#wincerind

ok so games that sort of play like dnd but a little different

dungeon world is a pbta game (powered by the apocalypse), which means that even though it’s the same sort of generic fantasy dungeon crawl or whatever you play in dnd the rolls are different and some of the assumptions are dfferent? like monsters dont have turns but if you roll badly when attacking you expose yourself to their attacks

there are a lot of different pbta games like monsterhearts (about being monsters in high school) monster of the week (about playing xfiles or supernatural or buffy) apocalypse world (mad max plus psychic mutants) etc

in a similar vein there’s a system called fate (or fate core) that gets used for a lot of settings, i think the current adventure zone arc is using a fate system. fate is mega flexible, you know how sometimes you argue with the gm that having this random power should totally let you do something unrelated, like how my player once argued she should be invincible because “ok, but im a tiger”? fate is mostly that

shadowrun is in a scifi/fantasy future, where its basically a cyberpunk dystopia but also there are elves and trolls and wizards and shamans. the setting is great but the system is kind of A Lot so maybe dont start with that one

exalted is my old favorite it’s sort of a cross between pulp fantasy and wild animes, by default you play as a hero blessed by the god of being awesome and your husband is a centuries old werewolf and your teacher is a prophetic ninja from heaven and your enemy is an elemental samurai. again the system is maybe a little advanced to graduate to from d20 but it did just get a new edition and i like it, a lot

the world of darkness is a series of games about monsters like vampires and werewolves and mummies and mages and ten-foot-tall biomechanical demons, there’s “classic world of darkness” and theres “chronicles of darkness” which are sort of two takes on each concept (chronicles of darkness is newer) (i dont recall if this is the right terminology) (i promise its not as jrpg as the name chronicles of darkness makes it sound)

now lets get weird 

nobilis is a game by jenna moran where the imperators, embodiments of cocnepts like desecration and fire and blankets and turtles, put that concept into you so they can fight excrucians from outside the world. you can, at the beginning of the game, do things like reshape continents and kung fu kick the moon. it is very common for characters to be completely indestructible. there are supposedly a lot of tea parties in nobilis

chuubos marvelous wish-granting engine is a game by the same author that sort of feels like playing a miyazaki movie, where theres a kid with a wish-granting engine who wishes for things like ‘i wish i was a seagull’ and ‘i wish seagulls were cool’. one sample character is a mad scientist who ripped out his heart to become the sun and one sample character is principal entropy, whose hands perpetually drip with blood, who lives on a soul-eating monster that orbits the sun, and who masquerades as a vigilante helping old ladies cross the road

quiet year is a game about a settlement trying to live through the year, and preparing for the winter that will come

ribbon drive is a road trip simulator where you dont roll dice (none of these last four have rolled dice, but). instead what happens is everyone makes an irl mixtape and you listen to it and narrate whats happening based on the mood

honey heist is a game about being a criminal bear, where your stats are criminal and bear. the entire ruleset fits on one page of paper

dream askew is about being queer in the psychic apocalypse, i havent played it but i would very much like to. it was made by the same lady who made ribbon drive and monsterhearts