters tend to be spontaneously generated (as the medieval doctrine) vermin of the wilderness and the deep and dark. They lack modern ecology.
Little more than an idea at the moment, I suppose. The idea is a classic D&D setting that highlights the cosmic battle between Law and Chaos. Very Four hearts and four lions.
Set in a D&Desque version of the Roman Empire during the time of Constantine. The PCs are Christians working for the faith while avoiding persecution.
This is not intended to be historically or religiously accurate.
It is an “epic quest” sort of idea.
Perhaps using the Mazes & Minotaurs rules?
A world in which civilization is still young. The terra incognita is—for the most part—really unexplored.
Well, that is my current conception of it.
Some basic ideas for a swashbuckling setting. Inspired by The Princess Bride. No adventure ideas yet, though.
I would like to do something a bit Brisco County meets The Wild, Wild West set in nineteenth-century Round Rock, Texas.
Flash Gordon + Buck Rogers + Lensman + Wuxia. A pre-transistor vision of the future.
The PCs are members of Star Patrol of the League of Free Planets. This may include battling the agents of the Xingoan Empire.
Overlaps with Buck Rogers HAC, “My Star Wars”, and possibly “My Star Trek”, and Dragonfist.
This was a Wuxia version of AD&D2e by Chris Pramas. He keeps saying Green Ronin will release a new version of it, but I am not holding by breath. I really like its setting. The rules I am ambivalent towards.
I have had some ideas for a game set during the Crusades.
I love the idea of running a Robin Hood game. I am not sure I have any adventure ideas for it, though.
The elder Earth. The time of heroes. An anachronistic prehistory. Like the world of Xena.
(This was originally intended for D&D.) The Celts are elves. Their realm is centered on Gaul. (Gnomes are “common elves”. Elves are “noble elves”.) The Nordic lands belong to dwarves, trolls, and giants. (Trolls are D&D orcs.) Albion is the domain of halflings.
The dieties are based on actual ancient pantheons.
Xanthoon is a world in which humans (which the PCs are) are not the dominant race. Inspirations include the Disney Atlantis, Dinotopia, and The Many-Colored Land.
There is not much I can say about this idea without it being a spoiler. The idea was intended for Gurps.
Percentile system with very broad skills.
Inspired by Basic Role Playing (Chaosium’ house system), Lejendary Adventures (Gygax’s latest system), & the d20 system.
All abilities are similar to TFT talents or d20 feats. Each level, a PC gets one new ability. Powerful abilities may have other abilities as prerequisites.
Inspired by DragonFable, The Fantasy Trip, & the d20 system.
“There is no try”
Players can make task rolls before commiting to the action.
Only Fighters (1d6+1 hp/level), Clerics (1d6 hp/level), and Mages (1d6-1 hp/level). Tweaked version of the man-to-man tables from Chainmail for attack rolls. Combat modifiers go to damage rather than to attack rolls.
Without thieves and their skills, traps are dealt with as puzzles.
A game in which the dice do not indicate failure, but that the action would fail if attempted.
I like the idea of a classless level-based system in which all character abilities are like TFT talents or d20 feats. They are arranged into trees through prerequisites. Each level, a character gets a new talent.
For example, each fire magic spell would be a talent. More advanced spells would have more basic spells as prerequisites.
Kind of video-game-ish.
I like Gygax’s Lejendary Adventures game. Especially the “skill bundles”. It seems a bit needlessly complex, though.
I have to simplify d20 if I were to run it again.
I would also like to use several of the options from the 3e Unearthed Arcana.
I also like the idea of Druid spells being the only spells.
I would love to use classic Traveller for a fantasy campaign. I think it could pull off a S&S feel.
You could go no magic. You could use psionics for magic. There is the magic skill from the old Thieves World product (which included classic Traveller support). (If I had a copy.) One group borrowed the magic system from TFT. The Coda Lord of the Rings magic might work. Or maybe the Pendragon magic.
There was a great AH “board” game called Magic Realm. I have some ideas for adapting it into an RPG.
This is a real geeky idea that I stole from somebody on rec.frp.something. The chances for success are based off the normal distribution and standard deviations. It sounds complex, but the actual play is quite simple.