I'm want to run a Viking campaign (possibly Varangian, probably Varangian, those guys are cool), and I'm trying to look for a good system that would work well for such. Help a guy out?
Now, it doesn't need to be an rpg about vikings specifically or anything, those things tend to be easy enough to fidget around. I'm more intrested in finding a game that has a good feel to it. There's likely going to be a lot of combat, and I think that it should feel pretty concrete and immediate instead of heavy and abstract. Some "oomph" to it, so to speak. It should feel like a quick and dirty affair, with some level of detail. So, basically something where the combat is "realistic" and quick, but not skimmed over.
I've looked at stuff like Riddle of Steel, but that's so focused on single combat, man-on-man, that it just wouldn't work, in my opinion. The system still needs to have enough flex to improvise situations and allow for various scenarios. Also, there's probably going to be larger battles as well, so it'd be good if the game could handle more than a few combatants on the battlefield without slowing down immensely.
So, any suggestions for a system that has rewarding, quick, punchy combat with a good feel for it that can take care of a variety of situations a wandering band of viking raiders/explorers/merchants might run into?
>>46692626
You could try GURPS, it's combat is really good if you use the full rules and fits what you're looking for, and it has enough flexibility to handle literally everything else very well. 3e even has a good Vikings book for it.
Only problem is you would have to learn how to DM GURPS, which is actually challenging.
>>46692626
Song of swords
>>46692898
Does SoS actually, I mean *actually* improve on TROS and fix the problem areas (basically, everything but dueling) of the system? I haven't really looked into it.
What does it do to fix the game?
>>46692994
SoS is incomplete and fails to excel in it's original goal over even universals systems like GURPS. It also falls short on most other things. Personally, I blame the involvement of /tg/ and the direction it went was balls to the walls stupid.
I would suggest you avoid it personally.
I'm not sure how good/realistic the combat in ASOIAFRP is but It seems to do large scale battles very well. Might wanna take a look at it.
>>46693694
Anon, you should post links next time
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/t025ud77ks4sr/A_Song_Of_Ice_And_Fire
>>46693841
I didn't have one. Of course you are right though. So thanks for posting it.
>>46693694
ASOIAF is pretty good. Fairly abstract, but it's really easy to get horribly maimed or killed.
>>46692994
Mass combat is still a bit of a problem, but good God it's a fun system.
>>46693134
I respectfully disagree, and recommend that OP at least checks it out. I've been running a campaign in a similar setting for a fair bit, and have had some pretty good success with it. If the level of crunch seems too much, I recommend either Band of Bastards (search for Grand Heresy on Google otherwise you get porn) which is another Riddle of Steel game that took a more simplified approach, or RuneQuest 6, which is basically tailor made for early medieval or iron age type games and has a great combat system to boot.
>>46692626
>combat should feel pretty concrete and immediate instead of heavy and abstract
>It should feel like a quick and dirty affair
>rewarding, quick, punchy combat
>it'd be good if the game could handle more than a few combatants on the battlefield without slowing down
>>46692800
>You could try GURPS
This is why no one likes your GURPSfags. It's not that you are always recommending your favorite system. We all do that. It's that you completely ignore what people ask for and tell them they should be using GURPS when they clearly don't want it based on what they've said. You're like car salesmen telling us we need a Ferrari to run our food truck business out of. Try actually reading what people say they want, and being objective about whether GURPS actually does that.
I've played hundreds of hours of GURPS. It is not "quick". It is not "punchy". It cannot do large battles, or often even small ones, without "slowing down immensely". It isn't what this guy is asking for. GURPS is not a magical correct answer to every question in gaming. Please stop using it as one, you only make those of us who use it look like dolts.
>>46695213
GURPS combat is concrete and heavy instead of abstract. The fact that each turn is a literal one second/one action deal has in all the games I've played and been the DM of made combat a quick and very lethal affair. I've done everything from 1v1 fights to massive army on army fighting and it's never taken that long compared any of the other games I've played. A fight between 10 fully statted individuals can be resolved in 30 minutes or less of real time if everyone knows the rules. It is also a system that strikes a balance between having robust combat, and being able to do other things well.
>I've played hundreds of hours of GURPS. It is not "quick". It is not "punchy". It cannot do large battles, or often even small ones, without "slowing down immensely"
See, this is where I call bullshit. GURPS combat flows quickly in a competent group when everyone knows the rules. It may slow down when the group first gets it's legs in combat, but every single game is like that. And if you really played for 'hundreds of hours', you have to be playing with the biggest group of idiots in the world because my group is filled with dipshits and we managed to get combat down after the first couple of encounters. By thirty we got it moving fast enough that combat was the fastest thing in the game.
Also my favorite system is Mouseguard, and I don't even play GURPS anymore. Don't be a cunt and assume I was trying to give him anything other than a suggestion that I thought would help him out, one that he can look at the rules for and figure out for himself if he likes or not.
>>46692626
Look at Reign Enchiridion.
It's based on ORE and it works great: fast, detailed combat with a gamist pool each player only rolls once per round. It balances really easily and mods extremely well. And modding ORE can change the dynamic, the tone, the focus, everything, not just the skill list.
So if you're looking to do your own detail work I don't think there's a better base to start with.
If you want to keep it more on the light side, think original Avatar the Last Airbender, then FAE could also work great. But there the detail is invented for the scene and combat resolves just like a heated discussion or a race would.
BRP is a work horse to look at. It's really simple but can get pretty much as detailed as you'd like with detail rules. Its greatest strength is that it comes in with a simple d100 skill check whenever the GM wants, even in combat. Otherwise it stays in the background and lets everyone run loose.
To keep it in an adventurous tone and focus on personal fate and stuff like that, look at Torchbearer. It's more complex than the others, and not known for speed (or dragging on either). But it has excellent character management and makes the dice matter for more than just combat.
Odin!
>>46692626
d6 Fantasy would work well for you.
ODIN!
>>46696061
>A fight between 10 fully statted individuals can be resolved in 30 minutes or less
You honestly think that's fast?
