I want to DM a game with some friends but can't stand 3.X. Unfortunately, it's the only system they've used before. Would FATE be a good system to introduce them to, or would it likely be too abstract?
Otherwise, how is Dungeon World? I've never played it myself but am curious about it.
Why not use 4e? Or 5e?
Why can't you stand 3e, exactly?
>>44304200
Don't do DW. Memes aside, it's a bad combination of AD&D aesthetic and tone and Apoclypse World rules. Damn near any other *World game would suit you better.
Savage Worlds, while not a *World game despite the name, is supposedly a good choice for beginners as it's not super crunchy or overly meta or freeform.
GURPS has Dungeon Fantasy and it's a hell of a lot of fun, but even though I'm a huge GURPSfag I cant recommend it without also mentioning it's very GM intensive; I love the system but it requires a lot of reading for the GM (not math though).
I'd say run 5e. It's similar enough to 3.5 so that people who've played it can pick it up easily, and it's easier on the DM and just simpler in general.
It's probably the perfect system for your scenario.
>>44304223
There are a few reasons. I'm not as familiar with 4e (and especially 5e) as I am with 3.X, but looking through their books, it looks like they fall into the same categories as 3.X. That is:
-Traps. Traps everywhere. This is a very common criticism so I won't dwell on it. But the biggest points of contention are feat chains, stricly better stuff, martials v. casters.
-The system is about making your stuff fit into the game's boxes. This is incredibly frustrating for me as both a player and a DM because it makes every character/setting feel more or less the same with a smattering of differences. This is because...
-The system assumes a high fantasy setting with Tokien-esque inhabitants. For a lot of my ideas, this doesn't mesh. At all.
-The system has a lot (a LOT) of bloat. Including:
--Inventory is a clusterfuck. Unless it's essential to a character, my ideal is to let players keep track of it. Swords, mace, scythe? Who gives a shit It's a weapon. Unless it's essential to the character (e.g. Lightbringer, the epic greatsword passed down the Armstrong line for generations!), it's a footnote.
--Magic with pre-defined spells and Vancian in general. Look how much of the book is filled with crap here without rigidly defined lists. Even for the classes it doesn't make sense (such as Oracle, Cleric, Bard, Sorcerer). About the only one it does make sense for is a Wizard and Alchemist.
--Feats as mentioned above, I won't dwell on it other than to list it.
--Character sheets are generally multiple pages if you have everything listed out. Character creation is also a PITA.
-And finally there are too many books to "fix" problems with the game. I shouldn't have to bring a damned library to keep track of what my players have. Ideally, everything should fit on a single 3x5 card with maybe a book that is used sparingly for clarifications.
I'm hitting the character limit but I hope this gives an idea of my grievances.
>>44304200
What sort of game do you want to try to run?
If it's very high magic, consider trying out Mutants and Masterminds in a fantasy setting
>>44304341
>GURPSfag trying to give opinions on good systems
oi m8 im laffin
OP just use Dungeon World, it's a fine system and making use of it dramatically improves your GMing abilities.
>>44304762
>The system assumes a high fantasy setting with Tokien-esque inhabitants. For a lot of my ideas, this doesn't mesh. At all.
What kind of setting DO you want? And what kind of setting do the PLAYERS want? It might be a good idea to try something entirely different, like Paranoia.
Also, ignore >>44304891, Dungeon World is shit.
>>44304891
No system can make you a better GM, that's all on you. A system book, however, can tell you that what you're doing is shit and you should stop, but ultimately it's up to you to listen to it and change your evil ways. And even then, its only that tiny passage in a book that told you to do so.
I like Into the Odd (soogagames lost pages), and a lot of that is because of the system. It's simplified so it's harder to be a bad GM. But, you can still by a shit GM in that ruleset, it's just a little harder because it's fairly rules lite.
If anyone's looking for a rules lite, science fiction horror game thing system that can be converted to different settings, ItO is your game. It's also free, the useful parts anyways.
>>44304200
You're not going to get an honest review of Dungeon World here, it's recently replaced Pathfinder as the game for people to prove how cool and contractarian they are by talking down on people that play it.
THAT SAID
>The system assumes a high fantasy setting with Tokien-esque inhabitants. For a lot of my ideas, this doesn't mesh. At all.
is an actual good reason to probaly give it a pass, the game is somewhat heavily reliant on the PCs being classic archtypical versions of their class, now cscouring the internet for alternate playbooks could help aleviate that, but that's a bit much for someone just getting into it to do.
I have heard some pretty good things about Savage Worlds but never gotten to actually try it.
Dungeon world is a lot more limiting than d&d in terms of setting. It will not fix your problems.
>>44306034
That's true. They "make the world as you play" is a lazy and "fuck you" approach to anyone interested in playing something well written.
>>44306333
Couldn't agree more. I would run dungeon world fit a light-hearted one shot while drinking with friends, but you couldn't pay me money to run any of the *world, powered by the apocalypse games. Maybe Dust world over a few sessions.
>>44304200
Dungeon World is pretty bad. I personally don't enjoy Apocalipse World, but I can see its point. Dungeon World is just straight up terrible.
>>44304200
I enjoy RuneQuest 6 for my fantasy games. The assumption is a party of humans, but other creatures do have player rules, and without classes you can't really go into trap choices. The combat is some of the best in any RPG, there are five kinds of magic and it is easy to customize magic to a setting, the rules are crunchy and logical, and it's fun to play.
>>44304200
GURPS is good. Start with Lite, then add up detail to get the amount of complexity you want to have.
>>44306333
>Letting you make up your own stuff is bad
I'm sure you only play pre-written modules in existing campaign settings, right?
>>44307068
>Letting you
Excuse me, then making your own stuff up has become DW-exclusive feature?
>>44307068
Letting you make up your own stuff is fine. Mechanizing world building as part of the gameplay, preventing all but the vaguest DM prep? Yeah, it's pretty hard to construct a detailed and wide plot around that.
>>44305003
>What kind of setting DO you want?
For the current campaign, something low magic where death is behind every corner and there is a very real possibility PCs can Go Mad From the Revelation when speaking with literal gods. A world where the main town is split among ghettos like Alientown, Old Town, Knight's Way, and the Warrens where gang wars take place. Where memory modification takes place and Manchurian Candidates aren't unheard of.
But that's all setting. Ideally the system wouldn't care about any of that and would be easily adaptable to the above by the DM (me).
>>44308922
You are looking for RuneQuest 6. Take RuneQuest 6 Essentials
>http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/resources/RuneQuest%20Essentials.pdf
Then find a copy of call of cthulhu and use the sanity rules verbatim.
You'll have strong and capable warriors, as low of magic as you want, a mechanic for maintaining sanity, and the system is lethal (your HP never goes into double digits). Since CoC was based off BRP which is the generic version of the old RuneQust editions, you can use the rules for sanity without alteration.
>>44304200
Fantasycraft is a great alternative to 3e without being too unfamiliar or difficult to adjust to. Once I got my players to try that, it was far easier to nudge them to other systems.
>>44304200
Dungeon world is fine for what it is. It's a mechanically lite beer and pretzel game for people who like *the idea* of the idea of Dnd but don't really like playing RPGs.
Ifall you are looking for role play is a chance making up dumb shit and having a good time with friends you can't go wrong. Besides the book will look great next to you a copy of guardians of the Galaxy on Blu-ray and DVD box set of big bang theory.
>>44313453
>It's a mechanically lite beer and pretzel game for people who like *the idea* of the idea of Dnd but don't really like playing RPGs.
That's also used for Risus.
