Now for something completely different

I have to admit, before I joined the group I currently attend I thought tabletop role play was D&D and maybe a few independant home brew worlds. I had some vague knowledge of warhammer 40k but nothing more. 

What a shock it was as I sat in the hall one friday evening awaiting the GM of my 5E game to arrive... "What's your favorite RPG Jerrie?" asked one of the other players.  The question was an innocent one, but honestly I had never thought about it before. I pointed at the players guide in front of me, hiding my naivety behind a mouthful of chips, "Oh cool, I prefered 2nd edition myself" he said, "but 5 is all encompassing I guess". I nodded in pretend understanding. Of course I had noticed the number 5 on the book but had never considered the fact that there would have been a 1-4 to proceed this one. Weeks passed and the world of RPG table tops expanded before my eyes. So many different genres, some set in the future some in fantasy and some in the real world... wow! 

Years later I have still only played a handful of the hundreds on offer but each year I try to step away from my D&D world and into something new. It's usually uncomfortable at first but by week 3 im loving the steep learning curves and interesting game mechanics. With that in mind I have outlined some of my new favorites below. 

EARTH DAWN

I loved this game so much! It's an old school fantasy RPG with elements of all your favorite fantasy films mixed in.  It was fun and light but had a real sense of consequence throughout all your decision making. The magical abilities felt powerful but gave the player a real feeling that this power did not come easily requiring threads of magic in order to weave each spell. I recommend this to anyone who wants to try something new for the first time. The mechanics are easy to pick up and don't feel too taxing.

PATHFINDER 2

This one has a steep learning curve as you instinctively want to play it like D&D but it is vastly different. Character creation is much more time consuming with many layers and sublayers to decide upon before you can get started.  The pay off though is that this game feels smooth  and gives you a really good sense of realism. You hit hard and get hit hard. Healing is scarce and you have to work as a team more often to get a job done. 

STARS WITHOUT NUMBERS

This one is a little different. While the others have a rigid set of core rules with a raft of books to match, this a free community led RPG that you can find online with a quick google search. It's unrefined and you have to rely on the GMs rulings but that sense of freedom makes it so much fun to play. The world is exotic and futuristic with space travel and lots of interesting character interaction. If you prefer puzzle solving over skull bashing then maybe give this one a go.

DARK HERESY

At the other end of the spectrum is this intense and gritty game. It's the most complex of all the games I have ever played and you will need a confident GM who is able to lead you through the rules without it feeling too overwhelming. You soon feel pulled into the lore and the character backgrounds though. There's a reason for everything in this world as science and magic clash in titanic battles of strength. 

I hope this is helpful to anyone wanting to break away from the normal. 

Jerrie x